Claude-SearchBot: robots token, verification and how to allow or disallow it
Claude-SearchBot is an AI crawler operated by Anthropic. Its robots.txt token is Claude-SearchBot, and the vendor documentation we fetched on 2026-09-06 is the source for every statement on this page.
| Robots token | Claude-SearchBot |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Anthropic |
| Purpose | search index |
| Documented verification | none published |
| Vendor documentation last verified | 2026-09-06 |
| Share of read domains disallowing it for / | 3.9% of 128 |
| Last verified |
Identity
| Robots token | Claude-SearchBot |
|---|---|
| Matched as | claude-searchbot |
| Vendor | Anthropic |
| Purpose | search index |
| Documentation | https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler |
| Documented verification | none published |
Third robot documented by the vendor on 2026-09-06 (6 occurrences): 'Claude-SearchBot navigates the web to improve search result quality for users.' Not present in app/main.AI_CRAWLERS, so hits carrying it are currently unclassified by the fleet counter.
Allow or disallow it
User-agent: Claude-SearchBot Allow: /
User-agent: Claude-SearchBot Disallow: /
A robots.txt rule is a request that a well behaved crawler honours. It is not an access control, and this page does not tell anyone what to choose.
Questions
Does Claude-SearchBot obey robots.txt?
The vendor documentation at https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler states that Claude-SearchBot respects robots.txt. We fetched that page and it answered our checker on 2026-09-06. This records what the vendor documents, not what any individual request did.
How do I allow Claude-SearchBot in robots.txt?
Add this group to the robots.txt at the root of the host: User-agent: Claude-SearchBot Allow: /. The token is matched case insensitively as a substring of the user agent by RFC 9309, and the longest matching rule wins.
How do I disallow Claude-SearchBot in robots.txt?
Add this group to the robots.txt at the root of the host: User-agent: Claude-SearchBot Disallow: /. A robots.txt rule is a request that a well behaved crawler honours; it is not an access control.
How do I verify a request really came from Claude-SearchBot?
We have not found a documented verification method for Claude-SearchBot: the vendor publishes neither an IP range file nor a reverse DNS convention that we could fetch. Without one, a user agent string is not evidence of origin.
What we measure
Of the 128 seeded domains whose robots.txt we have read, 5 disallow Claude-SearchBot for / and 123 allow it, which is 3.9% disallowed, week 2026-W37. Counts only: no domain is named.
The weekly AI crawler access index
Sources
| Source | Type | HTTP | Verified | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler | vendor | 200 | 2026-09-06 | 6 occurrences of Claude-SearchBot in the body |
Free data
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AEO Watch is an independent, factual monitor. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or speaking for any crawler vendor. Every statement is an observation with the date it was made and the raw evidence behind it: a robots.txt line, an HTTP status code, a header. There are no scores, no grades and no verdicts here, and nothing on this page is advice. A site opts out at any time and the opt out is honoured automatically and permanently.