# Does zdnet.com allow GPTBot? robots.txt as of 2026-09-14

## In short

On 2026-09-14 the robots.txt of zdnet.com resolved 19 AI crawler tokens: 3 allowed for / and 16 disallowed for /.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Domain | zdnet.com |
| AI crawler tokens resolved | 19 |
| Allowed for / | 3 |
| Disallowed for / | 16 |
| robots.txt | robots.txt present, 5722 bytes |
| Checks that ran | robots |
| robots.txt read (tier A) | 2026-09-14 |
| Last verified | 2026-09-14 |

## Every AI crawler token in the registry

| Crawler | Vendor | Observation | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPTBot | OpenAI | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: GPTBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: ClaudeBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: PerplexityBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: OAI-SearchBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| CCBot | Common Crawl Foundation | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: CCBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Bytespider | ByteDance | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Bytespider group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Googlebot | Google | allowed for / | robots.txt has a User-agent: * group with no rule matching / , so / is allowed | 2026-09-14 |
| ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: ChatGPT-User group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Claude-User | Anthropic | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Claude-User group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Claude-SearchBot | Anthropic | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Claude-SearchBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Perplexity-User | Perplexity | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Perplexity-User group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| anthropic-ai | Anthropic | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: anthropic-ai group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Bingbot | Microsoft | allowed for / | robots.txt has a User-agent: * group with no rule matching / , so / is allowed | 2026-09-14 |
| Applebot | Apple | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Applebot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Amazonbot | Amazon | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Amazonbot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| meta-externalagent | Meta | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: meta-externalagent group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| DuckAssistBot | DuckDuckGo | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: DuckAssistBot group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Applebot-Extended | Apple | disallowed for / | robots.txt line 161 in the User-agent: Applebot-Extended group: "Disallow: /" (longest match wins) | 2026-09-14 |
| Google-Extended | Google | allowed for / | robots.txt has a User-agent: * group with no rule matching / , so / is allowed | 2026-09-14 |

## The robots.txt reading itself

| Observation | Value | Evidence | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| agents-summary | AI crawler rules: 3 allowed, 16 disallowed | 19 crawler tokens resolved against https://zdnet.com/robots.txt (HTTP 200, 5722 bytes) at 2026-09-14T06:15:34Z | 2026-09-14 |
| file | robots.txt present, 5722 bytes | GET https://zdnet.com/robots.txt at 2026-09-14T06:15:34Z returned HTTP 200, 5722 bytes, content type text/plain, 4 user agent group(s) | 2026-09-14 |
| sitemap-declared | 11 sitemap(s) declared in robots.txt | line 177: "Sitemap: https://www.zdnet.com/sitemap-authors.xml"; line 179: "Sitemap: https://www.zdnet.com/sitemap-google-news.xml"; line 181: "Sitemap: https://www.zdnet.com/sitemaps/articles/index.xml" | 2026-09-14 |

Robots.txt history: https://bikoosh.com/aeo/site/zdnet.com/history

Limitation: this test appends a labelled marker to our own honest User Agent, it never impersonates another agent. Rules keyed to an exact User Agent string, or to a vendor's IP ranges, are invisible to this method and are neither confirmed nor ruled out.

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.