What is ChatGPT-User?
ChatGPT-User · OpenAI · User-action fetcher
ChatGPT-User is OpenAI's crawler. It fetches a page when a person asks the assistant about it. Fetches a page when a ChatGPT user follows or asks about a specific link.
What it does
ChatGPT-User fetches a page because a user asked about that specific link. Fetches a page when a ChatGPT user follows or asks about a specific link.
It does not execute JavaScript. Whatever your server returns in the initial HTML response is the entire page as far as ChatGPT-User is concerned — if your content is rendered client-side, this crawler reads an empty container.
Should you block ChatGPT-User?
Only if you want out of OpenAI's AI answers. ChatGPT-User fetches a page when a person asks the assistant about it, so blocking it means your pages stop being available as a source there.
When a person pastes your URL into ChatGPT and asks what it says, the fetch is refused and the assistant tells them it cannot access the page. This is the most visible failure mode of any crawler on this list, because a real person is watching it happen in real time.
To allow it
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /To block it
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /robots.txt may not stop it. OpenAI says that because these fetches are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply. The rule below records your preference; to actually stop it, block its published IP ranges (https://openai.com/chatgpt-user.json) at your CDN or firewall. Put the rule in your robots.txt at the site root. A group that names ChatGPT-User explicitly takes precedence over your User-agent: * group, so naming it is how you make your intent survive later edits to the wildcard rules.
Verifying a real ChatGPT-User request
OpenAI publishes IP ranges for user-initiated fetches separately from both the training and search crawlers. These requests are one-off and driven by a human action, so they arrive in ones and twos rather than as a sustained crawl.
The mistake people make
Treating this as a scraper and rate-limiting it. It is not crawling you; it is a person asking about your page. Rate limits tuned for bulk crawlers routinely catch it on the first request.
OpenAI's other crawlers
- GPTBotCollects content for OpenAI model training. Blocking it does not remove you from ChatGPT answers.
- OAI-SearchBotBuilds the index behind ChatGPT search results. Blocking it removes you from ChatGPT search.
Frequently asked questions
- What is ChatGPT-User?
- ChatGPT-User is OpenAI's crawler. It fetches a page when a person asks the assistant about it. Fetches a page when a ChatGPT user follows or asks about a specific link.
- Should I block ChatGPT-User?
- Only if you want out of OpenAI's AI answers. ChatGPT-User fetches a page when a person asks the assistant about it, so blocking it means your pages stop being available as a source there.
- How do I block ChatGPT-User in robots.txt?
- Add a group to the robots.txt at your site root: "User-agent: ChatGPT-User" followed by "Disallow: /". Use "Allow: /" instead to allow it explicitly. OpenAI says that because these fetches are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply.
Further reading
- The Complete Guide to robots.txt for AI Crawlers: Which Bots to Allow
GPTBot vs OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot vs Claude-User, Googlebot vs Google-Extended: which AI crawlers to allow, which to block, and copy-ready robots.txt templates.
- How to Create and Optimize an llms.txt File for Your Website
The llms.txt format, where the file goes, how to keep it token-efficient, working examples for Next.js and static sites, and an honest account of who uses it.
- What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)? The Complete 2026 Guide
How ChatGPT Search, Perplexity and Claude find, read and cite pages, why that differs from Googlebot, and what the research says actually improves AI visibility.
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