Applebot is Apple's AI search crawler: it indexes pages so an AI search product can find and cite them. It is the #29 most blocked of the 29 AI crawlers in the index.

How do I block Applebot in robots.txt?

Add these lines to https:// /robots.txt: "User-agent: Applebot" followed by "Disallow: /". To allow it, use "Allow: /" instead. Well-behaved crawlers read robots.txt before fetching pages; firewall rules are needed to stop crawlers that ignore it.

How do I check whether my site blocks Applebot?

Use the free AI crawler checker at tools.yukai.uk/free/ai-crawler-checker: it shows the status of Applebot and 28 other AI crawlers with the exact robots.txt rule.

AI crawler · Apple · AI search

Which websites block Applebot?

As of 2026-10-01, 22 of the 853 popular websites whose robots.txt we could read (2.6%) block Applebot, Apple's AI search crawler, on the home page; 100 more block it on some paths. Among the top 100 sites: 1.2%.

2.6%

of 853 readable sites block Applebot

1.2%

of the top 100

#29

most blocked of 29 AI crawlers

731

sites allow it on the home page

Blocked by category

Category	Sites read	Block Applebot
News & media	126	7.9%
E-commerce	58	3.4%
Government	33	3%
Other	260	2.7%
Reference	43	2.3%
Social	48	2.1%
AI	9	0%
Education	20	0%
Entertainment	68	0%
Finance	16	0%
Tech	154	0%
Telecom	5	0%
Travel	13	0%

Showing the 60 most popular of 100. The full list is in sites.csv.

Trend

The daily series for Applebot starts on 2026-10-01; a trend appears here as days accumulate.

Latest changes

dailymotion.com: blocked → partial
abc.net.au: allowed → partial

Block or allow Applebot

User-agent: Applebot
Disallow: /

Replace Disallow: / with Allow: / to let it in. A site that blocks training crawlers but wants to be cited in AI answers usually keeps the search and user-triggered crawlers allowed.

FAQ

How many websites block Applebot?: As of 2026-10-01, 22 of the 853 popular websites whose robots.txt we could read (2.6%) block Applebot, Apple's AI search crawler, on the home page; 100 more block it on some paths. Among the top 100 sites: 1.2%.
What is Applebot?: Applebot is Apple's AI search crawler: it indexes pages so an AI search product can find and cite them. It is the #29 most blocked of the 29 AI crawlers in the index.
How do I block Applebot in robots.txt?: Add these lines to https://<your-site>/robots.txt: "User-agent: Applebot" followed by "Disallow: /". To allow it, use "Allow: /" instead. Well-behaved crawlers read robots.txt before fetching pages; firewall rules are needed to stop crawlers that ignore it.
How do I check whether my site blocks Applebot?: Use the free AI crawler checker at tools.yukai.uk/free/ai-crawler-checker: it shows the status of Applebot and 28 other AI crawlers with the exact robots.txt rule.

Other AI crawlers

Also from Apple: Applebot-Extended (14.3%).