Applebot
What is Applebot?
About
Applebot is a web crawler used by Apple to index search results that allow the Siri AI Assistant to answer user questions. Siri's answers normally contain references to the website.
You can set up agent analytics to see when Applebot visits your website.
Detail
| Operator | Apple |
| Documentation | http://apple.com/go/applebot |
Type
Expected Behavior
AI search crawlers do not adhere to a fixed visitation schedule for websites. The frequency of visits varies widely based on many factors, and can even happen on-demand in response to a user query.
Insights
Applebot Visiting Your Website
Half of your traffic probably comes from artificial agents, and there are more of them every day. Track their activity with the API or WordPress plugin.
Set Up Agent AnalyticsOther Websites
Access Control
Should I Block Applebot?
Probably not. AI search crawlers power AI search engines, which are a useful way for users to discover your website. AI search engine assistants usually cite their sources and provide links to their results.
Using Robots.txt
You can block Applebot or limit its access by setting user agent token rules in your website's robots.txt. We recommend setting up agent analytics to check whether it's actually following them.
| User Agent Token | Description |
|---|---|
Applebot |
Should match instances of Applebot |
# robots.txt
# This should block Applebot
User-agent: Applebot
Disallow: /
Instead of doing this manually, you can use the API or Wordpress plugin to keep your robots.txt updated with the latest known AI scrapers, crawlers, and assistants automatically.
Set Up Automatic Robots.txt