What Is ProjectShield-UrlCheck?

ProjectShield-UrlCheck is a security scanner that monitors websites protected by Google's Project Shield service, checking for malicious traffic and DDoS attacks to ensure continuous protection. You can see how often ProjectShield-UrlCheck visits your website by setting up Dark Visitors Agent Analytics.

Agent Type

Expected Behavior

Security scanners probe websites for vulnerabilities, malware, configuration issues, and other threats. Scan frequency varies widely. Some services run continuous monitoring with daily or hourly checks, while others perform one-time or periodic assessments. Scans may target specific endpoints or comprehensively test multiple pages and functionalities depending on what exactly is being scanned and the site's risk profile.

Detail

User Agent String

Robots.txt

In this example, all pages are blocked. You can customize which pages are off-limits by swapping out / for a different disallowed path.

User-agent: ProjectShield-UrlCheck # https://darkvisitors.com/agents/projectshield-urlcheck
Disallow: /

Frequently Asked Questions About ProjectShield-UrlCheck

Should I Block ProjectShield-UrlCheck?

Generally no. Security scanners help identify vulnerabilities and protect the broader web ecosystem. Many scanners report findings directly to website owners, providing free security assessments. Only block them if they're too aggressive or you already have comprehensive security monitoring.

How Do I Block ProjectShield-UrlCheck?

If you want to, you can block or limit ProjectShield-UrlCheck's access by configuring user agent token rules in your robots.txt file. The best way to do this is using Automatic Robots.txt, which blocks all agents of this type and updates continuously as new agents are released. While the vast majority of agents operated by reputable companies honor these robots.txt directives, bad actors may choose to ignore them entirely. In that case, you'll need to implement alternative blocking methods such as firewall rules or server-level restrictions. You can verify whether ProjectShield-UrlCheck is respecting your rules by setting up Agent Analytics to monitor its visits to your website.

Will Blocking ProjectShield-UrlCheck Hurt My SEO?

Blocking security scanners won't directly affect SEO rankings, but it could indirectly impact your site's security posture. Compromised websites often face search engine penalties or warnings. Security scanners help identify vulnerabilities, so blocking them might increase your risk exposure.

Does ProjectShield-UrlCheck Access Private Content?

Security scanners may probe both public and private areas to identify vulnerabilities. Some focus only on publicly accessible pages, while others may attempt to access login pages, administrative interfaces, API endpoints, and other potentially sensitive areas. The scope depends on the scanner's configuration and whether it's been authorized to test protected resources.

How Can I Tell if ProjectShield-UrlCheck Is Visiting My Website?

Setting up Agent Analytics will give you realtime visibility into ProjectShield-UrlCheck visiting your website, along with hundreds of other AI agents, crawlers, and scrapers. This will also let you measure human traffic to your website coming from AI search and chat LLM platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

Why Is ProjectShield-UrlCheck Visiting My Website?

ProjectShield-UrlCheck may have targeted your site as part of internet-wide security scanning, through automated discovery of your domain, or because your site was specifically submitted for security assessment. Your site could also be included in regular monitoring if you use their security services.

How Can I Authenticate Visits From ProjectShield-UrlCheck?

Agent Analytics authenticates agent visits from many agents, letting you know whether each one was actually from that agent, or spoofed by a bad actor. This helps you identify suspicious traffic patterns and make informed decisions about blocking or allowing specific user agents.

References

• https://projectshield.withgoogle.com/