Question

Should I allow OAI-SearchBot?

If your goal is AI answer visibility in ChatGPT search features, allowing OAI-SearchBot is usually the right default.

Decision framework

• Allow OAI-SearchBot when you want search inclusion signals.
• Handle GPTBot separately based on training policy preference.
• Keep robots.txt policy aligned with your public content policy.

Common mistake

Many teams block all bots with a broad wildcard and accidentally block both search-oriented and training-oriented crawlers. Check specific user-agent sections after every policy edit.

Use the OAI-SearchBot policy template