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What is ChatGPT-User?

ChatGPT-User is the user agent OpenAI uses when ChatGPT visits a web page because a person asked. That includes questions to Custom GPTs and calls from GPT Actions. It is not an automatic crawler. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to it, because a user starts each request. Verified 2026-11-06.

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Free, no sign-up. We read robots.txt and request the page with a browser and four crawler user agents. We do not store your page text.

ChatGPT-User fact sheet

This page covers the OpenAI fetcher named ChatGPT-User. It does not cover ChatGPT user accounts.

ChatGPT-User facts, from OpenAI's crawler documentation
FactValue
OperatorOpenAI
PurposeUser-triggered fetch. ChatGPT visits a page when a user asks ChatGPT or a Custom GPT a question, and for GPT Actions that call external apps.
User agent stringMozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); compatible; ChatGPT-User/1.0; +https://openai.com/bot
robots.txt tokenChatGPT-User is the user agent name. OpenAI does not list it as a search or training opt-out tag.
Published IP listopenai.com/chatgpt-user.json
Obeys robots.txtNot guaranteed. OpenAI: "Because these actions are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply." (OpenAI)
Related botsOAI-SearchBot (search), GPTBot (training), OAI-AdsBot (ad landing page checks)
Last verified2026-11-06

What does ChatGPT-User do?

ChatGPT-User loads a page because a person asked for it. A user asks ChatGPT or a Custom GPT a question, and the system may visit a web page with the ChatGPT-User agent. Users can also work with external apps through GPT Actions.

OpenAI states that ChatGPT-User is not used for crawling the web in an automatic fashion. It is also not used to decide whether content may appear in search. For search opt-outs and automatic crawling, OpenAI points to OAI-SearchBot.

Can I allow or block ChatGPT-User in robots.txt?

You can write a ChatGPT-User group. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to these user-started fetches, so treat the rule as a request that OpenAI does not promise to follow.

robots.txt: ask ChatGPT-User to stay out
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /
robots.txt: allow ChatGPT-User
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

OpenAI documents no other opt-out for ChatGPT-User. If you need to stop the fetches, the control you have is on your own server: a firewall rule that matches the user agent and the IP prefixes in chatgpt-user.json. This is our reading of OpenAI's statement, not an OpenAI instruction. Test the rule, because the user agent alone is easy to fake.

This group keeps your site in ChatGPT search, opts out of training and leaves ChatGPT-User open:

robots.txt: search yes, training no, user requests yes
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

Does blocking ChatGPT-User affect ChatGPT search or citations?

OpenAI says ChatGPT-User is not used to determine whether content may appear in search. Search placement follows OAI-SearchBot.

OpenAI does not document what happens to a user's chat when ChatGPT-User cannot load a page. The direct effect is that ChatGPT cannot open your page when a person asks about it. Whether the answer then cites you depends on other sources, and OpenAI's page does not say.

How do I check ChatGPT-User access to my site?

Run the AI crawler checker above, preselected for ChatGPT-User. It reads your robots.txt and shows which group and rule match your page path for this user agent. The checker does not request your page as ChatGPT-User. It requests the page as a browser and with the GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot user agents. A firewall rule that blocks AI user agents in general may cover ChatGPT-User too. Only your logs and firewall rules can confirm it.

In your logs, search for ChatGPT-User and compare source IPs with chatgpt-user.json.

What are the common ChatGPT-User mistakes?

  • Expecting robots.txt to stop it. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply. Check your logs after you add a rule.
  • Using ChatGPT-User to control search. OpenAI says ChatGPT-User does not decide search presence. Use OAI-SearchBot.
  • A firewall that denies unknown bots. A rule that returns 403 to every AI user agent also stops people from asking ChatGPT about your page. See AI crawlers blocked by a firewall.
  • **A * wildcard block.** User-agent: * with Disallow: / covers ChatGPT-User only if you wrote no ChatGPT-User group. See robots.txt blocks AI crawlers.
  • Treating it as a training bot. The OpenAI page assigns training to GPTBot.

ChatGPT-User FAQ

What is the ChatGPT-User user agent?

OpenAI publishes Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); compatible; ChatGPT-User/1.0; +https://openai.com/bot.

Does ChatGPT-User obey robots.txt?

OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply, because users start these actions. It does not promise that ChatGPT-User follows them.

Is ChatGPT-User the same as GPTBot?

No. GPTBot crawls for training. ChatGPT-User fetches pages when a person asks ChatGPT or a Custom GPT something.

Does ChatGPT-User decide if my site appears in ChatGPT search?

No. OpenAI says ChatGPT-User is not used to determine whether content may appear in search. OAI-SearchBot handles that.

Sources