Applebot

Applebot is the official web crawler for Apple, tasked with systematically browsing the web to discover and index content. This data powers various Apple services, most notably Siri, Spotlight Suggestions, and Safari's search features. First announced in 2015, Applebot operates much like other major search engine crawlers, following links to find and analyze web pages, images, and other content. It identifies itself in server logs with a user-agent string that includes Applebot. As a well-behaved crawler, it respects standard protocols like robots.txt, allowing website owners to control its access.

Applebot visits your website to collect and index information so that it can be presented to Apple users through services like Siri and Spotlight Search. It seeks out content that can answer user queries or provide relevant suggestions within the Apple ecosystem. The frequency of its visits is influenced by how often your content is updated and its perceived relevance and popularity among Apple device users. Publishing fresh, high-quality content often triggers more frequent crawls. This is a legitimate and standard function of a web crawler.

The primary purpose of Applebot is to build and maintain Apple's independent search index, reducing its reliance on third-party search providers. The data it collects is fundamental to the search capabilities within Siri, Spotlight, and Safari. By indexing your content, Apple can offer more timely and relevant search results directly to its users. For website owners, this creates a valuable opportunity to gain visibility and drive traffic from Apple's large and engaged user base.

If you need to prevent Applebot from crawling your website, you can use your robots.txt file. This is the standard method for communicating with legitimate crawlers.

To block Applebot completely, add the following lines to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: Applebot
Disallow: /