Published on 2025-08-07T06:18:08Z

OAI-SearchBot

OAI-SearchBot is a specialized web crawler from OpenAI that is designed exclusively to power the search features within ChatGPT. Unlike OpenAI's other bots, OAI-SearchBot does not collect data for training AI models. Its sole purpose is to index web content so that it can be surfaced with citations in response to user queries. For website owners, being indexed by this bot can increase visibility and drive traffic from AI-powered search.

What is OAI-SearchBot?

OAI-SearchBot is an official web crawler from OpenAI that functions as a search indexing bot for its SearchGPT prototype. Its primary role is to discover and index web content that can be surfaced in search results within ChatGPT. A key distinction is that this bot's activity is separate from AI model training; it is focused purely on search functionality. The bot identifies itself in server logs with the user-agent string Mozilla/5.0 (...) OAI-SearchBot/1.0; +https://openai.com/searchbot. OpenAI provides a published list of its IP addresses for verification.

Why is OAI-SearchBot crawling my site?

OAI-SearchBot is crawling your website to index its content for potential inclusion in ChatGPT's search results. It is looking for informative, well-structured content that can provide value to users asking questions. The frequency of visits depends on factors like your site's relevance to common queries and its content freshness. This crawling is an authorized and standard web operation, similar to how traditional search engines index the web, and the bot respects standard access controls like robots.txt directives.

What is the purpose of OAI-SearchBot?

The purpose of OAI-SearchBot is to power the search features within OpenAI's products. It links to and surfaces websites in its search results, helping users find relevant information from across the web. Unlike OpenAI's GPTBot, the data it collects is not used for training AI models. For website owners, being indexed by OAI-SearchBot can provide significant value by increasing visibility in ChatGPT's search results, which can drive new traffic to your site. As AI-powered search grows, being indexed by specialized crawlers like this one will become increasingly important.

How do I block OAI-SearchBot?

If you wish to prevent your content from being included in ChatGPT's search results, you can block OAI-SearchBot. This will not affect whether your content is used for AI training, which is controlled by the GPTBot user-agent. You can add the following rule to your robots.txt file.

To block this bot, use this directive:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Disallow: /

How to verify the authenticity of the user-agent operated by OpenAI?

Reverse IP lookup technique

To verify user-agent authenticity, you can use host linux command two times with the IP address of the requester.

```
> host IPAddressOfRequest
```
This command returns the reverse lookup hostname (e.g., 4.4.8.8.in-addr.arpa.).

> host ReverseDNSFromTheOutputOfFirstRequest

If the output matches the original IP address and the domain is associated with a trusted operator (e.g., OpenAI), the user-agent can be considered legitimate.

IP list lookup technique

Some operators provide a public list of IP addresses used by their crawlers. This list can be cross-referenced to verify a user-agent's authenticity. However, both operators and website owners may find it challenging to maintain an up-to-date list, so use this method with caution and in conjunction with other verification techniques.