# How to Check AI Crawler Access and robots.txt with GEO-SEO Claude > Learn to check AI crawler access and robots.txt for GPTBot ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot using the geo crawlers command. Ensure your site is visible to AI search engines. - Repository: [Zubair Trabzada/geo-seo-claude](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude) - Tags: how-to-guide - Published: 2026-09-08 --- **Audit your site's visibility to AI search engines by analyzing robots.txt directives for GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot using the `geo crawlers` command.** The **zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude** toolkit provides automated analysis of how AI crawlers interact with your site's [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) file. This guide explains how to check AI crawler access and generate actionable reports that maximize your Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) score. ## Web Fetching and robots.txt Parsing The foundation of the audit resides in [`scripts/fetch_page.py`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/scripts/fetch_page.py), which contains the `fetch_robots_txt()` function. This utility downloads a domain's [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) file, parses User-Agent rules, and records any fetch or parsing errors. The parser specifically targets directives for 14+ recognized AI crawlers including **GPTBot**, **ClaudeBot**, **PerplexityBot**, **OAI-SearchBot**, and standard search engine bots. It evaluates each `Allow` or `Disallow` entry to determine whether critical AI systems can access your content. ## The GEO-AI-Visibility Agent Orchestration Located at [`agents/geo-ai-visibility.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/agents/geo-ai-visibility.md), the agent drives the complete audit workflow. This component maps [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) directives to specific AI crawlers and produces the [`GEO-CRAWLER-ACCESS.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/GEO-CRAWLER-ACCESS.md) report containing your AI-visibility score and recommendations. The agent also scans for the emerging **Content-Signal** directive (per IETF draft `draft-romm-aipref-contentsignals`). When present in [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt), it parses key-value pairs such as `ai-train=yes` to determine training permissions, reporting these as non-scored recommendations. ## Running AI Crawler Checks from the Command Line Execute the audit using the `geo` CLI suite documented in [`docs/commands-reference.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/docs/commands-reference.md): ```bash geo crawlers https://example.com ``` The command internally calls the crawler-access agent and outputs a formatted summary: ``` 🤖 AI Crawler Access Report – example.com ------------------------------------------------- GPTBot → ALLOWED ClaudeBot → ALLOWED PerplexityBot → BLOCKED (recommendation: allow in robots.txt) OAI-SearchBot → ALLOWED GoogleBot → ALLOWED AI Visibility Score: 85 / 100 Recommended robots.txt snippet: User-agent: PerplexityBot Disallow: ``` ## Understanding the AI Visibility Score Methodology According to [`docs/scoring-methodology.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/docs/scoring-methodology.md), crawlability accounts for up to 15 points in the overall GEO assessment. The scoring deducts 15 points for each blocked critical AI crawler among the five priority agents: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, OAI-SearchBot, and GoogleBot. A well-formed [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) that explicitly **Allow** these bots achieves the maximum crawlability score. Conversely, blocking any primary AI crawler significantly impacts your site's discoverability in AI-driven search engines. ## Programmatic Access to robots.txt Analysis Integrate the fetcher directly into Python workflows: ```python from scripts.fetch_page import fetch_robots_txt result = fetch_robots_txt("https://example.com") print(result["status"]) # e.g. "OK" print(result["directives"]) # dict of User-Agent → Allow/Disallow paths print(result["errors"]) # any fetch or parsing errors ``` This approach enables batch processing of multiple domains or custom integration into CI/CD pipelines for automated SEO monitoring. ## Advanced: Crawler-Specific Configuration Detailed specifications for each supported AI crawler reside in [`skills/geo-crawlers/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/skills/geo-crawlers/SKILL.md). This file documents user-agent strings, crawling behaviors, and specific recommendations for each bot. When the audit detects blocked crawlers, it generates copy-paste-ready [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) snippets tailored to the specific AI systems you need to accommodate, ensuring rapid implementation of GEO best practices. ## Summary - **Primary audit function**: `fetch_robots_txt()` in [`scripts/fetch_page.py`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/scripts/fetch_page.py) downloads and parses [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) for AI-crawler directives. - **Command-line interface**: Run `geo crawlers ` to execute the complete audit via the agent defined in [`agents/geo-ai-visibility.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/agents/geo-ai-visibility.md). - **Scoring impact**: AI crawlability contributes up to 15 points; blocking critical crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, OAI-SearchBot, GoogleBot) deducts 15 points each. - **Emerging standards**: The system detects Content-Signal directives per IETF draft specifications for AI training permissions. - **Deliverables**: Each audit generates [`GEO-CRAWLER-ACCESS.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/GEO-CRAWLER-ACCESS.md) with visibility scores and actionable [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) recommendations. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does GEO-SEO Claude identify which AI crawlers to check? The system references [`skills/geo-crawlers/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/skills/geo-crawlers/SKILL.md) which maintains a registry of 14+ recognized AI crawlers including GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot. The agent maps these user-agent strings against your [`robots.txt`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/robots.txt) directives to determine access permissions. ### What happens if my site blocks GPTBot or ClaudeBot? According to the scoring methodology in [`docs/scoring-methodology.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/docs/scoring-methodology.md), blocking any of the five critical AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, OAI-SearchBot, or GoogleBot) results in a 15-point deduction from your AI visibility score. The audit report will flag this as a critical issue with a specific remediation snippet. ### Can I check multiple domains simultaneously? While the `geo crawlers` command analyzes single URLs, you can programmatically batch process domains by importing `fetch_robots_txt()` from [`scripts/fetch_page.py`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/scripts/fetch_page.py) into a Python script. This enables automated monitoring of multiple properties through custom workflows. ### Does the tool support the new Content-Signal robots.txt directive? Yes. The agent in [`agents/geo-ai-visibility.md`](https://github.com/zubair-trabzada/geo-seo-claude/blob/main/agents/geo-ai-visibility.md) scans for the Content-Signal directive per IETF draft `draft-romm-aipref-contentsignals`. It parses values like `ai-train=yes` and reports them as recommendations, though these currently do not affect the numerical GEO score.