What is AI Training Crawler?
A web crawler that collects content to train artificial intelligence and large language models.
AI training crawlers are web bots operated by AI companies to collect content from the public web for use in training large language models (LLMs). Unlike search crawlers that index content for search results, training crawlers ingest content to improve AI model capabilities.
Major AI training crawlers include GPTBot (OpenAI), ClaudeBot (Anthropic), CCBot (Common Crawl), Bytespider (ByteDance), and Google-Extended (Google Gemini). Each has different crawl rates, data usage policies, and opt-out mechanisms. Most respect robots.txt, giving site owners control over training data consent.
The decision to allow or block AI training crawlers is one of the most consequential content policy decisions site owners face. Allowing training means your content may influence AI model behavior and responses. Blocking keeps your content out of training data but has no effect on AI assistant browsing or search visibility, which are handled by separate crawlers.
How Switch Helps
Switch identifies training crawlers separately from search and assistant crawlers, letting you block training while allowing beneficial AI access.
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GPTBot
OpenAI
OpenAI's training data crawler for GPT models including ChatGPT and GPT-4.
ClaudeBot
Anthropic
Anthropic's web crawler collecting training data for Claude models.
CCBot
Common Crawl
Common Crawl's open-source web archive used by multiple AI companies for training.
Google-Extended
Google's AI training token controlling use of Googlebot-crawled content for AI.
Bytespider
ByteDance
ByteDance's web crawler for TikTok AI and LLM training data.