PerplexityBot
Perplexity's web crawler, which indexes pages so they can be surfaced and linked in Perplexity's answers; Perplexity says it isn't used for model training.
PerplexityBot builds the index Perplexity searches when it answers. If it can't reach your pages, Perplexity has a much harder time citing them. Perplexity also runs a second agent, Perplexity-User, that fetches pages when a person's question calls for it.
PerplexityBot vs. Perplexity-User
- PerplexityBot crawls to surface and link sites in Perplexity's results. Perplexity recommends allowing it in robots.txt and says it isn't used to crawl content for AI foundation models.
- Perplexity-User acts on behalf of a person. Because a user requested the fetch, Perplexity says it generally ignores robots.txt.
Perplexity publishes IP ranges for both agents, which helps when you allowlist them in a firewall. It also says robots.txt changes can take up to 24 hours to take effect.
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /Why PerplexityBot matters
Perplexity is search-first and shows its sources prominently, so it rewards pages that are crawlable, specific and current. Allow it alongside OAI-SearchBot and Claude-SearchBot, and treat the training crawlers as a separate decision. See our Perplexity engine page for tactics, and run the Elite Answers audit to confirm access.
Somewhere, right now, an AI is recommending your client's competitor.
Elite Answers is invite-only. Request access through Elite Digital and the team will set you up.