Blocking GPTBot only tells OpenAI not to use your content to train its models. It does not remove your firm from ChatGPT search. What controls whether your site can appear in ChatGPT's search answers is a different crawler, OAI-SearchBot, and OpenAI recommends allowing it. Most law firms should allow OAI-SearchBot and choose separately whether to allow GPTBot.
OpenAI's three crawlers
| User agent | What it does | If you block it in robots.txt |
|---|---|---|
| GPTBot | Crawls content that may be used to train OpenAI's generative AI models | Signals your content should not be used for training. Does not remove you from search |
| OAI-SearchBot | Surfaces websites in ChatGPT's search features | Your site is not shown in ChatGPT search answers, though it can still appear as a navigational link |
| ChatGPT-User | Visits a page when a user asks ChatGPT to, in ChatGPT or Custom GPTs | OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply, because a person initiated the visit |
OpenAI's documentation states that "each setting is independent of the others", and that ChatGPT-User is not used to decide whether content appears in search.
What this means for a law firm
The firm's goal is usually to be named when a prospective client asks ChatGPT for a lawyer. That requires OAI-SearchBot access. Many firm sites block AI crawlers by accident through a security plugin, a CDN rule or a template default, and the firm only finds out when it checks.
| Your goal | GPTBot | OAI-SearchBot |
|---|---|---|
| Appear in ChatGPT answers | Your choice | Allow |
| Keep content out of model training | Block | Allow (so search still works) |
| No preference | Allow | Allow |
Whether to allow training is a business and confidentiality choice. Client-only content, intake portals and anything behind a login should not be crawled at all.
The robots.txt
To allow search and block training:
``` User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: /
User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: / ```
OpenAI says robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to take effect, and also recommends allowing requests from its published IP ranges, because a firewall or CDN can block the crawler even when robots.txt allows it.
How to check in five minutes
- Open yourfirm.com/robots.txt and search for OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot and a blanket
Disallow: /. - Ask your web team whether a firewall, security plugin or CDN bot rule blocks OpenAI's user agents or IP ranges.
- After a fix, wait a day, then ask ChatGPT a question about your city and case type and see whether your site is cited.
Allowing the crawler does not guarantee a mention. It removes one reason you could be left out; the other eight are in why isn't my law firm showing up in ChatGPT?. Bookedly (bookedly.co) is an AI marketing agency for law firms, and checking crawler access is step one of every AI SEO audit. See AI SEO for law firms and how to get your law firm recommended by ChatGPT.
Questions
Does blocking GPTBot hide my firm from ChatGPT?
No. GPTBot relates to training. Search appearance depends on OAI-SearchBot.
What is OAI-SearchBot?
OpenAI's crawler for ChatGPT search results. OpenAI recommends allowing it.
What happens if I block OAI-SearchBot?
Your site will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though it can still appear as a navigational link.
Is ChatGPT-User a crawler?
No. It visits pages on a user's request, and OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply.
Do other assistants have their own crawlers?
Yes. Perplexity, Google and others publish their own; check each one's documentation.
Is my firm's site blocking AI crawlers right now?
The Free AI Visibility Check includes it.
Sources (checked October 28, 2026)