OAI-AdsBot
OpenAI · reviewed 2026-11-05
About OAI-AdsBot
Fetches pages for OpenAI's advertising-related surfaces.
Operates ChatGPT and the OpenAI API; separates user-triggered fetches, search indexing, ads fetching and training crawlers into distinct user agents.
Usually means: An ad system fetched this URL for landing-page review, policy checks or ad quality.
Identity
User agent
Crawlers are matched by token, not the full browser string. Providers may add version or product text around it.
robots.txt token
Use this token in a User-agent line to allow or block the crawler.
Block this token
User-agent: OAI-AdsBot Disallow: /
A Disallow only stops crawlers that honor robots.txt. Classify the category before blocking; check the live file with the robots.txt checker.
Verify a hit
A matching user agent is not proof: any client can send the string. When the vendor publishes network data, compare the request against it before you trust the hit.
Match the user agent
Request UA contains OAI-AdsBot.
Check reverse DNS
The vendor publishes no reverse-DNS suffix.
Check the IP range
The vendor publishes no IP ranges.
A verified hit proves the network path; it does not prove what the crawler will do with the page.
OAI-AdsBot: common questions
What is OAI-AdsBot?
OAI-AdsBot is a crawler from OpenAI, filed under Ads. Fetches pages for OpenAI's advertising-related surfaces. Requests advertise it in the User-Agent header as OAI-AdsBot.
Does OAI-AdsBot train AI models?
No. It is used for ad review and landing-page checks, not for training.
How do I block OAI-AdsBot in robots.txt?
Add a group with User-agent: OAI-AdsBot and Disallow: / to robots.txt, then re-test the live file. robots.txt matches the token, not the full User-Agent string, and blocking this token does not block the vendor's other crawlers.
How do I verify an OAI-AdsBot hit?
Only by user agent. OpenAI publishes neither reverse DNS nor IP ranges, so a match is not checked — that is not the same as forged, but it is not proof either.
Testing a block? Run the live file through the robots.txt tester or check the whole AI crawler access group.
See when OAI-AdsBot hits your site
Page scripts never see AI crawlers because they do not run JavaScript. Install the server probe and each hit lands in the Crawlers block with its path and status.