Applebot-Extended & robots.txt
Control Apple Intelligence Access to Your Content
Applebot-Extended feeds Apple Intelligence, Siri AI, and Safari features. Blocking it does not affect your Apple Search rankings.
What is Applebot-Extended?
Apple runs two crawlers. Regular Applebot indexes pages for Siri and Spotlight search results. Then there's Applebot-Extended, which collects data specifically for Apple Intelligence and machine learning features.
Apple Intelligence powers Safari page summaries, smarter Siri answers, Writing Tools, and other AI features on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. With over 2 billion active Apple devices, this crawler's reach is significant.
Applebot vs Applebot-Extended
| Bot | Purpose | Blocking Impact |
|---|---|---|
Applebot | Siri & Spotlight search | Removes you from Siri results |
Applebot-Extended | AI training & Apple Intelligence | No effect on search rankings |
robots.txt Syntax for Applebot-Extended
Copy-paste these examples into your robots.txt file.
Allow Applebot-Extended
# Allow Apple Intelligence training
User-agent: Applebot-Extended
Allow: /
Apple Intelligence can use your content for AI features.
Block Applebot-Extended
# Block AI training, keep Siri
User-agent: Applebot-Extended
Disallow: /
Your Siri & Spotlight rankings remain unaffected.
Keep Siri, Block AI Training
# Allow Siri/Spotlight but block AI training
User-agent: Applebot
Allow: /
User-agent: Applebot-Extended
Disallow: /
This keeps your pages in Siri results while preventing Apple from using them for AI model training.
Why Applebot-Extended Matters
2B+ Devices
Apple Intelligence runs on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Content indexed by Applebot-Extended can surface across this entire ecosystem.
Safari Summaries
Safari now generates AI summaries of web pages. If Applebot-Extended has crawled your content, your pages may appear in these summaries.
Safe to Block
Unlike some AI crawlers, blocking Applebot-Extended has a clear separation from search. Your Apple Search visibility stays intact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Applebot-Extended?
Applebot-Extended is Apple's crawler for AI training and Apple Intelligence features. It's separate from regular Applebot, which indexes pages for Siri and Spotlight search. Applebot-Extended specifically collects data for Apple's AI and machine learning models.
What's the difference between Applebot and Applebot-Extended?
Regular Applebot crawls pages for Siri search results and Safari suggestions. Applebot-Extended crawls for AI training data and Apple Intelligence features. Blocking Applebot-Extended does NOT affect your Siri or Spotlight visibility. They're controlled independently in robots.txt.
Does blocking Applebot-Extended affect my Apple Search visibility?
No. Applebot-Extended is only for AI training. Your Siri results, Spotlight suggestions, and Safari content are handled by regular Applebot. Blocking Applebot-Extended has zero impact on Apple Search rankings.
Does Applebot-Extended respect robots.txt?
Yes. Apple has confirmed that Applebot-Extended respects robots.txt. You can allow or block it independently from regular Applebot.
What does Apple Intelligence use my content for?
Apple Intelligence powers features like Safari summaries, Siri AI answers, Writing Tools suggestions, and on-device AI features across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Content crawled by Applebot-Extended may be used to train these features.
Related robots.txt Guides
- Google-Extended & robots.txt — Gemini / AI Overviews
- GPTBot & robots.txt — OpenAI / ChatGPT
- OAI-SearchBot & robots.txt — ChatGPT Search
- ClaudeBot & robots.txt — Anthropic / Claude
- Complete AI Crawlers Guide — All 14 bots explained
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