Is Your Site Visible to Perplexity?
Find out if PerplexityBot can access your website. See exactly what's blocking Perplexity AI from citing your content in search answers.
What We Check
robots.txt Analysis
We check if PerplexityBot is blocked in your robots.txt file — the first line of defense for crawler access.
Crawl Simulation
We simulate how Perplexity's crawler sees your pages, including JavaScript-rendered content.
Actionable Report
Get specific recommendations on how to fix any issues blocking Perplexity access.
Perplexity Crawlers We Analyze
Perplexity uses PerplexityBot as its official crawler, but the reality is more nuanced.
Perplexity's official web crawler for indexing content. Powers the AI search engine's citation-based answers.
In 2024, reports revealed Perplexity accessed sites that blocked PerplexityBot, using unmarked requests. BotView checks your actual accessibility, not just your rules.
We also check ChatGPT/GPTBot, Claude/ClaudeBot, and 11 other AI crawlers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PerplexityBot?
PerplexityBot is the official web crawler used by Perplexity AI to index content for its AI-powered search engine. It identifies itself as 'PerplexityBot' in the user-agent string and respects robots.txt rules. Perplexity uses this data to generate cited answers to user queries.
Why was Perplexity accused of ignoring robots.txt?
In 2024, investigations by Wired and Cloudflare revealed that Perplexity was accessing websites that had blocked PerplexityBot via robots.txt, potentially using unmarked IP addresses. Perplexity has since committed to respecting robots.txt, but the controversy highlighted the importance of monitoring actual crawler behavior — not just your robots.txt rules.
How do I allow Perplexity to access my site?
Check your robots.txt for 'User-agent: PerplexityBot' followed by 'Disallow: /'. Remove or modify this rule to allow access. If you have a blanket 'User-agent: *' disallow rule, you may need to add an explicit 'User-agent: PerplexityBot' with 'Allow: /' above it.
Should I allow or block PerplexityBot?
If you want your content cited in Perplexity's AI answers — with source attribution and links back to your site — you should allow it. Perplexity drives referral traffic by linking to sources. If you're concerned about AI training on your content without compensation, blocking is an option.
Does Perplexity actually send traffic to my site?
Yes. Unlike some AI tools, Perplexity includes source citations with links in every answer. Users frequently click through to source websites. Allowing PerplexityBot can drive meaningful referral traffic, especially for authoritative content.
Check Your Perplexity Visibility Now
It takes 30 seconds. See if Perplexity can access your site and get actionable recommendations.