---
title: "What is PerplexityBot?"
description: "What PerplexityBot (Perplexity) does with your content, whether to block it, and the exact robots.txt lines — in plain language."
canonical: https://see-geo.com/bots/perplexitybot
language: en
published: 2026-09-08
updated: 2026-09-08
publisher: SeeGeo
alternates:
  fr: https://see-geo.com/fr/bots/perplexitybot
  de: https://see-geo.com/de/bots/perplexitybot
---

# What is PerplexityBot?

PerplexityBot is Perplexity's AI search index crawler. Indexes pages for Perplexity's answer engine — Perplexity cites sources on almost every answer.

## What does PerplexityBot do with your content?

Indexes pages for Perplexity's answer engine — Perplexity cites sources on almost every answer. Like most AI crawlers, PerplexityBot reads your pages as plain HTML — it does not run JavaScript — so content that only appears after scripts execute is invisible to it.

## Should you block PerplexityBot?

Blocking PerplexityBot makes your business invisible to Perplexity's AI when customers ask it for recommendations. If you want to be found, allow it; block it only if you have a specific reason to keep Perplexity's AI away from your content.

## How do you allow or block PerplexityBot in robots.txt?

Add one of these snippets to the robots.txt file at the root of your site. The first explicitly allows PerplexityBot everywhere; the second blocks it completely.

```
# Allow PerplexityBot
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

# Block PerplexityBot
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Disallow: /
```

## Is robots.txt enough?

Not always. CDNs and firewalls (Cloudflare in particular) can block crawlers at the network level regardless of what robots.txt says — Cloudflare blocks AI crawlers by default for many accounts. If you want PerplexityBot to reach your site, check your CDN's bot settings too. SeeGeo's free audit checks both.

## How do I check whether PerplexityBot can read my site right now?

Two checks, both needed: read your robots.txt for a group naming PerplexityBot (or the * group it falls back to), then request your homepage with PerplexityBot's user agent and confirm you get a 200 with your real HTML rather than a 403 or a challenge page. SeeGeo's free crawler check runs both in a few seconds.

[Run the free AI crawler check](https://see-geo.com/ai-crawler-check)

## How does PerplexityBot compare to similar crawlers?

PerplexityBot is one of 16 crawlers the SeeGeo audit checks individually. The closest comparisons:

| Crawler | Operator | Role | Runs JavaScript? |
|---|---|---|---|
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | AI search index crawler | No |
| Perplexity-User | Perplexity | on-demand AI fetcher | No |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | AI search index crawler | No |
| Amazonbot | Amazon | AI search index crawler | No |
| DuckAssistBot | DuckDuckGo | AI search index crawler | No |

[All 16 crawlers, compared](https://see-geo.com/bots) · [What is an AI crawler?](https://see-geo.com/glossary/ai-crawler)

## Why does crawler access matter? The numbers

Crawler access is where AI visibility starts or ends: a blocked crawler can't read you, and an AI that can't read you can't recommend you.

- Visitors arriving from AI assistants convert at roughly 4.4x the rate of traditional organic search on average (Semrush, cross-industry, 2026).
- AI-assistant referrals are still only about 1% of total web traffic — small, but the fastest-growing acquisition channel measured (multiple 2026 studies).
- Adobe Digital Insights (Q1 2026) measured AI-assistant visitors converting 42% better than non-AI traffic — a full reversal from the year before.
- Cloudflare blocks AI crawlers by default for many accounts, so sites are often invisible to AI without anyone having decided to be.
- Content edits alone — statistics, citations, quotable structure — can raise AI visibility on the order of 30–40% (Princeton GEO study, KDD 2024).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is PerplexityBot?

PerplexityBot is Perplexity's AI search index crawler. Indexes pages for Perplexity's answer engine — Perplexity cites sources on almost every answer.

### Should I block PerplexityBot?

Blocking PerplexityBot makes your business invisible to Perplexity's AI when customers ask it for recommendations. If you want to be found, allow it; block it only if you have a specific reason to keep Perplexity's AI away from your content..

### Does PerplexityBot run JavaScript?

No. PerplexityBot, like most AI crawlers, reads raw HTML without executing JavaScript. If your content only renders client-side, it is effectively invisible to it.

### Can PerplexityBot read my website?

Only if two things are true: your robots.txt does not disallow PerplexityBot, and your server or CDN actually serves the page when PerplexityBot asks. Firewalls can block it regardless of robots.txt, so the reliable way to know is to fetch your homepage as PerplexityBot — the free check on see-geo.com/ai-crawler-check does exactly that.

## Related pages

- [What is Perplexity-User?](https://see-geo.com/bots/perplexity-user)
- [What is OAI-SearchBot?](https://see-geo.com/bots/oai-searchbot)
- [What is Amazonbot?](https://see-geo.com/bots/amazonbot)