Title: Block AI Crawlers Author: lastsplash (a11n) Published: March 13, 2024 Last modified: August 30, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/block-ai-crawlers/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3074623) # Block AI Crawlers By [lastsplash (a11n)](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lastsplash/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/block-ai-crawlers.1.6.2.zip) [Live Preview](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/?preview=1) * [Details](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/#description) * [Reviews](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/#reviews) * [Installation](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/#installation) * [Development](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/) ## Description Protect Your Content from AI Scraping This plugin tells AI companies not to crawl your site for their products via standard` robots.txt` rules. ### Features ### Blocks AI Bots and Crawlers The plugin blocks dozens of AI bots via your site’s `robots.txt` file. You can toggle the blocks for each individual crawler. Blocked crawlers include: * **OpenAI** – Blocks crawlers used for ChatGPT * **Google** – Blocks crawlers used by Google’s Gemini AI products * **Meta** – Blocks FacebookBot and Meta training crawlers * **Anthropic** – Blocks crawlers used by Claude * **Perplexity** – Blocks crawlers used by Perplexity * **Apple** – Blocks Applebot-Extended * **Amazon** – Blocks Amazonbot * …and 150+ more via ai.robots.txt The blocked crawler list is generated at build time from [ai.robots.txt](https://github.com/ai-robots-txt/ai.robots.txt)(` robots.json`, MIT). See the plugin’s `README.md` for license attribution. ### Experimental Meta Tags The plugin adds the experimental “noai, noimageai” directive to your site’s meta tags. You can toggle this on and off as needed. ### Custom robots.txt Rules Have custom entries for your robots.txt file? You can now add them directly through the plugin! ### Usage After activation, the plugin will automatically update your `robots.txt` and add the necessary meta tags. No further configuration is required, but you can check the settings page for a full list of blocked crawlers. ### Limitations While this plugin aims to block specified crawlers, it cannot guarantee complete protection against all forms of scraping, as some bots may disregard `robots.txt` directives. ### Support For questions or support, [please post on the forums](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/). ## Screenshots [⌊Plugin page showing which crawlers are blocked⌉⌊Plugin page showing which crawlers are blocked⌉[ Plugin page showing which crawlers are blocked ## Installation 1. Download the plugin zip file. 2. Go to your WordPress admin panel. 3. Navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin. 4. Choose the zip file and click “Install Now.” 5. Activate the plugin.1. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress 6. Once installed the plugin is automatically activated. There are no user configured settings 7. You can view more about what crawlers are being blocked at “Settings > Block AI Crawlers”. You can also toggle blocking of individual crawlers. ## FAQ ### Will this remove my site from existing data sets? No. It tells bots and crawlers that your site shouldn’t be used for future training and new datasets. However, it is up to the AI companies to resepect this. ### How does this work? The plugin adds directives to the `robots.txt` file to tell AI crawlers that they shouldn’t index your site. It also adds the `noai` meta tag to your site’s header to do the same. ### How often is this updated? The block list is generated from the [ai.robots.txt](https://github.com/ai-robots-txt/ai.robots.txt) project. When that upstream list changes, a GitHub Action opens an issue so the plugin can be rebuilt and released. ### What if I already have a `robots.txt` file on my web server? If you have a physical `robots.txt` file on your web server, you won’t be able to activate this plugin. The plugin only works when using WordPress’ built-in virtual` robots.txt`. ### Will this work with other plugins that modify the virtual `robots.txt`? It should in theory. It just appends the directives to the `robots.txt` file. ### Will this prevent my site from being indexed by search engines? No. Search engines follow different `robots.txt` rules. ### My `robots.txt` isn’t updated after toggling blocks! The `robots.txt` file can be cached via your web server, a plugin, or CDN (for example, Cloudflare). Once the cache period expires, the updated `robots.txt` will be served. You can test by running the following on the command line: ``` curl -sSL 'https://example.com/robots.txt' && echo ``` ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a62295d9cb4f713a0e3b6bc557f9a59c1acfc0727497b0cb10e41969bd46922b? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[too blunt a tool](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/too-blunt-a-tool/)󠁿 [rcharbonxx](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rcharbonxx/) July 23, 2026 1 reply Simple, but you're stuck with their blocklist with no way to edit it to allow desired access. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/38012e8ba8c9a88385ef99dfab2b8fff17fa2708a45036cb9dafad9b122de106? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[thank you!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/thank-you-3759/)󠁿 [veggiegusto](https://profiles.wordpress.org/veggiegusto/) July 14, 2026 1 reply very useful, thank you ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb94ea153c1ec534e01dce7b2f0dbca4cca9c8aa19dcbeb9f5c7de7a8f8bb85f? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Not works with the terrible Google AI Overview](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/not-works-with-the-terrible-google-ai-overview/)󠁿 [pizienolamitica](https://profiles.wordpress.org/pizienolamitica/) July 10, 2026 1 reply Please, add a feature to block the Google Al Overview and the same block for Bing index. Thanks ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/41f38ad1fe5ca573acf77c66a3cb2e6af8801e090e36d54e282996b3b5ba688b? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Useful plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/useful-plugin-1094/)󠁿 [kotoedo](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kotoedo/) July 18, 2025 1 reply Great plugin, used it with the opposite intention; i.e., to quickly obtain a list of AI crawlers to later allow on a website 😉 ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d4337bf44d4d67864b117d101a5c909b851d2e7a9241e038cb85f1a8dbd5d35e? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Thank You](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/thank-you-3636/)󠁿 [kiyasu](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kiyasu/) May 6, 2025 1 reply Seems to do what it does, and let's hope as many sites and companies would obey the robots.txt file. I did have to remove or rename my hand-typed robots.txt file for this work, but after that, I am very happy with the results. My only "issue" with the newly created robots.txt file is that it includes extra lines like the Sitemap line that I want to change, but this may or may not be related to this plugin and I'll figure out how to change those other parts of the robots.txt. Anyway, I like using this plugin together with the "Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection" plugin. Very happy with the results these two plugins did for my Woocommerce store! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f4bb69d9311e1e109a8b59e991d15d157cdc44bf59089c0615b850d5bee48082? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Excellent, much needed and off to a good start](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/excellent-much-needed-and-off-to-a-good-start/)󠁿 [scbv](https://profiles.wordpress.org/scbv/) November 13, 2024 Really appreciate this plugin. Have had it for about 1 month, great to see new updates getting pushed out. The one feature would love to see is how to append or edit to the virtual robots.txt file. Tried using "Block AI Crawlers" plugin in conjunction with the plugin "Virtual Robots.txt" and it's one or the other, can't use both. " Virtual Robots.txt" overrides "Block AI Crawlers". [ Read all 8 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “Block AI Crawlers” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ lastsplash (a11n) ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lastsplash/) “Block AI Crawlers” has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/block-ai-crawlers/contributors) for their contributions. [Translate “Block AI Crawlers” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/block-ai-crawlers) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/block-ai-crawlers/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/block-ai-crawlers/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/block-ai-crawlers/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/block-ai-crawlers/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.6.2 * Tested up to WordPress 7.1. #### 1.6.1 – 08/01/2026 * Add: Sync blocked crawler list from ai.robots.txt (remove IbouBot) * Update: Replace screenshot #### 1.6.0 – 07/24/2026 * New: Per-crawler toggles to opt individual bots out of robots.txt blocking * New: Optional toggle for the experimental `noai, noimageai` meta tag * Enhancement: Sticky header on the blocked crawlers settings table #### 1.5.8 – 07/15/2026 * Enhancement: Generate blocked crawler list from ai.robots.txt robots.json at build time * Enhancement: Sync admin settings crawler table with the same generated list * New: Monitor upstream robots.json and open a GitHub issue when it changes #### 1.5.7 – 07/04/2026 * New: Indicate WordPress v7.0 compatibility #### 1.5.6 – 02/15/2026 * Fix: Update Claude blocking * New: Block MistralAI-user * New: Block LinerBot * New: Block Google-CloudVertexBot * New: Block VelenPublicWebCrawler #### 1.5.5 – 11/28/2025 * Indicate WordPress v6.9 compatibility * Fix: Variable naming issues identified by Plugin Check #### 1.5.4 * Bump version number * New: Block Brightbot * New: Block DeepSeekBot * New: Block TerraCotta * Fix: Plugin check errors #### 1.5.2 * New: Block Yak * New: Block Bigsur.ai * New: Block AddSearchBot * New: Block Google Agents * New: Block Thinkbot * New: Block Posideon Research Center * New: Block EchoboxBot * New: Block Bedrockbot * New: Block Panscient * New: Block SBIntuitionsBot * New: Block PhindBot * New: Block YandexAdditional #### 1.5.1 * New: Block aiHitBot * New: Block Cotoyogi * New: Block Factset * New: Block Firecrawl * New: Block TikTokSpider * New: Block Perplexity‑User * Update: Meta External Agent and Meta External Fetcher * Update: New Claude Bots * Update: Indicate WordPress v6.8 compatibility #### 1.5.0 * Enhancement: Adds ability for custom robots.txt rules #### 1.4.3 * New: Block SemrushBot * New: Block Crawlspace #### 1.4.2 * New: Block PanguBot #### 1.4.1 * New: Block Turnitinbot * New: Block Ai2Bot-Dolma * Enhancement: WordPress 6.7 compatibility #### 1.4.0 * New: Block Kangaroo Bot * New: Block sentibot * New: Block FriendlyCrawler * New: Block Scrapy * Fix: Broken link to settings page from Plugins page * Enhancement: Improve `readme.md` and `readme.txt` #### 1.3.9 * New: Block PetalBot * New: Block AI2Bot * New: Block Webz.io * New: Block OpenAI Search Bot (SearchGPT) * Enhancement: Alphabetize list of blocked crawlers * Enhancement: Indicate compatibility with WordPress v6.6 * Enhancement: Add quick link to settings and nudge for rating on plugins page #### 1.3.8 * Maintenance: Auto-deply from Github fixed / bumped version number #### 1.3.7 * New: Meta AI * New: Block You.com Crawler * New: Block AmazonBot * New: Block Timpibot #### 1.3.6 * New: Block Perplexity * New: Block Apple AI * Update: FAQ based on submitted question #### 1.3.5 * New: Block additional Omgili bot * New: Block Imagesift * Fix: Fix settings page * Add: `blueprint.json` for plugin preview #### 1.3.3 * Fix: Issue with fatal errors on activation #### 1.3.1 * New: Blocks Anthropic’s Claude * Fix: Missing external link icons * Update: Bump tested to v6.5.3 #### 1.3.0 * New: Adds settings page showing blocked crawlers * Enhancement: Remove crawler description in `robots.txt` #### 1.2.2 * Update: Adds deploy from GitHub #### 1.2.1 * Maintenance: Adds deploy from GitHub #### 1.2.0 * Block Cohere crawler * Block DiffBot crawler * Block Anthropic AI crawler * Indicate compatibility w/WordPress 6.5.2 #### 1.1.0 * Blocks additional crawlers. #### 1.0.0 Initial Release. ## Meta * Version **1.6.2** * Last updated **2 months ago** * Active installations **1،000+** * WordPress version ** 6.9 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.1.3** * PHP version ** 8.2 or higher ** * Languages * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/) and [Italian](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/). * [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/block-ai-crawlers) * Tags * [AI](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/ai/)[ChatGPT](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/chatgpt/) [crawlers](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/crawlers/)[robots.txt](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/robots-txt/) * [Advanced View](https://syr.wordpress.org/plugins/block-ai-crawlers/advanced/) ## Ratings 4.4 out of 5 stars. * [ 5 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 1 4-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 2 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/?filter=1) [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ lastsplash (a11n) ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lastsplash/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/)