Applebot: what it does, and what blocking it means
Apple's search and citation crawler. Blocking it removes you from Siri, Spotlight, Safari search and Apple Intelligence citations.
| Operator | Apple |
|---|---|
| What it does | Search & training |
| Obeys robots.txt | Yes, per its operator's docs |
| Governs | Other AI assistants |
| Has a crawler | Yes |
| Last verified | 2 September 2026 |
| Next review | 2 December 2026. We re-check every entry against the operator’s documentation each quarter. |
What happens if you block Applebot?
Blocking it affects
- Siri, Spotlight and Safari search
- Apple Intelligence citations
Does Applebot follow your Googlebot rules?
Applebot renders JavaScript, so it sees client-side content the AI crawlers miss.
It has one behaviour most files get the benefit of by accident: if your file names Googlebot but says nothing about Applebot, Applebot follows your Googlebot rules. So a file that carefully allows Google is allowing Apple too, and one that disallows Googlebot has just disallowed Apple without saying so.
Cloudflare added Applebot to its mixed-use list on 15 September 2026, so its AI blocking settings can now apply to it. Worth knowing because the consequence is not an AI one: this is the token behind Siri, Spotlight and Safari search, and a setting chosen to refuse training can quietly take those with it. Apple's actual training opt-out is Applebot-Extended, which costs no search visibility at all.
Worth knowing about Applebot
Apple publishes Applebot's IP ranges as a JSON file. When we checked it on 2 September 2026 it listed 33 address blocks.
How do you block or allow Applebot in robots.txt?
To block Applebot:
User-agent: Applebot
Disallow: /To allow it explicitly, use an Allow: / rule if your file has a blanket User-agent: * disallow:
User-agent: Applebot
Allow: /With neither rule, Applebot is allowed by default.
One exception worth knowing: with no group for Applebot but one for Googlebot, Applebot follows those rules instead of the wildcard.
Not sure how Applebot fits with the others? Build the whole file, or see which AI crawlers to allow.
Is your site blocking Applebot?
A CDN or bot-management rule can still block Applebot even when robots.txt says it is welcome. You cannot see that mismatch from the front of the site.
We request your robots.txt and homepage. We read your sitemap only when robots.txt hides pages from a crawler and we need to measure how much is affected. No other page.
Guides about Applebot
- Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers?
A correct robots.txt can still leave a site inaccessible. Here is what to look for when Cloudflare is in the way.
Official sources
- Apple’s crawler documentation
- Published IP ranges is the only way to verify a request claiming this user agent really came from Apple
How is Applebot different from Apple’s other crawlers?
| Applebot | Applebot-Extended | |
|---|---|---|
| Its job | Search & training | Model training |
| Blocking it affects | Siri, Spotlight and Safari search; Apple Intelligence citations | Apple foundation-model training |
| Blocking it leaves alone | Nothing else | Siri, Spotlight and Safari search |
| Obeys robots.txt | Yes, per its operator's docs | Yes, per its operator's docs |
| Verifiable by IP | Yes, ranges are published | No, no published ranges |
| Last verified | 2 September 2026 | 2 September 2026 |
Which other crawlers do the same job as Applebot?
- Amazonbot: Search & training, run by Amazon