Agent Grade / AI bots by site / techcrunch.com
Does techcrunch.com block ChatGPT?
techcrunch.com blocks AI training but lets AI search in. ChatGPT search is allowed, and OpenAI's training bot is blocked. From its public robots.txt, checked 23 to 24 October 2026. It ranks #637 on the Tranco list of top sites.
| Bot | What it does | Home page | Deciding rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Googlebot | Google Search | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| Bingbot | Bing / Copilot | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| OAI-SearchBot | ChatGPT search | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| ChatGPT-User | ChatGPT (user asks) | Blocked | User-agent: ChatGPT-User / Disallow: / |
| GPTBot | OpenAI training | Blocked | User-agent: GPTBot / Disallow: / |
| Claude-SearchBot | Claude search | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| Claude-User | Claude (user asks) | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic training | Blocked | User-agent: ClaudeBot / Disallow: / |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity search | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| Perplexity-User | Perplexity (user asks) | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| Google-Extended | Gemini training | Blocked | User-agent: Google-Extended / Disallow: / |
| Applebot-Extended | Apple AI training | Blocked | User-agent: Applebot-Extended / Disallow: / |
| CCBot | Common Crawl | Blocked | User-agent: CCBot / Disallow: / |
| meta-externalagent | Meta AI | Allowed | no rule blocks it |
| Bytespider | ByteDance | Blocked | User-agent: Bytespider / Disallow: / |
"Blanket rule": techcrunch.com never names that bot; a rule for every bot (User-agent: *) applies. llms.txt: No. robots.txt is what a site asks bots to do; some sites also block bots at the network edge.
Questions
Does techcrunch.com block ChatGPT search?
No. In its robots.txt as checked 23 to 24 October 2026, techcrunch.com lets OAI-SearchBot, the crawler behind ChatGPT search, read its home page.
Does techcrunch.com block GPTBot?
Yes. techcrunch.com blocks GPTBot, OpenAI's training crawler (User-agent: GPTBot / Disallow: /).
Does techcrunch.com block Claude?
ClaudeBot (Anthropic training): blocked. Claude-SearchBot (Claude search): allowed. Claude-User (fetches for a person): allowed.
Does techcrunch.com have an llms.txt file?
We did not find an llms.txt file on techcrunch.com, or its robots.txt did not allow us to fetch it.
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