AzureAI-SearchBot
AzureAI-SearchBot is listed as a search crawler, and its operator is unclear in the community reference. In October 2026, 259 sites block it, a 4.2% share of readable files.
Who runs AzureAI-SearchBot?
| Fact | AzureAI-SearchBot reference entry |
|---|---|
| Operator | “Unclear at this time.” |
| Purpose | “AI Search Crawlers” |
| Does AzureAI-SearchBot obey robots.txt? | “Unclear at this time.” |
| Frequency | “Unclear at this time.” |
| Cloudflare managed list for AzureAI-SearchBot | No |
These facts quote the stored community ai.robots.txt reference.
The listed use here is search. An owner may permit an assistant to read a page for someone and deny bulk collection that would use it as training material.
How many sites block it?
Of 6,171 robots.txt files we could read, 259 block the whole site with Disallow: /, or 4.2%. Another way to read the sample is by name, with 29 files naming it in a User-agent line, or 0.5%. The 5,912 remaining files have no recorded whole-site block.
For the top 1,000 ranks, its name appears in 3 files out of 552, or 0.5%. Whole-site blocks total 43. Blocking is more common among the leading sites, at 7.8%. Lower in the ranking, blocking reaches 216 files out of 5,619, a 3.8% share.
| Readable files | Named by | Named share | Blocked by | Blocked share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AzureAI-SearchBot, all ranks | 29 | 0.5% | 259 | 4.2% |
| AzureAI-SearchBot, top 1,000 | 3 | 0.5% | 43 | 7.8% |
| AzureAI-SearchBot, remaining ranks | 26 | 0.5% | 216 | 3.8% |
A general User-agent: * ban contributes to this total whenever it applies to this crawler. Of 259 blocks, 235 come only from that general rule, without naming this crawler. The overlap between naming and blocking is 24 files. Naming without a whole-site ban accounts for 5, and 6,142 files never name it. We ignore capitalization and repeated names.
Has that changed since August?
Between August and October, 16 sites that had blocked it stopped and 13 started, so 3 fewer of the same 5,889 sites block it. A further 214 blocked it in both months, and 5,646 did so in neither. Keeping the sites the same lets us count changes in their rules.
August’s full sample had 245 blocks among 6,236 readable files. October’s was 259 among 6,171. Those monthly totals also reflect which files we could read on each visit.
| August to October | Files |
|---|---|
| Started blocking | 13 |
| Stopped blocking | 16 |
| Blocked in both | 214 |
| Blocked in neither | 5,646 |
| Net change | -3 |
How to block or allow it
Use your site’s root file, robots.txt. Specific groups for AzureAI-SearchBot take precedence over User-agent: *, according to the robots.txt standard.
Block the whole site
User-agent: AzureAI-SearchBot
Disallow: /Allow access
User-agent: AzureAI-SearchBot
Allow: /It's the 139th most-named crawler of the 171 we counted in the crawler index.
How we counted
For AzureAI-SearchBot, the survey covered 10,000 top Tranco sites, collected on 19 October 2026. Files had an 8-second timeout and a 262,144-byte limit. Only available files we could read enter the percentages. Repeat readings are included, using scripts/robots_2026_08_06.py (robots.py at app commit 07104ff). See the full survey method.
Common questions
Can a file name it and still allow it?
The 29 files that mention its name do not all record a whole-site ban. Those without one total 5.
How do the shares compare by rank?
Its name appears in 0.5% of readable leading files and 0.5% overall. Blocking affects 7.8% in the leading group and 4.2% in all ranks.
What other entry is close in the index?
kagi-fetcher is named by 29 files and blocked by 90, or 1.5%. For this crawler, 29 files name it and 259 block it, a 4.2% share.