Free tools / Crawler identity inspector
Crawler identity inspector: which crawler sent this request?
Our crawler identity inspector names the AI or search crawler a user agent or log line claims to be, from a published list of 13 crawlers and tokens with each operator's documentation. Anyone can copy a user agent, so we also show how to verify the claim with the operator's published IP ranges or reverse DNS.
The inspector runs in this page. What you paste stays in your browser: we look nothing up and send nothing to our server. Paste one user agent, one access log line or one JSON log entry, up to 4,000 characters.
No email is needed, and nothing you paste is stored. A shared result stays in its link, not on our server.
What we check and why
The name in the user agent
We match the names on our list as whole tokens, so Googlebot-Image is not read as Googlebot and Applebot-Extended is not read as Applebot.
The address in a log line
From a combined log line or a JSON log entry we read the IP address, the request and the status. A private address means a proxy or CDN sat in front of your server, so the line does not show who sent the request.
How to verify it
OpenAI and Perplexity publish IP ranges for their agents; Google, Microsoft Bing and Apple support a reverse DNS lookup followed by a forward lookup. We show the steps with your address filled in. We do not run the lookups.
Tokens that never send requests
Google-Extended and Applebot-Extended are robots.txt tokens. A request that names one did not come from Google or Apple under that name.
Crawlers and tokens on our list
Roles and documentation links follow our published crawler definitions file, checked 30 October 2026. Google-Extended and Applebot-Extended are robots.txt tokens documented on the same Google and Apple pages.
| Name | Operator | Role | Verify by | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
GPTBot | OpenAI | Training-related crawl | Published IP ranges | OpenAI documentation |
OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | Search for ChatGPT | Published IP ranges | OpenAI documentation |
ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | User-initiated retrieval, not automatic crawl | Published IP ranges | OpenAI documentation |
ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Training-related crawl | Operator documentation | Anthropic documentation |
Claude-SearchBot | Anthropic | Search-related crawl | Operator documentation | Anthropic documentation |
Claude-User | Anthropic | User-initiated retrieval | Operator documentation | Anthropic documentation |
PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Search crawl | Published IP ranges | Perplexity documentation |
Perplexity-User | Perplexity | User-initiated retrieval | Published IP ranges | Perplexity documentation |
Google-Extended | robots.txt token that controls use in Google AI products; no request carries it | Not a request; robots.txt token | Google documentation | |
Applebot-Extended | Apple | robots.txt token that controls use in Apple AI products; no request carries it | Not a request; robots.txt token | Apple documentation |
Googlebot | General Google Search crawl; not specific evidence of AI use | Reverse DNS, then forward DNS (googlebot.com, google.com) | Google documentation | |
Bingbot | Microsoft Bing | General Bing crawl; not specific evidence of AI use | Reverse DNS, then forward DNS (search.msn.com) | Microsoft Bing documentation |
Applebot | Apple | Apple search-related crawl; AI use cannot be inferred per request | Reverse DNS, then forward DNS (applebot.apple.com) | Apple documentation |
Questions
Can a request that says GPTBot be fake?
Yes. A user agent is text the sender writes, and any script can copy it. A request comes from OpenAI's GPTBot when its IP address falls inside the ranges OpenAI publishes for GPTBot.
Is Googlebot an AI crawler?
Googlebot crawls for Google Search, and Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode are part of Google Search. Google-Extended is a separate robots.txt token that no request carries; Google documents what it controls on its crawler page.
Do you look up the IP address for me?
No. The inspector runs in your browser and calls no lookup service, so your log line stays with you. We show the commands to run and what a passing answer looks like.
Want the fix made for you?
Answer Repair completes one agreed source-backed page or fix. Choose Live or Handoff before payment. Due 48 elapsed hours after Ready. Full refund on request within 30 days of delivery.
When you want us to do the work, every offer and its published price is on our offers page. More free checks: the ChatGPT Business Hub readiness check, the robots.txt tester, the AI access checker, the AI bot analytics tool and our guide to agent traffic, or see all free tools. Read next: How can you see which AI crawlers visit your site? and How do AI search crawlers differ from AI training crawlers?