Definition
ChatGPT-User is the user agent OpenAI uses when ChatGPT visits a web page because of a user's request, rather than as part of automatic crawling.
ChatGPT-User explained
When someone asks ChatGPT, or a custom GPT, to look at a page or to answer a question that needs live information, ChatGPT may fetch pages on that person's behalf. Those visits identify as ChatGPT-User. OpenAI notes that because these actions are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply to them.
That makes ChatGPT-User different from OpenAI's crawlers. GPTBot collects potential training data and OAI-SearchBot builds search visibility; both follow robots.txt, and OpenAI asks site owners to use OAI-SearchBot to manage search opt-outs. ChatGPT-User is closer to a person using a browser through the assistant.
You will see ChatGPT-User in server logs when people paste your URLs into ChatGPT or ask about your pages. If those requests are blocked by bot protection or return errors, ChatGPT can't read the page, and the person gets a vaguer answer or a competitor's page instead.
Example
A procurement manager pastes your pricing page URL into ChatGPT and asks for a summary of your plans. ChatGPT fetches the page as ChatGPT-User. If your firewall serves a challenge page, ChatGPT can't summarize your plans, and the manager moves on to a vendor whose page loads.
Why it matters
A ChatGPT-User visit usually means a real person is asking about your content right now. Making sure those requests succeed protects the answer at the moment of interest.
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Generative engine optimization servicesSources
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers (checked 30 Sep 2026)
Published by Vidern, founded and led by Malhar Shah. Updated .
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Related terms
- OAI-SearchBotOAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's crawler for surfacing websites in ChatGPT search, and blocking it keeps your pages out of ChatGPT search answers.
- GPTBotGPTBot is OpenAI's web crawler for collecting content that may be used to train its generative AI models, and it follows robots.txt.
- AI crawlerAn AI crawler is an automated bot run by an AI company that fetches web pages to train models, to build a search index, or to answer a user's question.
- PerplexityBotPerplexityBot is Perplexity's crawler for surfacing and linking websites in its answers, and Perplexity says it isn't used to train AI models.