CITEHUSTLE
OpenAI · User-initiated fetcher

ChatGPT-User

ChatGPT-User is the agent that fetches a specific URL when a person explicitly asks ChatGPT (or a custom GPT) to read or visit it. It is not a bulk crawler and is not used for training. It only fires in response to a direct user action. ChatGPT-User honors robots.txt.

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What does ChatGPT-User do?

User-agent token
ChatGPT-User
Operator
OpenAI
Feeds
ChatGPT live page fetches
robots.txt
Unverified

How do you control ChatGPT-User in robots.txt?

Edit the robots.txt file at the root of your domain (for example https://example.com/robots.txt), add one of the groups below, then save and re-deploy. Remember: a named User-agent: ChatGPT-User group overrides your global User-agent: * rules, so repeat any private Disallow paths inside it.

Allow ChatGPT-User (recommended for AI visibility)

# Welcome ChatGPT-User, but keep private areas blocked.
# A named user-agent group overrides "User-agent: *", so repeat
# your own private Disallow rules inside this group.
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /account/
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/

Block ChatGPT-User

# Block ChatGPT-User from the entire site.
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /

FAQ

When does ChatGPT-User visit my site?

Only when a ChatGPT user asks it to open a specific link or a GPT/action requests your page in real time. It does not crawl your site on its own.

Should I block ChatGPT-User?

Most publishers allow it. Blocking it stops ChatGPT from reading your page even when a user explicitly pastes your URL, which usually hurts more than it helps.

Is your site visible to AI crawlers?

Run a free technical access audit to inspect published crawler controls and raw HTML delivery. It does not measure whether an engine indexed or cited the site.

Run a free audit

Part of the Cite Hustle AI crawler directory. For the full framework on AI search visibility, read the GEO methodology.