Aggressive Official docs AI & LLM Bots

ChatGPT-User/2.0

Operated by OpenAI

Quick Facts

User-Agent:
ChatGPT-User
Category:
AI & LLM Bots
Operator:
OpenAI
Safety:
Aggressive
Blocking Impact:
Low - No SEO ranking impact
SEO Impact Score:
2/10
Official docs:
platform.openai.com

Confirmed by the operator

OpenAI names ChatGPT-User on its own documentation page, linked above. The token, purpose and robots.txt behaviour on this profile come from that page, re-checked on September 22, 2026.

What is ChatGPT-User/2.0?

Version 2.0 of the ChatGPT-User agent, representing updated browsing capabilities of the ChatGPT model.

Version 2.0 of the ChatGPT-User agent, representing updated browsing capabilities of the ChatGPT model.
ChatGPT-User/2.0 is an AI data-collection crawler operated by OpenAI. It harvests web content to build or expand training datasets for large language models (LLMs). Unlike search crawlers, ChatGPT-User/2.0 does NOT influence your page ranking in any search engine. The user-agent string ChatGPT-User can be safely blocked via robots.txt, meta tags (noai), or the emerging llms.txt standard without any SEO penalty. Robots.txt is voluntary; for hard enforcement, combine it with server-level IP blocking.

What happens if you block ChatGPT-User/2.0?

✅ No SEO Impact - Blocking ChatGPT-User/2.0 does not affect your rankings in Google, Bing, or any other search engine. ChatGPT-User/2.0 is an AI training crawler, not a search indexer. You can freely block it via User-agent: ChatGPT-User / Disallow: / without any SEO penalty. This is the recommended approach if you want to opt out of OpenAI's LLM training datasets.
Block this bot - it provides no SEO benefit and wastes crawl budget.

Want to see whether ChatGPT-User/2.0 actually visits you? Read how do I monitor AI bot traffic to my website?

How to block ChatGPT-User/2.0 with robots.txt

<code>User-agent: ChatGPT-User</code> - Matching is case-insensitive. Robots.txt is fetched from the root of each subdomain separately. For aggressive bots, supplement with server-level blocking for guaranteed enforcement.

Block completely (robots.txt)
User-agent: ChatGPT-User Disallow: /
Allow all (robots.txt)
User-agent: ChatGPT-User Allow: /
Block private only (robots.txt)
User-agent: ChatGPT-User Disallow: /private/ Disallow: /api/ Disallow: /admin/ Allow: /
Nginx server block
# Nginx: Hard-block ChatGPT-User/2.0 if ($http_user_agent ~* "ChatGPT\-User") { return 403 "Bot blocked"; }
Apache .htaccess
# Apache: Hard-block ChatGPT-User/2.0 SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "ChatGPT\-User" bad_bot Order Allow,Deny Allow from all Deny from env=bad_bot
Meta robots tag
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
X-Robots-Tag header
X-Robots-Tag: noindex, nofollow

Is ChatGPT-User/2.0 safe to allow?

🔴 ChatGPT-User/2.0 is classified as Aggressive. This bot has been observed ignoring robots.txt directives, crawling at excessive rates that impact server performance, or collecting data in ways that violate standard web etiquette. We strongly recommend blocking this bot at both the robots.txt level AND server level (Nginx/Apache/Cloudflare WAF). A robots.txt block alone may be insufficient if the bot does not respect it.

What does ChatGPT-User/2.0 do?

Understanding ChatGPT-User/2.0's purpose helps you decide whether to allow or block it.

  • Collects web content for AI model training
  • Gathers data to improve language understanding
  • Scrapes text, code, and other content for datasets
  • May be used for chatbot and AI assistant development
  • Typically does NOT affect search engine rankings

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official user-agent string for ChatGPT-User/2.0?
The official user-agent string for ChatGPT-User/2.0 is: ChatGPT-User. This is the exact string you must use in robots.txt, Nginx, Apache, or Cloudflare firewall rules to target this bot. User-agent matching in robots.txt is case-insensitive, but the string must be spelled correctly. You can verify that a request genuinely comes from ChatGPT-User/2.0 by performing a reverse-DNS lookup on the source IP - legitimate bots resolve back to their operator's domain.
Is ChatGPT-User/2.0 safe?
🔴 ChatGPT-User/2.0 is classified as Aggressive. This bot has been observed ignoring robots.txt directives, crawling at excessive rates that impact server performance, or collecting data in ways that violate standard web etiquette. We strongly recommend blocking this bot at both the robots.txt level AND server level (Nginx/Apache/Cloudflare WAF). A robots.txt block alone may be insufficient if the bot does not respect it.
Will blocking ChatGPT-User/2.0 hurt my SEO?
✅ No SEO Impact - Blocking ChatGPT-User/2.0 does not affect your rankings in Google, Bing, or any other search engine. ChatGPT-User/2.0 is an AI training crawler, not a search indexer. You can freely block it via User-agent: ChatGPT-User / Disallow: / without any SEO penalty. This is the recommended approach if you want to opt out of OpenAI's LLM training datasets.
How do I block ChatGPT-User/2.0 in robots.txt?
Add the following lines to your /robots.txt file:
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /

This instructs ChatGPT-User/2.0 not to crawl any path on your site. The Disallow: / directive covers the entire domain including subfolders. To only block specific sections, replace / with the path (e.g., Disallow: /blog/). Note: robots.txt is publicly readable - any bot or human can inspect it at yourdomain.com/robots.txt.
Does ChatGPT-User/2.0 respect robots.txt?
⚠️ ChatGPT-User/2.0 may not always respect robots.txt. For guaranteed blocking, combine robots.txt with server-level rules (Nginx if/return 403, Apache SetEnvIf, or Cloudflare WAF).
How do I verify if ChatGPT-User/2.0 is crawling my site?
Search your web server access logs for the string ChatGPT-User (case-insensitive grep: grep -i "ChatGPT-User" /var/log/nginx/access.log). You can also check Google Search Console → Coverage → Crawl Stats for Googlebot variants. For ChatGPT-User/2.0 specifically, filter by user-agent in your log analysis tool (GoAccess, AWStats, etc.).
What is the crawl frequency of ChatGPT-User/2.0?
Crawl frequency data for ChatGPT-User/2.0 is not publicly documented. Monitor your logs to understand actual visit patterns.
Can I block ChatGPT-User/2.0 from specific pages only?
Yes. Instead of a global Disallow: / you can restrict ChatGPT-User/2.0 to specific paths:
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /staging/
Allow: /

This allows ChatGPT-User/2.0 everywhere except the listed paths. Path matching in robots.txt uses prefix matching - Disallow: /private/ blocks /private/page.html but NOT /public/private/.
Does blocking ChatGPT-User/2.0 prevent AI training on my content?
Blocking ChatGPT-User/2.0 via robots.txt signals to OpenAI that your content should not be used for AI training. However, robots.txt is a voluntary protocol - there is no technical enforcement. For stronger protection:
1. Add <meta name="ChatGPT-User" content="noai, noimageai, noindex"> to your pages.
2. Add a llms.txt file at your domain root (emerging standard).
3. Use Cloudflare WAF or Nginx to return 403 for this user-agent.
4. Consider IP blocklists for OpenAI's known crawler IP ranges.
Is there an alternative to robots.txt to opt out of ChatGPT-User/2.0?
Yes. Several additional opt-out mechanisms exist for AI crawlers:
• Meta tag: <meta name="ChatGPT-User" content="noindex">
• X-Robots-Tag HTTP header: X-Robots-Tag: noai, noimageai
• llms.txt: Add a /llms.txt file (similar to robots.txt but for LLMs)
• Server block: Return 403 or 429 for this user-agent via WAF or Nginx
Using multiple layers provides the strongest protection.

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