Does webmd.com block AI crawlers?
Blocks AI training, allows AI answers
webmd.com blocks at least one AI training crawler but still lets AI answer engines read its pages.
Checked from webmd.com/robots.txt. Robots rules change; the live file is the source of truth.
- AI crawlers blocked
- 3 of 12
- AI bots named in robots.txt
- 3
- llms.txt
- Not found
- Popularity
- Tranco top 1,000 (#969)
Can AI assistants cite webmd.com?
- ChatGPT search: its search crawlers may read the site
- Claude: its search crawlers may read the site
- Perplexity: its search crawlers may read the site
webmd.com opts out of AI training by OpenAI, Anthropic, Common Crawl. Training crawlers and answer crawlers are separate: blocking training doesn't by itself remove a site from AI answers.
AI crawler access, bot by bot
| Crawler | Used for | Status on webmd.com |
|---|---|---|
| GPTBotOpenAI | AI training | Blocked |
| OAI-SearchBotOpenAI | AI answers | Some paths restricted |
| ChatGPT-UserOpenAI | AI answers | Some paths restricted |
| ClaudeBotAnthropic | AI training | Blocked |
| Claude-SearchBotAnthropic | AI answers | Some paths restricted |
| Claude-UserAnthropic | AI answers | Some paths restricted |
| PerplexityBotPerplexity | AI answers | Some paths restricted |
| Google-ExtendedGoogle | AI training | Some paths restricted |
| Applebot-ExtendedApple | AI training | Some paths restricted |
| CCBotCommon Crawl | AI training | Blocked |
| BytespiderByteDance | AI training | Some paths restricted |
| Meta-ExternalAgentMeta | AI training | Some paths restricted |
How webmd.com compares
- 19% of the 1,278 popular sites we checked block GPTBot; webmd.com is one of them.
- 18% of the 1,278 popular sites we checked block ClaudeBot; webmd.com is one of them.
- 14% of the 1,278 popular sites we checked block PerplexityBot; webmd.com does not.
- Among 199 sites of similar popularity, 32% block at least one AI crawler.
The robots.txt rules that apply to AI crawlers
User-agent: * Disallow: */search/search_results/ Disallow: /500 Disallow: /aim/ Disallow: /api/ Disallow: /bipolar-disorder/video/bipolar-fatherhood Disallow: /bipolar-disorder/video/bipolar-toolbox Disallow: /breast-cancer/bc-treatment-21/provider-select Disallow: /click* Disallow: /dna Disallow: /drugs/2/search* Disallow: /drugs/ReportAbuse.aspx* Disallow: /kapi/ Disallow: /mm/ Disallow: /my-library Disallow: /news/header.php Disallow: /pill-identification/search-results* Disallow: /search/2/api/ Disallow: /Share.aspx* Disallow: /sponsored/ Disallow: /static/ Disallow: /story/ Disallow: /webmd_static_vue/ User-agent: CCBot Disallow: / User-agent: ClaudeBot Disallow: / User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: /
Excerpt: only groups for all user-agents (*) or named AI crawlers, up to 40 rules per group.
Sites with a similar AI policy
- onet.pl · 2 blocked
- flightradar24.com · 2 blocked
- flashscore.com · 3 blocked
- latimes.com · 3 blocked
- letterboxd.com · 7 blocked
- hbr.org · 3 blocked
- themeforest.net · 1 blocked
- n-tv.de · 3 blocked
All sites that are “blocks ai training, allows ai answers” →
Does webmd.com block GPTBot?
Yes. As of Oct 2, 2026, webmd.com's robots.txt disallows GPTBot, OpenAI's training crawler.
Can ChatGPT search show results from webmd.com?
Its robots.txt doesn't block OAI-SearchBot or ChatGPT-User, so ChatGPT's search crawlers may read it. Whether pages are actually shown depends on ChatGPT.
Does webmd.com have an llms.txt file?
We didn't find a valid llms.txt at webmd.com/llms.txt when we checked.
Data: webmd.com's public robots.txt and llms.txt, fetched by AskableHQ. Popularity rank from the Tranco list (ID Y83YG). Methodology.