AI crawler directory · OpenAI
OAI-AdsBot
Validates pages submitted as ChatGPT ads and informs ad relevance; only visits pages submitted as ads.
The verdict
Blocking OAI-AdsBot has a narrow, documented effect — usually safe unless the specific feature matters to you.
robots.txt
To allow
User-agent: OAI-AdsBot Allow: /
To block
User-agent: OAI-AdsBot Disallow: /
Identifying it in your logs
User-agent headers can be spoofed. OpenAI publishes the bot's real IP ranges at https://openai.com/adsbot.json — verify the requesting IP against that list.
Questions this page answers
What is OAI-AdsBot?
OAI-AdsBot is OpenAI's crawler token. Validates pages submitted as ChatGPT ads and informs ad relevance; only visits pages submitted as ads. Source: the vendor's own crawler documentation (https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots), last re-verified 2026-08-27.
Does blocking OAI-AdsBot in robots.txt hurt my store's AI visibility?
Blocking OAI-AdsBot has a narrow, documented effect — usually safe unless the specific feature matters to you.
How do I verify a request really came from OAI-AdsBot?
OpenAI publishes the bot's IP ranges as JSON at https://openai.com/adsbot.json — verify the requesting IP against that list rather than trusting the user-agent header, which anyone can spoof.
Primary source: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots — every Shelfgrade rule links the vendor doc it derives from, re-verified weekly.
Other OpenAI crawlers: OAI-SearchBot · GPTBot · ChatGPT-User