ChatGPT-User

Fetches made when a ChatGPT or Custom GPT user asks it to visit a page. It is not an automatic crawler.

What happens if you block it

OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to user-initiated fetches. It doesn't decide whether you appear in ChatGPT search.

Our take

Leave it allowed unless you have a specific reason. A firewall block stops ChatGPT from reading a page a user pasted in.

robots.txt

To block it:

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /

To allow it explicitly (useful when a wider rule blocks other bots):

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

The operator's own words

Because these actions are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply.OpenAI documentation, checked 2026-10-31

robots.txt allows it, but is it really getting through?

A firewall or CDN rule can reject ChatGPT-User even when robots.txt welcomes it, and nothing in your CMS shows it. Our check sends a live request as ChatGPT-User alongside a normal browser and a Googlebot control, so a bot-verification rule isn't mistaken for a block.

Other OpenAI agents