=== Block AI Crawlers ===
Contributors: lastsplash
Tags: ai, robots.txt, chatgpt, crawlers
Requires at least: 6.9
Tested up to: 7.0
Requires PHP: 8.2
Stable tag: 1.6.1
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Adds robots.txt rules blocking AI crawlers and AI bots.

== Description ==

# Protect Your Content from AI Scraping

This plugin tells AI companies not to crawl your site for their products via standard `robots.txt` rules.

## Features

### Blocks AI Bots and Crawlers

The plugin blocks dozens of AI bots via your site's `robots.txt` file. You can toggle the blocks for each individual crawler.

Blocked crawlers include:

  - **OpenAI** - Blocks crawlers used for ChatGPT
  - **Google** - Blocks crawlers used by Google's Gemini AI products
  - **Meta** - Blocks FacebookBot and Meta training crawlers
  - **Anthropic** - Blocks crawlers used by Claude
  - **Perplexity** - Blocks crawlers used by Perplexity
  - **Apple** - Blocks Applebot-Extended
  - **Amazon** - Blocks Amazonbot
  - ...and 150+ more via ai.robots.txt

The blocked crawler list is generated at build time from [ai.robots.txt](https://github.com/ai-robots-txt/ai.robots.txt) (`robots.json`, MIT). See the plugin's `README.md` for license attribution.

### Experimental Meta Tags

The plugin adds the experimental "noai, noimageai" directive to your site's meta tags. You can toggle this on and off as needed.

### Custom robots.txt Rules

Have custom entries for your robots.txt file? You can now add them directly through the plugin!

## Installation

1. Download the plugin zip file.
2. Go to your WordPress admin panel.
3. Navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
4. Choose the zip file and click "Install Now."
5. Activate the plugin.

## Usage

After activation, the plugin will automatically update your `robots.txt` and add the necessary meta tags. No further configuration is required, but you can check the settings page for a full list of blocked crawlers.

## Limitations

While this plugin aims to block specified crawlers, it cannot guarantee complete protection against all forms of scraping, as some bots may disregard `robots.txt` directives.

## Support

For questions or support, [please post on the forums](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/block-ai-crawlers/).

== Installation ==

1. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
2. Once installed the plugin is automatically activated. There are no user configured settings
3. You can view more about what crawlers are being blocked at "Settings > Block AI Crawlers". You can also toggle blocking of individual crawlers.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Will this remove my site from existing data sets? =

No. It tells bots and crawlers that your site shouldn't be used for future training and new datasets. However, it is up to the AI companies to resepect this.

= How does this work? =

The plugin adds directives to the `robots.txt` file to tell AI crawlers that they shouldn't index your site. It also adds the `noai` meta tag to your site's header to do the same.

= How often is this updated? =

The block list is generated from the [ai.robots.txt](https://github.com/ai-robots-txt/ai.robots.txt) project. When that upstream list changes, a GitHub Action opens an issue so the plugin can be rebuilt and released.

= What if I already have a `robots.txt` file on my web server? =

If you have a physical `robots.txt` file on your web server, you won't be able to activate this plugin. The plugin only works when using WordPress' built-in virtual `robots.txt`.

= Will this work with other plugins that modify the virtual `robots.txt`? =

It should in theory. It just appends the directives to the `robots.txt` file.

= Will this prevent my site from being indexed by search engines? =

No. Search engines follow different `robots.txt` rules.

= My `robots.txt` isn't updated after toggling blocks! =

The `robots.txt` file can be cached via your web server, a plugin, or CDN (for example, Cloudflare). Once the cache period expires, the updated `robots.txt` will be served.

You can test by running the following on the command line:

`curl -sSL 'https://example.com/robots.txt' && echo`


== Screenshots ==


== Changelog ==

= 1.6.1 - 08/01/2026 =
- Add: Sync blocked crawler list from ai.robots.txt (remove IbouBot)
- Update: Replace screenshot

= 1.6.0 - 07/24/2026 =
- New: Per-crawler toggles to opt individual bots out of robots.txt blocking
- New: Optional toggle for the experimental `noai, noimageai` meta tag
- Enhancement: Sticky header on the blocked crawlers settings table

= 1.5.8 - 07/15/2026 =
- Enhancement: Generate blocked crawler list from ai.robots.txt robots.json at build time
- Enhancement: Sync admin settings crawler table with the same generated list
- New: Monitor upstream robots.json and open a GitHub issue when it changes

= 1.5.7 - 07/04/2026 =
- New: Indicate WordPress v7.0 compatibility

= 1.5.6 - 02/15/2026 =
- Fix: Update Claude blocking
- New: Block MistralAI-user
- New: Block LinerBot
- New: Block Google-CloudVertexBot
- New: Block VelenPublicWebCrawler


= 1.5.5 - 11/28/2025 =
- Indicate WordPress v6.9 compatibility
- Fix: Variable naming issues identified by Plugin Check

= 1.5.4 =
- Bump version number
- New: Block Brightbot
- New: Block DeepSeekBot
- New: Block TerraCotta
- Fix: Plugin check errors


= 1.5.2 =
- New: Block Yak
- New: Block Bigsur.ai
- New: Block AddSearchBot
- New: Block Google Agents
- New: Block Thinkbot
- New: Block Posideon Research Center
- New: Block EchoboxBot
- New: Block Bedrockbot
- New: Block Panscient
- New: Block SBIntuitionsBot
- New: Block PhindBot
- New: Block YandexAdditional

= 1.5.1 =
- New: Block aiHitBot
- New: Block Cotoyogi
- New: Block Factset
- New: Block Firecrawl
- New: Block TikTokSpider
- New: Block Perplexity‑User
- Update: Meta External Agent and Meta External Fetcher
- Update: New Claude Bots
- Update: Indicate WordPress v6.8 compatibility

= 1.5.0 =
- Enhancement: Adds ability for custom robots.txt rules

= 1.4.3 =
- New: Block SemrushBot
- New: Block Crawlspace

= 1.4.2 =
- New: Block PanguBot

= 1.4.1 =
- New: Block Turnitinbot
- New: Block Ai2Bot-Dolma
- Enhancement: WordPress 6.7 compatibility

= 1.4.0 =
- New: Block Kangaroo Bot
- New: Block sentibot
- New: Block FriendlyCrawler
- New: Block Scrapy
- Fix: Broken link to settings page from Plugins page
- Enhancement: Improve `readme.md` and `readme.txt`

= 1.3.9 =
- New: Block PetalBot
- New: Block AI2Bot
- New: Block Webz.io
- New: Block OpenAI Search Bot (SearchGPT)
- Enhancement: Alphabetize list of blocked crawlers
- Enhancement: Indicate compatibility with WordPress v6.6
- Enhancement: Add quick link to settings and nudge for rating on plugins page

= 1.3.8 =
- Maintenance: Auto-deply from Github fixed / bumped version number

= 1.3.7 =
- New: Meta AI
- New: Block You.com Crawler
- New: Block AmazonBot
- New: Block Timpibot

= 1.3.6 =
- New: Block Perplexity
- New: Block Apple AI
- Update: FAQ based on submitted question

= 1.3.5 =
- New: Block additional Omgili bot
- New: Block Imagesift
- Fix: Fix settings page
- Add: `blueprint.json` for plugin preview

= 1.3.3 =
- Fix: Issue with fatal errors on activation

= 1.3.1 =
- New: Blocks Anthropic's Claude
- Fix: Missing external link icons
- Update: Bump tested to v6.5.3

= 1.3.0 =
- New: Adds settings page showing blocked crawlers
- Enhancement: Remove crawler description in `robots.txt`

= 1.2.2 =
- Update: Adds deploy from GitHub

= 1.2.1 =
- Maintenance: Adds deploy from GitHub

= 1.2.0 =
- Block Cohere crawler
- Block DiffBot crawler
- Block Anthropic AI crawler
- Indicate compatibility w/WordPress 6.5.2

= 1.1.0 =
- Blocks additional crawlers.

= 1.0.0 =
Initial Release.

== Screenshots ==

1. Plugin page showing which crawlers are blocked