Apple · Search crawler (Siri / Spotlight)
Applebot: what it is & how to allow or block it
Applebot is Apple's crawler that powers Siri, Spotlight, and Safari suggestions. Apple documents that Applebot honors robots.txt. It is the search crawler; Apple Intelligence training is controlled separately via Applebot-Extended.
- User-agent
Applebot- Operator
- Apple
- Type
- Search crawler (Siri / Spotlight)
- robots.txt
- Apple documents that Applebot honors robots.txt. It is the search crawler; Apple Intelligence training is controlled separately via Applebot-Extended.
- Official docs
- support.apple.com/en-us/119829
What allowing or blocking Applebot means
Allowing Applebot supports visibility in Siri and Spotlight results. Use Applebot-Extended to control AI-training use without losing search presence.
Block Applebot (robots.txt)
# Block Applebot User-agent: Applebot Disallow: /
Allow Applebot (robots.txt)
# Allow Applebot User-agent: Applebot Allow: /
Declare your policy in llms.txt
robots.txt controls access; llms.txt states your intent in a machine-readable way LLMs prefer. Keep them consistent. The llms.txt generator lets you set Applebot to allowed or restricted and emits a compliant file.
FAQ
How do I opt out of Apple Intelligence training but keep Siri/Spotlight?
Allow Applebot (search) and disallow Applebot-Extended (the training control token) in robots.txt.