Does espn.com block AI crawlers?
As of 2026-11-03, the robots.txt of espn.com blocks 5 of 18 AI crawlers, including GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, Google-Extended, CCBot.
AI crawler status of espn.com
Based on the live robots.txt of espn.com, checked on 2026-11-03. “Some paths restricted” means the bot may crawl the site but certain sections are excluded.
| User agent | Company | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
GPTBot | OpenAI | Model training | Blocked |
OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | ChatGPT search index | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | Live browsing for ChatGPT users | Blocked |
ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Model training | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Claude-SearchBot | Anthropic | Claude search index | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Claude-User | Anthropic | Live browsing for Claude users | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Perplexity search index | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Perplexity-User | Perplexity | Live browsing for Perplexity users | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Google-Extended | Gemini training & grounding | Blocked | |
Googlebot | Search and AI Overviews | Allowed (some paths restricted) | |
Bingbot | Microsoft | Bing search and Microsoft Copilot | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Applebot-Extended | Apple | Apple Intelligence training | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Meta-ExternalAgent | Meta | Meta AI training | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
Amazonbot | Amazon | Alexa and Amazon AI | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
DuckAssistBot | DuckDuckGo | DuckAssist answers | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
MistralAI-User | Mistral | Live browsing for Le Chat users | Allowed (some paths restricted) |
CCBot | Common Crawl | Open dataset used by many AI models | Blocked |
Bytespider | ByteDance | Model training | Blocked |
What this means
espn.com follows a pattern many publishers now use: it keeps AI training crawlers like GPTBot, Google-Extended, CCBot out, but still lets AI search and live-browsing agents in. That way it can still be cited and linked in ChatGPT or Perplexity answers.
Among the 96 entertainment & gaming sites in our AI crawler report, 43% block GPTBot completely. espn.com is one of them.
Blocking AI bots is one side. The other: is AI actually sending you visitors? Citelytic shows how much traffic ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot send to your own site.
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FAQ
Does espn.com block ChatGPT?
Partly. As of 2026-11-03, OAI-SearchBot is allowed with some restricted paths and ChatGPT-User is blocked in the robots.txt of espn.com. GPTBot (OpenAI's training crawler) is blocked.
Can Perplexity access espn.com?
PerplexityBot is allowed with some restricted paths and Perplexity-User is allowed with some restricted paths on espn.com according to its robots.txt checked on 2026-11-03.
Does espn.com have an llms.txt file?
No, we did not find an llms.txt file on espn.com when we checked on 2026-11-03.
How is this data collected?
We fetch the public robots.txt file of each site and evaluate the rules for 18 AI user agents for the site root. robots.txt is a request, not a technical barrier, and sites may also block bots at the firewall level, which this check does not see.
Blocking AI bots is one side. The other: is AI actually sending you visitors? Citelytic shows how much traffic ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot send to your own site.
Start free – no credit card