CrawlCheck

AI crawlers · Training crawlers

QuillBot

QuillBot is the training crawler run by QuillBot: fetches pages for QuillBot's writing tools. Its operator publishes no IP ranges or DNS names for it, so a request carrying this name cannot be verified. Treat the name in a log line as a claim.

User-agent tokenQuillBot
OperatorQuillBot
What it doesfetches pages for QuillBot's writing tools
Kindtraining crawler
Can a request be verified?No — user agent string only
In a CrawlCheck scanRead from robots.txt; reported, never scored

Allow or block it in robots.txt

User-agent: QuillBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: QuillBot
Allow: /

Add a group that names it: "User-agent: QuillBot" followed by "Disallow: /". A crawler follows only the most specific group that names it, so once a group names QuillBot, rules under "User-agent: *" no longer apply to it; repeat in that group any Disallow lines you still want.

What blocking it changes

No. It collects pages for training. Refusing it is a policy choice about training, separate from whether answer engines can reach, read and quote the site.

See what QuillBot and every other named agent receive from your own site: run a free scan. The full catalogue is on AI crawlers and as JSON at /ai-crawlers.json.

Questions about QuillBot

QHow do I block QuillBot in robots.txt?
Add a group that names it: "User-agent: QuillBot" followed by "Disallow: /". A crawler follows only the most specific group that names it, so once a group names QuillBot, rules under "User-agent: *" no longer apply to it; repeat in that group any Disallow lines you still want.
QHow can I tell if a request from QuillBot is real?
Its operator publishes no IP ranges or DNS names for it, so a request carrying this name cannot be verified. Treat the name in a log line as a claim.
QDoes blocking QuillBot affect whether my site appears in AI answers?
No. It collects pages for training. Refusing it is a policy choice about training, separate from whether answer engines can reach, read and quote the site.
QDoes CrawlCheck test my site as QuillBot?
Not as a request. CrawlCheck reads the rules your robots.txt sets for QuillBot and reports them. Rules for it are reported and never scored, because refusing it is a policy choice.