What is Amzn-User? AI crawler guide
Amzn-User by Amazon: Amazon fetcher that retrieves a specific page because a person asked an Amazon assistant about it. Check its reported user-agent, robots.txt behavior, source, and verification guidance.
Amazon fetcher that retrieves a specific page because a person asked an Amazon assistant about it.
What is Amzn-User?
Amzn-User is a web crawler operated by Amazon. It retrieves a specific page when a person asks an Amazon assistant about that page. The request is user-initiated, meaning the assistant fetches the page in direct response to a customer query. Amazon states this fetcher may not follow all robots.txt directives because the request originates from a user action. The user-agent token is Amzn-User, and a typical full user-agent string includes browser-like identifiers. This bot falls under the interaction category, as it facilitates real-time information retrieval for Amazon's assistant services.
What it's for
If you block Amzn-User, Amazon assistants may be unable to read your page when a customer asks about it directly. This could reduce your content's visibility in Amazon's assistant-driven experiences, potentially affecting traffic or engagement from users who rely on those assistants for information.
How to handle Amzn-User
To prevent Amzn-User from accessing your site, add a robots.txt rule targeting the user-agent token Amzn-User. However, note that Amazon states this fetcher may not fully comply with robots.txt because requests are user-initiated. If you want to ensure blocking, consider additional measures, but be aware that doing so may limit your content's availability in Amazon assistant responses.
robots.txt rule
User-agent: Amzn-User Disallow: /
Blocking cost
Blocking Amzn-User may prevent your page from being surfaced when a customer asks an Amazon assistant about it, potentially reducing visibility in those interactions.
Examples
- A customer asks an Amazon assistant for details about a product, and Amzn-User fetches the product page to provide an answer.
- A user queries an Amazon assistant about a news article, prompting Amzn-User to retrieve the article for summarization.
- Someone asks an Amazon assistant for a recipe, and Amzn-User accesses the recipe page to deliver the instructions.
Related bots
- Kimi-User: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- Google-GeminiNotebook: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- ChatGPT-User: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- MistralAI-User: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- Perplexity-User: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- DuckAssistBot: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- Claude-User: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- Gemini-Deep-Research: Also tracked as a live fetcher.
- AmazonBuyForMe: Another Amazon live fetcher to compare.
- Robots.txt: Robots.txt is the control file used to allow or block Amzn-User.
- AI Crawlers: Amzn-User is a concrete crawler example for this concept.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Amzn-User do?
Amzn-User is an Amazon fetcher that retrieves a specific page because a person asked an Amazon assistant about it. It operates on a user-initiated basis.
Does Amzn-User obey robots.txt?
Amazon states that Amzn-User may not follow all robots.txt directives because the request is user-initiated. This means blocking via robots.txt might not be fully effective.
What happens if I block Amzn-User?
Blocking Amzn-User can stop Amazon assistants from reading your page when a customer asks about it directly. This could reduce your content's visibility in Amazon assistant responses.
How can I identify Amzn-User traffic?
Amzn-User identifies itself with the user-agent token Amzn-User. A typical full user-agent string includes browser-like identifiers such as Mozilla/5.0 and Chrome versions.
Is Amzn-User used for search indexing?
Amzn-User is not described as a search indexing bot. Its purpose is to fetch pages in response to direct user queries to Amazon assistants.
Data & Sources
- Amazon documentation - Primary source for Amzn-User crawler details.
- Amzn-User verification: Published IP ranges - Verification information published for Amzn-User.