{
  "kind": "answer",
  "studySlug": "crawler-behavior",
  "slug": "do-ai-crawlers-start-on-the-homepage",
  "title": "Do AI crawlers start on the homepage?",
  "description": "Usually no, especially for GPTBot. GPTBot hits the homepage only 2.75% of the time, while ClaudeBot is much more homepage-friendly at 19.18%.",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-02-01",
  "lastTested": "2026-02-01",
  "sourceStudyUrl": "/trakkr-research/crawler-behavior",
  "sourceStudyTitle": "When AI Comes to Your Website",
  "claimIds": [
    "crawler-behavior:gptbot-homepage",
    "crawler-behavior:claudebot-homepage"
  ],
  "relatedSlugs": [
    "answer:are-most-ai-crawler-visits-one-and-done",
    "answer:does-gptbot-behave-differently-from-claudebot",
    "fact:oai-searchbot-is-the-second-largest-crawler-in-the-study",
    "tracker:crawler-depth-and-entry-tracker"
  ],
  "methodologySummary": "Built from 575,788 AI crawler visits across 84 brands and 314,501 unique URLs observed between June 11, 2025 and February 1, 2026.",
  "limitations": [
    "This study measures observable crawler traffic rather than hidden fetches or internal cache reads.",
    "One dominant e-commerce brand was excluded to keep the page-type patterns more generalizable.",
    "Visit share and homepage preference vary sharply by bot family, so averages can hide crawler-specific behavior."
  ],
  "keywords": [
    "AI crawlers",
    "GPTBot behavior",
    "ClaudeBot behavior",
    "AI bot traffic",
    "homepage preference AI crawlers",
    "GPTBot homepage"
  ],
  "schemaHints": {
    "pageType": "Article",
    "includeDataset": true
  },
  "question": "Do AI crawlers start on the homepage?",
  "directAnswer": "Usually no. GPTBot hits the homepage only 2.75% of the time, while ClaudeBot is more likely to touch the homepage at 19.18%.",
  "answerSummary": "Crawler strategy should assume that many bots land deeper in the site architecture and may never use the homepage as a primary directory.",
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "GPTBot homepage rate",
      "value": "2.75%",
      "detail": "GPTBot rarely starts on the homepage.",
      "claimId": "crawler-behavior:gptbot-homepage"
    },
    {
      "label": "ClaudeBot homepage rate",
      "value": "19.18%",
      "detail": "ClaudeBot is much more likely to touch the homepage.",
      "claimId": "crawler-behavior:claudebot-homepage"
    }
  ],
  "evidenceTable": [
    {
      "label": "GPTBot homepage rate",
      "value": "2.75%",
      "note": "GPTBot rarely starts on the homepage."
    },
    {
      "label": "ClaudeBot homepage rate",
      "value": "19.18%",
      "note": "ClaudeBot is much more likely to touch the homepage."
    }
  ],
  "whyItMatters": "Operators must adjust their site architecture and log analysis to account for deep entry points, ensuring critical content is accessible without relying on homepage navigation.",
  "whatToDo": [
    "Optimize entry pages and internal links for the crawlers that actually show up in your logs.",
    "Treat crawler families differently because they do not read the same site architecture the same way.",
    "Use low-depth answer pages to improve the odds that a one-visit crawler still finds something citeable."
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "question": "How often does GPTBot visit the homepage?",
      "answer": "GPTBot rarely starts on the homepage, hitting it only 2.75% of the time."
    },
    {
      "question": "Is ClaudeBot more likely to crawl the homepage than GPTBot?",
      "answer": "Yes, ClaudeBot has a homepage rate of 19.18%, making it much more likely to touch the homepage."
    }
  ]
}