Crawler Tracking
See which AI crawlers visit your site and understand how they index your content.
- Understand which AI crawlers visit your site
- Install the Trakkr tracking pixel
- Monitor crawler activity in real-time
- Identify indexing issues before they affect visibility
AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity rely on crawlers to index web content. Understanding which crawlers visit your site - and how often - gives you insight into how AI models discover and learn about your brand.
What are AI crawlers?
AI crawlers are automated bots that browse the web to gather training data and keep AI knowledge current. Each major AI platform has its own crawler:
| Crawler | AI Platform | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| GPTBot | OpenAI (ChatGPT) | Training data and web browsing |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic (Claude) | Training and real-time search |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Real-time search results |
| Google-Extended | Google (Gemini) | Training data |
When these crawlers visit your site, they're indexing your content - which directly affects what AI models know about you.
Installing the tracking pixel
To see which crawlers visit your site, install the Trakkr tracking pixel:
- 1Go to Settings → Crawler Tracking
- 2Copy the JavaScript snippet
- 3Add it to your website's
<head>section - 4Verify the installation
The pixel is lightweight (<1KB) and won't affect page load times.
Understanding crawler data
Once installed, you'll see:
Visit frequency - How often each crawler visits your site Pages indexed - Which pages crawlers access Indexing trends - Whether crawler activity is increasing or decreasing Bot detection - Confirmation that AI bots can access your content
Troubleshooting
No crawler data showing
- 1Verify pixel installation - Use browser dev tools to confirm the script loads
- 2Check robots.txt - Ensure you're not blocking AI crawlers
- 3Wait for crawlers - Some bots only visit weekly
Crawlers are blocked
Check your robots.txt for these patterns:
User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Disallow: /
To allow all AI crawlers, use:
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /
Low visit frequency
- Ensure your sitemap is up to date
- Add internal links to important pages
- Publish content regularly to attract crawlers
Best practices
Keep robots.txt permissive - Allow AI crawlers unless you have specific reasons to block
Structure content clearly - Use headings, lists, and semantic HTML
Update regularly - Fresh content attracts more crawler visits
Monitor trends - Declining visits may indicate technical issues
What's next
Platform setup guides
Connect your hosting platform to get server-side crawler detection - more accurate than client-side tracking and catches crawlers that don't execute JavaScript.
| Platform | Method | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | API Token | Sites behind Cloudflare CDN |
| WordPress | Plugin | WordPress-hosted sites |
| Vercel | OAuth + Log Drains | Vercel-deployed apps |
| Netlify | OAuth + Edge Function | Netlify-deployed sites |
JavaScript Rendering
Ensure AI crawlers see your content.
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