What is Applebot-Extended?
A secondary robots.txt token (it does not crawl) that controls whether content crawled by Applebot can be used to train Apple's generative AI foundation models.
- Operator
- Apple
- Purpose
- AI training
- Feeds
- Training of Apple foundation models for Apple Intelligence, Services and Developer Tools
- robots.txt token
Applebot-Extended- Follows robots.txt
- Yes
- IP ranges
- Not published
- Source
- Apple documentation
Applebot-Extended user agent
Apple doesn't publish a full user-agent string for Applebot-Extended.
Match it in robots.txt with the token Applebot-Extended. User agents can be faked, so check requests against the operator's verification method before trusting them. Not applicable: Applebot-Extended makes no requests. Verify Applebot traffic instead.
Should you block Applebot-Extended?
Disallowing Applebot-Extended opts content out of Apple foundation-model training; pages stay in Apple search results and it is not a ranking factor; opting out of AI answers needs nosnippet.
Yes. Apple says Applebot-Extended follows robots.txt. “Applebot-Extended does not crawl webpages… only used to determine how to use the data crawled by the Applebot user agent.”
Block Applebot-Extended
User-agent: Applebot-Extended Disallow: /
Allow Applebot-Extended
User-agent: Applebot-Extended Allow: /
Other Apple crawlers
Apple uses separate user agents for separate jobs, so you can allow one and block another.
- Applebot (Mixed use): Apple's web crawler: its data powers search in Spotlight, Siri and Safari, and may also be used to train Apple's foundation models and to add context to AI-generated answers.
Applebot-Extended FAQ
What is Applebot-Extended?
A secondary robots.txt token (it does not crawl) that controls whether content crawled by Applebot can be used to train Apple's generative AI foundation models.
What is the Applebot-Extended user agent?
Apple doesn't publish a full user-agent string. In robots.txt, use the token "Applebot-Extended".
Does Applebot-Extended respect robots.txt?
Yes. Apple says Applebot-Extended follows robots.txt.
How do I block Applebot-Extended?
Add "User-agent: Applebot-Extended" followed by "Disallow: /" to the robots.txt file at the root of your site. Disallowing Applebot-Extended opts content out of Apple foundation-model training; pages stay in Apple search results and it is not a ranking factor; opting out of AI answers needs nosnippet.
Crawlable isn't the same as cited
Letting AI crawlers in is step one. Citedify checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews actually recommend your brand, and what to fix when they don't.
Facts on this page come from Apple's documentation, checked 2026-09-28. Sources: support.apple.com/en-us/119829