Expedia
expedia.comBlocks some
Its robots.txt (the public rules file for bots) mentions OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, ChatGPT-User and 2 more, but still lets all 12 major AI bots into the site. But the homepage turned our bot, which says who it is, away (HTTP 429). The written rules say come in; the front door disagrees.
Last checked 19 Oct 2026. Rules file read today. Everything we checked · History
Bots that train AI Allowed
0 of 9 blocked
Blocking these keeps the site out of future AI training. It does not stop AI from reading the site to answer questions.
Bots for AI search Allowed
0 of 8 blocked
Blocking these usually means the site stops showing up as a source in AI answers.
AI assistants Allowed
0 of 7 blocked
5 of these 7 companies say their assistants may ignore robots.txt.
Bot by bot
| AI bot | Allowed? | Where the rule is | Company says it follows robots.txt? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bots that train AI · Allowed | |||
| GPTBotOpenAI | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| ClaudeBotAnthropic | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| Google-ExtendedGoogle · opt-out name, not a bot | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| Applebot-ExtendedApple · opt-out name, not a bot | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| CCBotCommon Crawl | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| Meta-ExternalAgentMeta | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Suggests yes |
| BytespiderByteDance | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | No statement found |
| MistralAI-TrainingMistral AI | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| AI2BotAllen Institute for AI | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Does not say |
| anthropic-aiAnthropic (legacy) · old name | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Unknown |
| Bots for AI search · Allowed | |||
| OAI-SearchBotOpenAI | Allowed | Named, line 95 | Says yes |
| Claude-SearchBotAnthropic | Allowed | Named, line 95 | Says yes |
| PerplexityBotPerplexity | Allowed | Named, line 95 | Suggests yes |
| AmazonbotAmazon | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| Amzn-SearchBotAmazon | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| DuckAssistBotDuckDuckGo | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says yes |
| MistralAI-IndexMistral AI | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Suggests yes |
| Meta-WebIndexerMeta | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Suggests yes |
| AI assistants · Allowed | |||
| ChatGPT-UserOpenAI | Allowed | Named, line 95 | Says not always |
| Claude-UserAnthropic | Allowed | Named, line 95 | Says yes |
| Perplexity-UserPerplexity | Allowed | Named, line 95 | Says it mostly ignores it |
| Google-AgentGoogle | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says it mostly ignores it |
| Meta-ExternalFetcherMeta | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says not always |
| Amzn-UserAmazon | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Says not always |
| MistralAI-UserMistral AI | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | Suggests yes |
| For comparison | |||
| GooglebotRegular search engine, for comparison | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | |
| BingbotRegular search engine, for comparison | Allowed | Not named; the catch-all rule applies | |
We test two pages: the homepage, and a made-up page that stands in for the rest of the site. "Blocked" means both are off limits. "Some pages blocked" means only one is. Rules for search results, carts, checkout and accounts don't change these labels, because almost every site keeps all bots out of those pages.
The rules file (robots.txt)
## General bots#user-agent: *#hoteldisallow: /Hotel-Searchdisallow: /hotel-searchdisallow: /search?disallow: /*/search?disallow: /ugc/urs/api/hotelreviews/hotel/HOTELID/disallow: /LastBooking/ElapsedTimedisallow: /*chkin=*disallow: /*chkout=*disallow: /HotelCheckoutdisallow: /Checkoutdisallow: /checkoutdisallow: /HotelBookingConfirmationdisallow: /en-au/disallow: /en-nz/#flightdisallow: /Flights-Searchdisallow: /Flight-Informationdisallow: /Flight-SearchResultsdisallow: /Flights-BagFeesdisallow: /Detailsdisallow: /FlightCheckoutdisallow: /Confirmation-Flight#packagedisallow: /MultiItemCheckoutdisallow: /MultiItemBookingConfirmationdisallow: /flexibleshopping#cardisallow: /carsearchdisallow: /CarCheckout#activitiesdisallow: /things-to-do/search?disallow: /things-to-do/*/search?disallow: /*/things-to-do/searchdisallow: /things-to-do/reviews-external$#cruisedisallow: /Cruise-Searchdisallow: /Cruise-CabinCategorydisallow: /CruiseCheckout#otherdisallow: /legacyGOTOdisallow: /go/disallow: /info/disallow: /trips/disallow: /Search-Resultsdisallow: /user/createaccountdisallow: /signup?*disallow: /login?*#test-seodisallow: /api/uisprime/trackdisallow: /trvl-px/disallow: /egcs/v2/collectdisallow: /api/ucs/shortlist/disallow: /api/v4/typeahead/disallow: /p/homedisallow: /*/p/homedisallow: /auth/disallow: /*/auth/disallow: /*/sso/# /cl/* endpoints removal testDisallow: /cl/* ## Ads#user-agent: google-hoteladsverifieruser-agent: Mediapartners-Googleuser-agent: AdsBot-Google-Mobileuser-agent: AdsBot-Googleuser-agent: AdIdxBotuser-agent: OAI-AdsBotallow: /#test-seodisallow: /api/uisprime/trackdisallow: /trvl-px/disallow: /egcs/v2/collectdisallow: /api/ucs/shortlist/disallow: /api/v4/typeahead/# /cl/* endpoints removal testDisallow: /cl/* ## SemrushBot#user-agent: SemrushBotdisallow: / ## AI Search… 93 lines not about AI bots#user-agent: OAI-SearchBotuser-agent: ChatGPT-Useruser-agent: PerplexityBotuser-agent: Perplexity-Useruser-agent: Claude-Useruser-agent: Claude-SearchBotallow: /disallow: /p/homedisallow: /*/p/homedisallow: /auth/disallow: /*/auth/disallow: /*/sso/# /cl/* endpoints removal testDisallow: /cl/*
Notes about AI written in the file: "AI Search"
Everything else we checked
| Front door | Turned away The homepage turned our bot, which says who it is, away (HTTP 429).GET https://www.expedia.com/ as WalledWebBot, from a residential connection in the United States |
|---|---|
| llms.txt | Present · 6.8 KB · "Expedia.com" · 0 linkshttps://www.expedia.com/llms.txt |
| TDMRep | Refused (HTTP 429)/.well-known/tdmrep.json (W3C Community Group report) |
| Page tags | Homepage not read. |
| Anti-bot software | The homepage set an Akamai cookie (bm_sz), which anti-bot software uses.From response headers and cookie names only. A cookie shows the product is there, not how it is set up. |
| Readable by AI | Homepage not read.Homepage only. Useful for site owners; not part of the result. |
| Terms of Service | No Terms of Service page found. |
| Not found | No ai.txt, Content-Signal or Content-Usage lines or licensing signals (RSL License, HTTP 402). |
History
43 versions on record since 1 Jan 2023
One square per month, from Internet Archive copies and our own daily checks. Dark: blocked. Gray: some blocked. Light: allowed. Striped: no copy that month.
- Sep 2025Signals Named OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-User and Perplexity-User explicitly, without changing what they may reach.Found in the Internet Archive's copies: changed between 1 Aug 2025 and 8 Sep 2025. Evidence: before · after
Show exactly what changed
disallow: /Hotel-Search+ Disallow: /hotel-searchdisallow: /ugc/urs/api/hotelreviews/hotel/HOTELID/…disallow: /Checkout+ disallow: /checkoutdisallow: /HotelBookingConfirmation…disallow: /things-to-do/*/search?+ disallow: /*/things-to-do/search#cruise…disallow: /user/createaccount+ Disallow: /signup?*+ Disallow: /login?*disallow: /things-to-do/reviews-external$+ #test-seo+ Disallow: /api/uisprime/track+ Disallow: /trvl-px/+ Disallow: /egcs/v2/collect+ Disallow: /api/ucs/shortlist/+ Disallow: /api/v4/typeahead/#…user-agent: AdsBot-Google- allow: /+ Allow: /+ #test-seo+ Disallow: /api/uisprime/track+ Disallow: /trvl-px/+ Disallow: /egcs/v2/collect+ Disallow: /api/ucs/shortlist/+ Disallow: /api/v4/typeahead/…allow: /++ # Allow Agentic Search+ User-agent: OAI-SearchBot+ User-agent: ChatGPT-User+ User-agent: PerplexityBot+ User-agent: Perplexity-User+ User-agent: Claude-User+ User-agent: Claude-SearchBot+ Allow: /+ - Apr 2023
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