Bot Trust Levels
BotSights assigns a trust level to every bot in our database. This helps you quickly assess whether a bot is likely beneficial, neutral, or worth reviewing more closely.
The four levels
Trusted Well-established bots from major platforms that are essential for your site's visibility. Examples: Googlebot, Bingbot, WhatsApp preview bot. Blocking these typically hurts your reach.
Generally safe Bots that serve a clear, legitimate purpose and are operated by known companies. Examples: ChatGPT-User, Claude-User, AhrefsBot. These are generally safe to allow, but you may want to monitor their activity.
Review recommended Bots where the intent or impact is not immediately clear. This includes newer AI bots, data collectors, and automation tools. We recommend reviewing their activity on your site before deciding on access.
Caution advised Bots that either do not respect robots.txt, have unclear operators, or are commonly associated with unwanted scraping or data extraction. Review carefully and consider blocking if the activity does not benefit you.
How we determine trust levels
Trust levels are based on a combination of factors:
- Category: search engine crawlers and preview bots are inherently more trusted than web scrapers
- Operator transparency: bots from known, documented operators score higher
- robots.txt compliance: bots that respect robots.txt are rated more favorably
- Industry reputation: established bots with long track records are rated higher
Important to know
Trust levels are an indication, not a guarantee. Every website has different needs and every bot behaves differently depending on context. A bot rated "Generally safe" for one site could be unwanted for another.
We encourage you to use trust levels as a starting point for your own assessment. BotSights gives you the data to make informed decisions, the final call is always yours.
If you believe a bot is incorrectly classified, let us know.