AI crawler
Applebot-Extended
Crawlers that read pages to train or ground AI models.
Last updated
At a glance
| Category | AI crawler |
|---|---|
| Operator | Apple |
| User agent match | contains "applebot-extended" |
| Executes JavaScript | No |
| Respects robots.txt | Generally yes |
| Identity verifiable | Yes, by reverse DNS |
| IVT class | GIVT (general invalid traffic: declared automation) |
What Applebot-Extended is
Applebot-Extended is an AI crawler: it reads pages so that an AI model can be trained on them or answer questions from them. It does not execute JavaScript, so a browser-based tracker never sees it; its visits exist only in server logs and in server-side collection.
Apple documents this bot, and the primary source beats any directory, ours included: official Applebot-Extended documentation.
Can the name be trusted?
Applebot-Extended can be verified by reverse DNS: the visiting address must resolve back to a hostname the operator controls, and that hostname must resolve forward to the same address. TrueVisit runs this check on every visit claiming the name. A failed lookup is reported as unverifiable rather than as impersonation, because a DNS timeout is not proof of fraud.
Should you block it?
Blocking Applebot-Extended is a trade, not hygiene. Crawlers like this one are how AI assistants read and then cite your site, so walling it off removes you from those answers while saving you its bandwidth. Measure it first, then decide: if the model behind it sends you cited readers, it is earning its keep; if it only takes, block it with a clear conscience.
User-agent: Applebot-Extended
Disallow: /For enforcement rather than a polite request, the Cloudflare blocking guide generates copy-paste WAF rules from this same signature list, with guardrails that keep verified search engines safe.
How TrueVisit reports it
Visits from Applebot-Extended appear in your bot report under this exact name, never as an anonymous percentage, and every verdict stores the reason it was reached. Because this client never executes JavaScript, a browser-only tracker cannot see it at all; it is visible through server-side collection, which is how the visits reach your report.