Apple · control token
Applebot-Extended: robots.txt token and blocking it
Everything on this page is taken from Apple's own documentation, quoted and linked, and was checked on 4 October 2026. Where the documentation is silent the page says so instead of filling the gap.
What it is
Operator: Apple. Kind, as listed here: control token.
“Web publishers can opt-out from having their content used to train generative foundation models by disallowing Applebot-Extended in the robots.txt file.”
Source: About Applebot, checked 4 October 2026.
User-agent string: none published
Apple says: “Applebot-Extended does not crawl webpages.” It is a robots.txt token, so no request carries it.
Source: About Applebot. The robots.txt token to match is Applebot-Extended.
Does it obey robots.txt?
The Apple page does not state it for this token in so many words. It is a robots.txt token, not a crawler that makes requests.
Does it affect search?
“Webpages that disallow Applebot-Extended can still be included in search results.”
Source: About Applebot, checked 4 October 2026.
What else Apple says
“Site rules for Applebot-Extended are not considered in ranking for Search.”
Source: About Applebot, checked 4 October 2026.
robots.txt snippets
Two snippets that show the syntax for this token. They are examples, not advice: whether to allow or refuse Applebot-Extended is your decision, and the effects above are the vendor's description of them.
Allow Applebot-Extended
User-agent: Applebot-Extended Allow: /
Disallow Applebot-Extended
User-agent: Applebot-Extended Disallow: /
How to verify requests
Apple gives no IP-range file or DNS method for this token on the page we checked.
Questions
What is Applebot-Extended?
Apple describes Applebot-Extended like this: “Web publishers can opt-out from having their content used to train generative foundation models by disallowing Applebot-Extended in the robots.txt file.”
Does Applebot-Extended obey robots.txt?
Applebot-Extended is a robots.txt token only, so there is no crawler to obey the file: a Disallow for it is a signal Apple reads.
How do I block Applebot-Extended in robots.txt?
Add a group to robots.txt with the line “User-agent: Applebot-Extended” followed by “Disallow: /”. That is an example of the syntax, not a recommendation. On search, Apple says: “Webpages that disallow Applebot-Extended can still be included in search results.”
Also see the robots.txt tester for AI crawlers and the other entries in the AI crawler reference.
Last reviewed . Maintained by Cite Files — corrections to [email protected].