What is Dot?
Dot is an OpenAI AI agent that uses a cloud browser to research websites and carry out ongoing tasks for users. You can set up Agent Analytics to see when Dot visits your website.
Category
| Example User Agent | Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; RSSReader/1.0) |
| Operated By | OpenAI |
| Source | Official Website |
| Identity |
Verified
Verified Identification
Requests claiming to be this agent can be authenticated using its published verification method. |
| Triggered By | User action |
| Used for AI Model Training | Not expected |
| Affects AI Chat & Search Visibility | Possibly |
| Expected To Follow Robots.txt | No |
Why Is Dot Visiting My Website?
A user gave Dot a task that your site may help complete, such as researching a product, comparing options, or filling out a form. It likely reached your site through links or search results, much like a person would.
Should I Block Dot?
Usually not. Dot browses on behalf of a person trying to read, compare, or buy something on your site. Blocking it may prevent that person from completing the task and send them elsewhere. It does not affect traditional search rankings. For context, 7% of the top websites we track currently have robots.txt rules for Dot.
Insights for Dot
As of November 9, 2026, this data reflects agent visits measured across thousands of websites using Agent Analytics, combined with daily scans of the top 1000 websites and their robots.txt files.
Robots.txt Compliance
Country of Origin
Robots.txt Blocked Percentage
Frequently Asked Questions
What Traffic Patterns Should I Expect From Dot?
Dot operates a real browser, loading pages, running JavaScript, setting cookies, and navigating multi-step flows much like a person would. Because its route reflects the task it was given rather than a fixed crawl order, visits may look irregular. A session may pause while the agent processes a page, then continue somewhere unexpected.
Does Dot Follow Robots.txt Rules?
No. Dot is not expected to follow robots.txt rules, so a disallow rule only communicates your preference. Use Bad Bot Blocking to reject its requests, then use Agent Analytics to verify that they stop.
Is Dot Used for AI Model Training?
Not ordinarily. Dot is not categorized as an AI training scraper or data provider, so AI model training is not its expected purpose.
Does Blocking Dot Affect AI Search or Citations?
Blocking Dot can prevent people using the agent from accessing or acting on your website. It does not directly control whether your pages appear in an AI search index.
Does Dot Access Private Content?
Possibly, if a user grants access. Dot operates a real browser session, so when someone signs in through it, the agent can see anything available to that account. Without credentials, it can reach only what an anonymous visitor can.
How Can I Verify a Request From Dot?
Agent Analytics tracks visits from Dot and every other known AI agent, crawler, and scraper, then authenticates each visit using Dot's published verification method. You can also check your server logs for requests whose user-agent string contains "Dot". Look for browser-like sessions that move through pages faster or more methodically than a typical person. A matching log entry alone is not proof because any bot can claim to be Dot.
How Is Dot Different From Other OpenAI Agents?
OpenAI operates separate agents for different purposes, so each agent should be evaluated and controlled independently.
- ChatGPT Agent: ChatGPT Agent is an AI agent created by OpenAI that can use a web browser. It can intelligently navigate and interact with websites to complete multi-step tasks on behalf…
- ChatGPT-User: ChatGPT-User is OpenAI's web crawler that visits websites when ChatGPT users request information. This enables ChatGPT to include links in its responses.
- Codex: Codex is an AI coding agent by OpenAI that helps developers write, review, debug, and ship code.
- GPTBot: GPTBot is OpenAI's web crawler that collects public web content used to develop and improve its generative AI models.
- OAI-SearchBot: OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's web crawler that indexes websites for SearchGPT, collecting and analyzing web content to power AI-driven search results and real-time informatio…