# Bingbot

> Microsoft's search crawler. Bing says a robots.txt rule that blocks Bingbot can keep you from being seen in its index, and Bing's AI answers (launched as Bing Chat, now Copilot) draw on that content unless you use Bing's NOCACHE or NOARCHIVE controls.

Canonical page: https://getrankroot.com/ai-bots/bingbot · Facts checked against Microsoft docs on 2026-10-18

| Operator | Used for | Type | Obeys robots.txt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Microsoft | Bing search and Copilot | AI search index | Yes |

## Should you allow it?

Always allow it.

**If you block it:** Bing can't crawl your site, which can keep your pages out of Bing's index.

Bing Webmaster Tools has a Crawl Control setting to make Bingbot crawl faster or slower for each hour of the day.

## robots.txt rules

Allow Bingbot:

```
User-agent: Bingbot
Allow: /
```

Block Bingbot:

```
User-agent: Bingbot
Disallow: /
```

Disallow Bingbot from one folder only:

```
User-agent: Bingbot
Disallow: /private/
Allow: /
```

A bot follows the most specific User-agent group that names it and ignores the generic `User-agent: *` group, so repeat any shared Disallow lines inside it.

## How to verify it's really Bingbot

Find its requests in your server logs:

```
grep -i "Bingbot" access.log
```

Reverse DNS check (Microsoft documents this): the hostname of the IP must end in `search.msn.com`, and a forward lookup of that hostname must return the same IP.

Published IP list: https://www.bing.com/toolbox/bingbot.json

Verification tool: [Bing's Verify Bingbot tool](https://www.bing.com/toolbox/verify-bingbot)

## Common mistakes

- Blocking Bingbot to keep content out of Copilot answers. Bing's documented controls for its AI answers are the NOCACHE and NOARCHIVE robots meta tags, and pages with either tag stay in Bing search results.
- Writing a User-agent: Bingbot group and expecting your User-agent: * rules to still apply. A crawler follows only the most specific group that matches it and ignores the others, so repeat any shared Disallow lines inside the Bingbot group.
- Leaving a CDN or host "block AI bots" setting on and only checking robots.txt. Those settings block requests at the network edge. Cloudflare, for example, changed its defaults on September 15, 2026 for customers who did not opt out: bots it classifies as Training or Agent are blocked on pages that display ads, and multi-purpose crawlers that combine Search and Training are affected by the Training block.
- Trusting the user agent header alone. Anyone can send "Bingbot" in a request; verify the source IP as shown above before allowlisting or blocking.

## FAQ

### What is Bingbot?

Microsoft's search crawler. Bing says a robots.txt rule that blocks Bingbot can keep you from being seen in its index, and Bing's AI answers (launched as Bing Chat, now Copilot) draw on that content unless you use Bing's NOCACHE or NOARCHIVE controls.

### Does Bingbot respect robots.txt?

Yes, according to Microsoft.

### What happens if I block Bingbot?

Bing can't crawl your site, which can keep your pages out of Bing's index.

### Should I block Bingbot?

Always allow it.

### How do I keep my content out of Copilot answers but stay in Bing search?

Bing announced two robots meta tags for its AI answers (then called Bing Chat). With NOCACHE, answers may use only the URL, title and snippet. With NOARCHIVE, the page is not used or linked in the AI answers and not used for training. Pages with either tag still appear in Bing search results. Blocking Bingbot removes you from both.

### How do I verify Bingbot?

Do a reverse DNS lookup on the IP: the hostname should end in search.msn.com. Then do a forward lookup on that hostname and confirm it returns the same IP. Bing also offers a Verify Bingbot tool at bing.com/toolbox/verify-bingbot.

### Can I slow Bingbot down?

Yes. Bing Webmaster Tools has a Crawl Control feature that lets you make Bingbot crawl faster or slower for each of the 24 hours in a day.

## Sources

- [Official documentation from Microsoft](https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/which-crawlers-does-bing-use-8c184ec0)
- [Microsoft: how to verify its crawlers](https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/August-2012/How-to-Verify-that-Bingbot-is-Bingbot/)
- [Published IP addresses for Bingbot](https://www.bing.com/toolbox/bingbot.json)
- [Bing: options to control use of your content in Bing Chat (NOCACHE, NOARCHIVE)](https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/september-2023/Announcing-new-options-for-webmasters-to-control-usage-of-their-content-in-Bing-Chat)

Check whether Bingbot can reach a site: https://getrankroot.com/tools/ai-crawler-checker or `GET https://getrankroot.com/api/bots?url=example.com`. Full list: https://getrankroot.com/ai-bots.md