How to Tell If Your Website Visitors Are People, Crawlers, or ChatGPT

Introduction Website log analysis is crucial for understanding traffic patterns, identifying security threats, and optimizing user experience. With the rise of AI crawlers and bots, distinguishing between automated and human traffic has become increasingly important for webmasters and analysts. Common Log Formats Apache Common Log Format (CLF) 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36 -0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2326 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36 -0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2326 Apache Combined Log Format 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36 -0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2326 "http://www.example.com/start.html" "Mozilla/4.08 [en] (Win98; I ;Nav)" 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36 -0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2326 "http://www.example.com/start.html" "Mozilla/4.08 [en] (Win98; I ;Nav)" Nginx Log Format 192.168.1.1 - - [25/Dec/2023:10:00:13 +0000] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 612 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36" 192.168.1.1 - - [25/Dec/2023:10:00:13 +0000] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 612 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36" AI Bot User Agents and Log Patterns Search Engine Crawlers Google Bots Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Googlebot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)" Google Images Googlebot-Image/1.0 66.249.66.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:01:00 +0000] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 25630 "-" "Googlebot-Image/1.0" Google Mobile Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.3 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:02:00 +0000] "GET /mobile-page HTTP/1.1" 200 1024 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Googlebot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)" Google Images Googlebot-Image/1.0 66.249.66.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:01:00 +0000] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 25630 "-" "Googlebot-Image/1.0" Google Mobile Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.3 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:02:00 +0000] "GET /mobile-page HTTP/1.1" 200 1024 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Bot Type Bot Type User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example Googlebot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)" Googlebot Googlebot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)" 66.249.66.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)" 66.249.66.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:00:00 +0000] "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1" 200 145 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)" Google Images Googlebot-Image/1.0 66.249.66.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:01:00 +0000] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 25630 "-" "Googlebot-Image/1.0" Google Images Google Images Googlebot-Image/1.0 Googlebot-Image/1.0 Googlebot-Image/1.0 66.249.66.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:01:00 +0000] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 25630 "-" "Googlebot-Image/1.0" 66.249.66.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:01:00 +0000] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 25630 "-" "Googlebot-Image/1.0" 66.249.66.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:01:00 +0000] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 200 25630 "-" "Googlebot-Image/1.0" Google Mobile Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.3 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:02:00 +0000] "GET /mobile-page HTTP/1.1" 200 1024 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)" Google Mobile Google Mobile Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/W.X.Y.Z Mobile Safari/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) 66.249.66.3 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:02:00 +0000] "GET /mobile-page HTTP/1.1" 200 1024 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)" 66.249.66.3 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:02:00 +0000] "GET /mobile-page HTTP/1.1" 200 1024 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)" 66.249.66.3 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:02:00 +0000] "GET /mobile-page HTTP/1.1" 200 1024 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 6.0.1; Nexus 5X Build/MMB29P) AppleWebKit/537.36 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)" Bing Bots Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Bingbot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) 40.77.167.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:03:00 +0000] "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)" Bing Preview Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ (KHTML, like Gecko) BingPreview/1.0b 40.77.167.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:04:00 +0000] "GET /preview-page HTTP/1.1" 200 5120 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ BingPreview/1.0b" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Bingbot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) 40.77.167.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:03:00 +0000] "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)" Bing Preview Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ (KHTML, like Gecko) BingPreview/1.0b 40.77.167.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:04:00 +0000] "GET /preview-page HTTP/1.1" 200 5120 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ BingPreview/1.0b" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Bot Type Bot Type User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example Bingbot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) 40.77.167.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:03:00 +0000] "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)" Bingbot Bingbot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) 40.77.167.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:03:00 +0000] "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)" 40.77.167.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:03:00 +0000] "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)" 40.77.167.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:03:00 +0000] "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)" Bing Preview Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ (KHTML, like Gecko) BingPreview/1.0b 40.77.167.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:04:00 +0000] "GET /preview-page HTTP/1.1" 200 5120 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ BingPreview/1.0b" Bing Preview Bing Preview Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ (KHTML, like Gecko) BingPreview/1.0b Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ (KHTML, like Gecko) BingPreview/1.0b Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ (KHTML, like Gecko) BingPreview/1.0b 40.77.167.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:04:00 +0000] "GET /preview-page HTTP/1.1" 200 5120 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ BingPreview/1.0b" 40.77.167.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:04:00 +0000] "GET /preview-page HTTP/1.1" 200 5120 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ BingPreview/1.0b" 40.77.167.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:04:00 +0000] "GET /preview-page HTTP/1.1" 200 5120 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/534+ BingPreview/1.0b" AI Content Crawlers OpenAI/ChatGPT Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example ChatGPT-User Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); ChatGPT-User/1.0 20.169.168.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:05:00 +0000] "GET /article.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8192 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36; ChatGPT-User/1.0" GPTBot GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot) 20.169.168.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:06:00 +0000] "GET /content HTTP/1.1" 200 4096 "-" "GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot)" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example ChatGPT-User Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); ChatGPT-User/1.0 20.169.168.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:05:00 +0000] "GET /article.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8192 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36; ChatGPT-User/1.0" GPTBot GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot) 20.169.168.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:06:00 +0000] "GET /content HTTP/1.1" 200 4096 "-" "GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot)" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Bot Type Bot Type User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example ChatGPT-User Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); ChatGPT-User/1.0 20.169.168.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:05:00 +0000] "GET /article.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8192 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36; ChatGPT-User/1.0" ChatGPT-User ChatGPT-User Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); ChatGPT-User/1.0 Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); ChatGPT-User/1.0 Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); ChatGPT-User/1.0 20.169.168.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:05:00 +0000] "GET /article.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8192 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36; ChatGPT-User/1.0" 20.169.168.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:05:00 +0000] "GET /article.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8192 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36; ChatGPT-User/1.0" 20.169.168.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:05:00 +0000] "GET /article.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8192 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36; ChatGPT-User/1.0" GPTBot GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot) 20.169.168.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:06:00 +0000] "GET /content HTTP/1.1" 200 4096 "-" "GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot)" GPTBot GPTBot GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot) GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot) GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot) 20.169.168.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:06:00 +0000] "GET /content HTTP/1.1" 200 4096 "-" "GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot)" 20.169.168.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:06:00 +0000] "GET /content HTTP/1.1" 200 4096 "-" "GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot)" 20.169.168.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:06:00 +0000] "GET /content HTTP/1.1" 200 4096 "-" "GPTBot/1.0 (+https://openai.com/gptbot)" Anthropic Claude Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Claude-Web Claude-Web/1.0 52.88.245.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:07:00 +0000] "GET /research-paper HTTP/1.1" 200 16384 "-" "Claude-Web/1.0" ClaudeBot ClaudeBot/1.0 (+https://www.anthropic.com/claudebot) 52.88.245.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:08:00 +0000] "GET /terms-of-service HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "ClaudeBot/1.0" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Claude-Web Claude-Web/1.0 52.88.245.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:07:00 +0000] "GET /research-paper HTTP/1.1" 200 16384 "-" "Claude-Web/1.0" ClaudeBot ClaudeBot/1.0 (+https://www.anthropic.com/claudebot) 52.88.245.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:08:00 +0000] "GET /terms-of-service HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "ClaudeBot/1.0" Bot Type User Agent Log Pattern Example Bot Type Bot Type User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example Claude-Web Claude-Web/1.0 52.88.245.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:07:00 +0000] "GET /research-paper HTTP/1.1" 200 16384 "-" "Claude-Web/1.0" Claude-Web Claude-Web Claude-Web/1.0 Claude-Web/1.0 Claude-Web/1.0 52.88.245.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:07:00 +0000] "GET /research-paper HTTP/1.1" 200 16384 "-" "Claude-Web/1.0" 52.88.245.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:07:00 +0000] "GET /research-paper HTTP/1.1" 200 16384 "-" "Claude-Web/1.0" 52.88.245.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:07:00 +0000] "GET /research-paper HTTP/1.1" 200 16384 "-" "Claude-Web/1.0" ClaudeBot ClaudeBot/1.0 (+https://www.anthropic.com/claudebot) 52.88.245.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:08:00 +0000] "GET /terms-of-service HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "ClaudeBot/1.0" ClaudeBot ClaudeBot ClaudeBot/1.0 (+https://www.anthropic.com/claudebot) ClaudeBot/1.0 (+https://www.anthropic.com/claudebot) ClaudeBot/1.0 (+https://www.anthropic.com/claudebot) 52.88.245.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:08:00 +0000] "GET /terms-of-service HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "ClaudeBot/1.0" 52.88.245.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:08:00 +0000] "GET /terms-of-service HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "ClaudeBot/1.0" 52.88.245.2 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:08:00 +0000] "GET /terms-of-service HTTP/1.1" 200 2048 "-" "ClaudeBot/1.0" Other AI Crawlers Service User Agent Log Pattern Example Perplexity PerplexityBot/1.0 (+https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/perplexitybot) 44.208.132.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:09:00 +0000] "GET /knowledge-base HTTP/1.1" 200 12288 "-" "PerplexityBot/1.0" You.com YouBot/1.0 (+https://about.you.com/youbot) 34.102.136.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:10:00 +0000] "GET /faq HTTP/1.1" 200 3072 "-" "YouBot/1.0" Meta AI FacebookBot/1.0 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler) 31.13.24.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:11:00 +0000] "GET /social-content HTTP/1.1" 200 6144 "-" "FacebookBot/1.0" Service User Agent Log Pattern Example Perplexity PerplexityBot/1.0 (+https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/perplexitybot) 44.208.132.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:09:00 +0000] "GET /knowledge-base HTTP/1.1" 200 12288 "-" "PerplexityBot/1.0" You.com YouBot/1.0 (+https://about.you.com/youbot) 34.102.136.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:10:00 +0000] "GET /faq HTTP/1.1" 200 3072 "-" "YouBot/1.0" Meta AI FacebookBot/1.0 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler) 31.13.24.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:11:00 +0000] "GET /social-content HTTP/1.1" 200 6144 "-" "FacebookBot/1.0" Service User Agent Log Pattern Example Service Service User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example Perplexity PerplexityBot/1.0 (+https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/perplexitybot) 44.208.132.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:09:00 +0000] "GET /knowledge-base HTTP/1.1" 200 12288 "-" "PerplexityBot/1.0" Perplexity Perplexity PerplexityBot/1.0 (+https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/perplexitybot) PerplexityBot/1.0 (+https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/perplexitybot) PerplexityBot/1.0 (+https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/perplexitybot) 44.208.132.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:09:00 +0000] "GET /knowledge-base HTTP/1.1" 200 12288 "-" "PerplexityBot/1.0" 44.208.132.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:09:00 +0000] "GET /knowledge-base HTTP/1.1" 200 12288 "-" "PerplexityBot/1.0" 44.208.132.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:09:00 +0000] "GET /knowledge-base HTTP/1.1" 200 12288 "-" "PerplexityBot/1.0" You.com YouBot/1.0 (+https://about.you.com/youbot) 34.102.136.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:10:00 +0000] "GET /faq HTTP/1.1" 200 3072 "-" "YouBot/1.0" You.com You.com You.com YouBot/1.0 (+https://about.you.com/youbot) YouBot/1.0 (+https://about.you.com/youbot) YouBot/1.0 (+https://about.you.com/youbot) 34.102.136.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:10:00 +0000] "GET /faq HTTP/1.1" 200 3072 "-" "YouBot/1.0" 34.102.136.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:10:00 +0000] "GET /faq HTTP/1.1" 200 3072 "-" "YouBot/1.0" 34.102.136.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:10:00 +0000] "GET /faq HTTP/1.1" 200 3072 "-" "YouBot/1.0" Meta AI FacebookBot/1.0 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler) 31.13.24.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:11:00 +0000] "GET /social-content HTTP/1.1" 200 6144 "-" "FacebookBot/1.0" Meta AI Meta AI FacebookBot/1.0 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler) FacebookBot/1.0 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler) FacebookBot/1.0 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler) 31.13.24.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:11:00 +0000] "GET /social-content HTTP/1.1" 200 6144 "-" "FacebookBot/1.0" 31.13.24.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:11:00 +0000] "GET /social-content HTTP/1.1" 200 6144 "-" "FacebookBot/1.0" 31.13.24.1 - - [01/Jan/2024:12:11:00 +0000] "GET /social-content HTTP/1.1" 200 6144 "-" "FacebookBot/1.0" Human User Log Patterns Desktop Browsers Browser User Agent Log Pattern Example Chrome (Windows) Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:30:25 +0000] "GET /homepage HTTP/1.1" 200 25600 "https://google.com/search" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Firefox (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0 192.168.1.101 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:31:15 +0000] "GET /about HTTP/1.1" 200 18432 "https://duckduckgo.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Firefox/120.0" Safari (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Safari/605.1.15 192.168.1.102 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:32:45 +0000] "GET /products HTTP/1.1" 200 22528 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/605.1.15" Browser User Agent Log Pattern Example Chrome (Windows) Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:30:25 +0000] "GET /homepage HTTP/1.1" 200 25600 "https://google.com/search" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Firefox (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0 192.168.1.101 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:31:15 +0000] "GET /about HTTP/1.1" 200 18432 "https://duckduckgo.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Firefox/120.0" Safari (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Safari/605.1.15 192.168.1.102 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:32:45 +0000] "GET /products HTTP/1.1" 200 22528 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/605.1.15" Browser User Agent Log Pattern Example Browser Browser User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example Chrome (Windows) Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:30:25 +0000] "GET /homepage HTTP/1.1" 200 25600 "https://google.com/search" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Chrome (Windows) Chrome (Windows) Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:30:25 +0000] "GET /homepage HTTP/1.1" 200 25600 "https://google.com/search" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0" 192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:30:25 +0000] "GET /homepage HTTP/1.1" 200 25600 "https://google.com/search" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0" 192.168.1.100 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:30:25 +0000] "GET /homepage HTTP/1.1" 200 25600 "https://google.com/search" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Firefox (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0 192.168.1.101 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:31:15 +0000] "GET /about HTTP/1.1" 200 18432 "https://duckduckgo.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Firefox/120.0" Firefox (macOS) Firefox (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0 Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0 Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0 192.168.1.101 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:31:15 +0000] "GET /about HTTP/1.1" 200 18432 "https://duckduckgo.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Firefox/120.0" 192.168.1.101 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:31:15 +0000] "GET /about HTTP/1.1" 200 18432 "https://duckduckgo.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Firefox/120.0" 192.168.1.101 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:31:15 +0000] "GET /about HTTP/1.1" 200 18432 "https://duckduckgo.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:120.0) Firefox/120.0" Safari (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Safari/605.1.15 192.168.1.102 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:32:45 +0000] "GET /products HTTP/1.1" 200 22528 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/605.1.15" Safari (macOS) Safari (macOS) Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Safari/605.1.15 Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Safari/605.1.15 Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Safari/605.1.15 192.168.1.102 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:32:45 +0000] "GET /products HTTP/1.1" 200 22528 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/605.1.15" 192.168.1.102 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:32:45 +0000] "GET /products HTTP/1.1" 200 22528 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/605.1.15" 192.168.1.102 - - [01/Jan/2024:14:32:45 +0000] "GET /products HTTP/1.1" 200 22528 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/605.1.15" Mobile Browsers Device/Browser User Agent Log Pattern Example iPhone Safari Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1 10.0.1.50 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:20:10 +0000] "GET /mobile HTTP/1.1" 200 15360 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) Safari/604.1" Android Chrome Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 10.0.1.51 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:21:30 +0000] "GET /app HTTP/1.1" 200 19456 "https://m.google.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Device/Browser User Agent Log Pattern Example iPhone Safari Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1 10.0.1.50 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:20:10 +0000] "GET /mobile HTTP/1.1" 200 15360 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) Safari/604.1" Android Chrome Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 10.0.1.51 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:21:30 +0000] "GET /app HTTP/1.1" 200 19456 "https://m.google.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Device/Browser User Agent Log Pattern Example Device/Browser Device/Browser User Agent User Agent Log Pattern Example Log Pattern Example iPhone Safari Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1 10.0.1.50 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:20:10 +0000] "GET /mobile HTTP/1.1" 200 15360 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) Safari/604.1" iPhone Safari iPhone Safari Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1 Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1 Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/17.1 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1 10.0.1.50 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:20:10 +0000] "GET /mobile HTTP/1.1" 200 15360 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) Safari/604.1" 10.0.1.50 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:20:10 +0000] "GET /mobile HTTP/1.1" 200 15360 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) Safari/604.1" 10.0.1.50 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:20:10 +0000] "GET /mobile HTTP/1.1" 200 15360 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_1 like Mac OS X) Safari/604.1" Android Chrome Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 10.0.1.51 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:21:30 +0000] "GET /app HTTP/1.1" 200 19456 "https://m.google.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Android Chrome Android Chrome Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 10.0.1.51 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:21:30 +0000] "GET /app HTTP/1.1" 200 19456 "https://m.google.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) Chrome/120.0.0.0" 10.0.1.51 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:21:30 +0000] "GET /app HTTP/1.1" 200 19456 "https://m.google.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) Chrome/120.0.0.0" 10.0.1.51 - - [01/Jan/2024:15:21:30 +0000] "GET /app HTTP/1.1" 200 19456 "https://m.google.com/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14; SM-G998B) Chrome/120.0.0.0" Key Identification Patterns Bot Characteristics Request Patterns: Sequential, systematic crawling Response Time: Consistent intervals between requests Session Duration: Short sessions, no browsing behavior JavaScript: Limited or no JavaScript execution Cookies: Often disabled or ignored Referrer: Typically empty or from search engines Request Patterns: Sequential, systematic crawling Request Patterns Response Time: Consistent intervals between requests Response Time Session Duration: Short sessions, no browsing behavior Session Duration JavaScript: Limited or no JavaScript execution JavaScript Cookies: Often disabled or ignored Cookies Referrer: Typically empty or from search engines Referrer Human Characteristics Request Patterns: Random, varied browsing behavior Response Time: Variable intervals, pauses for reading Session Duration: Longer sessions with multiple page views JavaScript: Full JavaScript execution Cookies: Accepted and maintained across sessions Referrer: Varied sources including social media, direct links Request Patterns: Random, varied browsing behavior Request Patterns Response Time: Variable intervals, pauses for reading Response Time Session Duration: Longer sessions with multiple page views Session Duration JavaScript: Full JavaScript execution JavaScript Cookies: Accepted and maintained across sessions Cookies Referrer: Varied sources including social media, direct links Referrer Analysis Commands and Scripts Basic Log Analysis with grep # Find all bot traffic grep -i "bot\|crawler\|spider" access.log # Find Google bot traffic grep "Googlebot" access.log # Find AI crawler traffic grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log # Count requests by user agent awk '{print $12 " " $13 " " $14}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr # Find top IP addresses awk '{print $1}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -20 # Find all bot traffic grep -i "bot\|crawler\|spider" access.log # Find Google bot traffic grep "Googlebot" access.log # Find AI crawler traffic grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log # Count requests by user agent awk '{print $12 " " $13 " " $14}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr # Find top IP addresses awk '{print $1}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -20 Advanced Analysis with awk # Analyze request patterns by hour awk '{print substr($4,14,2)}' access.log | sort | uniq -c # Calculate average session length awk '{print $1, $4}' access.log | sort | uniq | wc -l # Find suspicious rapid-fire requests awk '{print $1, $4}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | awk '$1 > 100' # Analyze request patterns by hour awk '{print substr($4,14,2)}' access.log | sort | uniq -c # Calculate average session length awk '{print $1, $4}' access.log | sort | uniq | wc -l # Find suspicious rapid-fire requests awk '{print $1, $4}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | awk '$1 > 100' Log Analysis Table: Bot vs Human Traffic Comparison Metric AI Bots Search Engine Bots Human Users Request Rate 1-10 req/sec 0.1-2 req/sec 0.01-0.5 req/sec Session Duration < 1 minute 1-5 minutes 5-30 minutes Pages per Session 5-50 10-100 2-15 JavaScript Support Limited None/Limited Full Cookie Acceptance Rare None Standard Referrer Pattern Empty/Direct Empty/Search Varied Status Code Distribution Mostly 200 200, 404, 301 200, 404, 403 Time Between Requests Consistent Semi-regular Irregular Metric AI Bots Search Engine Bots Human Users Request Rate 1-10 req/sec 0.1-2 req/sec 0.01-0.5 req/sec Session Duration < 1 minute 1-5 minutes 5-30 minutes Pages per Session 5-50 10-100 2-15 JavaScript Support Limited None/Limited Full Cookie Acceptance Rare None Standard Referrer Pattern Empty/Direct Empty/Search Varied Status Code Distribution Mostly 200 200, 404, 301 200, 404, 403 Time Between Requests Consistent Semi-regular Irregular Metric AI Bots Search Engine Bots Human Users Metric Metric AI Bots AI Bots Search Engine Bots Search Engine Bots Human Users Human Users Request Rate 1-10 req/sec 0.1-2 req/sec 0.01-0.5 req/sec Request Rate Request Rate Request Rate 1-10 req/sec 1-10 req/sec 0.1-2 req/sec 0.1-2 req/sec 0.01-0.5 req/sec 0.01-0.5 req/sec Session Duration < 1 minute 1-5 minutes 5-30 minutes Session Duration Session Duration Session Duration < 1 minute < 1 minute 1-5 minutes 1-5 minutes 5-30 minutes 5-30 minutes Pages per Session 5-50 10-100 2-15 Pages per Session Pages per Session Pages per Session 5-50 5-50 10-100 10-100 2-15 2-15 JavaScript Support Limited None/Limited Full JavaScript Support JavaScript Support JavaScript Support Limited Limited None/Limited None/Limited Full Full Cookie Acceptance Rare None Standard Cookie Acceptance Cookie Acceptance Cookie Acceptance Rare Rare None None Standard Standard Referrer Pattern Empty/Direct Empty/Search Varied Referrer Pattern Referrer Pattern Referrer Pattern Empty/Direct Empty/Direct Empty/Search Empty/Search Varied Varied Status Code Distribution Mostly 200 200, 404, 301 200, 404, 403 Status Code Distribution Status Code Distribution Status Code Distribution Mostly 200 Mostly 200 200, 404, 301 200, 404, 301 200, 404, 403 200, 404, 403 Time Between Requests Consistent Semi-regular Irregular Time Between Requests Time Between Requests Time Between Requests Consistent Consistent Semi-regular Semi-regular Irregular Irregular How to Use This for AI Analysis for SEO Understanding AI Bot Crawling for SEO Strategy AI bots are increasingly important for SEO as they help train language models and power AI search features. Understanding their behavior can inform your SEO strategy and content optimization. SEO Benefits of AI Bot Analysis 1. Content Discovery Optimization Monitor which pages AI bots crawl most frequently to understand: High-value content: Pages crawled by multiple AI bots indicate valuable content Content gaps: Pages ignored by AI bots may need optimization Crawl efficiency: Identify if bots are accessing your most important pages High-value content: Pages crawled by multiple AI bots indicate valuable content High-value content Content gaps: Pages ignored by AI bots may need optimization Content gaps Crawl efficiency: Identify if bots are accessing your most important pages Crawl efficiency # Find most crawled pages by AI bots grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -20 # Find most crawled pages by AI bots grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -20 2. AI Search Visibility Analysis Track AI bot behavior to improve visibility in AI-powered search results: AI Service SEO Implications Analysis Focus ChatGPT/GPTBot Content used for training and responses Monitor crawl depth and frequency Claude Research and analysis capabilities Track which content types are preferred Perplexity Real-time search integration Analyze query-related page access You.com Search engine optimization Monitor indexing patterns AI Service SEO Implications Analysis Focus ChatGPT/GPTBot Content used for training and responses Monitor crawl depth and frequency Claude Research and analysis capabilities Track which content types are preferred Perplexity Real-time search integration Analyze query-related page access You.com Search engine optimization Monitor indexing patterns AI Service SEO Implications Analysis Focus AI Service AI Service SEO Implications SEO Implications Analysis Focus Analysis Focus ChatGPT/GPTBot Content used for training and responses Monitor crawl depth and frequency ChatGPT/GPTBot ChatGPT/GPTBot ChatGPT/GPTBot Content used for training and responses Content used for training and responses Monitor crawl depth and frequency Monitor crawl depth and frequency Claude Research and analysis capabilities Track which content types are preferred Claude Claude Claude Research and analysis capabilities Research and analysis capabilities Track which content types are preferred Track which content types are preferred Perplexity Real-time search integration Analyze query-related page access Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Real-time search integration Real-time search integration Analyze query-related page access Analyze query-related page access You.com Search engine optimization Monitor indexing patterns You.com You.com You.com You.com Search engine optimization Search engine optimization Monitor indexing patterns Monitor indexing patterns 3. Content Quality Signals AI bots often focus on high-quality, authoritative content: # Analyze AI bot crawling patterns by content type grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep -E "\.(html|php)$" | awk '{print $7}' | sed 's/.*\///' | sort | uniq -c # Analyze AI bot crawling patterns by content type grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep -E "\.(html|php)$" | awk '{print $7}' | sed 's/.*\///' | sort | uniq -c SEO Optimization Strategies Based on AI Bot Analysis 1. Content Structure Optimization AI bots prefer well-structured content. Analyze their crawling patterns to optimize: Heading hierarchy: Ensure proper H1-H6 structure Content length: Monitor which article lengths get more AI attention Internal linking: Track how AI bots follow internal links Heading hierarchy: Ensure proper H1-H6 structure Heading hierarchy Content length: Monitor which article lengths get more AI attention Content length Internal linking: Track how AI bots follow internal links Internal linking 2. Technical SEO for AI Crawlers # Check if AI bots are accessing key SEO pages echo "Robots.txt access by AI bots:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep "robots.txt" echo "Sitemap access by AI bots:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep "sitemap" # Check if AI bots are accessing key SEO pages echo "Robots.txt access by AI bots:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep "robots.txt" echo "Sitemap access by AI bots:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep "sitemap" 3. Content Freshness Analysis Monitor how quickly AI bots discover new content: Metric Analysis Method SEO Insight Discovery Time Time between publish and first AI bot visit Content distribution effectiveness Crawl Frequency How often AI bots revisit updated content Content freshness signals Update Recognition Bot behavior after content updates Change detection efficiency Metric Analysis Method SEO Insight Discovery Time Time between publish and first AI bot visit Content distribution effectiveness Crawl Frequency How often AI bots revisit updated content Content freshness signals Update Recognition Bot behavior after content updates Change detection efficiency Metric Analysis Method SEO Insight Metric Metric Analysis Method Analysis Method SEO Insight SEO Insight Discovery Time Time between publish and first AI bot visit Content distribution effectiveness Discovery Time Discovery Time Discovery Time Time between publish and first AI bot visit Time between publish and first AI bot visit Content distribution effectiveness Content distribution effectiveness Crawl Frequency How often AI bots revisit updated content Content freshness signals Crawl Frequency Crawl Frequency Crawl Frequency How often AI bots revisit updated content How often AI bots revisit updated content Content freshness signals Content freshness signals Update Recognition Bot behavior after content updates Change detection efficiency Update Recognition Update Recognition Update Recognition Bot behavior after content updates Bot behavior after content updates Change detection efficiency Change detection efficiency AI Bot Behavior Insights for SEO Content Preferences Analysis # Analyze which content types AI bots prefer grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | grep -E "(blog|article|guide|tutorial|research)" | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr # Analyze which content types AI bots prefer grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | grep -E "(blog|article|guide|tutorial|research)" | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr Crawl Pattern Analysis Monitor AI bot crawling patterns to understand: Peak crawling times: When AI bots are most active Crawl depth: How deep into your site structure they go Session length: How much content they consume per visit Peak crawling times: When AI bots are most active Peak crawling times Crawl depth: How deep into your site structure they go Crawl depth Session length: How much content they consume per visit Session length SEO Recommendations Based on AI Bot Analysis 1. Content Strategy Optimization High AI-crawled pages: These indicate content AI systems find valuable Low AI-crawled pages: May need content enhancement or better internal linking Ignored sections: Consider restructuring or improving content quality High AI-crawled pages: These indicate content AI systems find valuable High AI-crawled pages Low AI-crawled pages: May need content enhancement or better internal linking Low AI-crawled pages Ignored sections: Consider restructuring or improving content quality Ignored sections 2. Technical Implementation # Monitor AI bot response codes for technical issues grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $9}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr # Monitor AI bot response codes for technical issues grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $9}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr Common response codes and their SEO implications: 200 OK: Successful content access 404 Not Found: Broken links affecting AI discoverability 403 Forbidden: Access restrictions limiting AI crawling 301/302 Redirects: URL structure changes 200 OK: Successful content access 200 OK 404 Not Found: Broken links affecting AI discoverability 404 Not Found 403 Forbidden: Access restrictions limiting AI crawling 403 Forbidden 301/302 Redirects: URL structure changes 301/302 Redirects 3. Competitive Analysis Compare AI bot crawling patterns across: Industry competitors: Benchmark AI attention to your content Content types: Identify which formats AI systems prefer Topic areas: Understand AI interest in different subject matters Industry competitors: Benchmark AI attention to your content Industry competitors Content types: Identify which formats AI systems prefer Content types Topic areas: Understand AI interest in different subject matters Topic areas Measuring SEO Success Through AI Bot Analysis Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) KPI Measurement Method SEO Value AI Crawl Coverage Percentage of pages crawled by AI bots Content discoverability Crawl Frequency Average time between AI bot visits Content freshness perception Content Depth Average pages per AI bot session Site structure effectiveness Error Rate Percentage of 4xx/5xx responses to AI bots Technical SEO health KPI Measurement Method SEO Value AI Crawl Coverage Percentage of pages crawled by AI bots Content discoverability Crawl Frequency Average time between AI bot visits Content freshness perception Content Depth Average pages per AI bot session Site structure effectiveness Error Rate Percentage of 4xx/5xx responses to AI bots Technical SEO health KPI Measurement Method SEO Value KPI KPI Measurement Method Measurement Method SEO Value SEO Value AI Crawl Coverage Percentage of pages crawled by AI bots Content discoverability AI Crawl Coverage AI Crawl Coverage AI Crawl Coverage Percentage of pages crawled by AI bots Percentage of pages crawled by AI bots Content discoverability Content discoverability Crawl Frequency Average time between AI bot visits Content freshness perception Crawl Frequency Crawl Frequency Crawl Frequency Average time between AI bot visits Average time between AI bot visits Content freshness perception Content freshness perception Content Depth Average pages per AI bot session Site structure effectiveness Content Depth Content Depth Content Depth Average pages per AI bot session Average pages per AI bot session Site structure effectiveness Site structure effectiveness Error Rate Percentage of 4xx/5xx responses to AI bots Technical SEO health Error Rate Error Rate Error Rate Percentage of 4xx/5xx responses to AI bots Percentage of 4xx/5xx responses to AI bots Technical SEO health Technical SEO health Monthly Reporting Template #!/bin/bash # Monthly AI Bot SEO Report echo "=== AI Bot SEO Analysis Report ===" echo "Period: $(date +'%B %Y')" echo "" echo "1. AI Bot Traffic Volume:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | wc -l echo "2. Most Crawled Content:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -10 echo "3. Technical Issues:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep -E " (4[0-9][0-9]|5[0-9][0-9]) " | awk '{print $9}' | sort | uniq -c #!/bin/bash # Monthly AI Bot SEO Report echo "=== AI Bot SEO Analysis Report ===" echo "Period: $(date +'%B %Y')" echo "" echo "1. AI Bot Traffic Volume:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | wc -l echo "2. Most Crawled Content:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -10 echo "3. Technical Issues:" grep -i "gptbot\|claude\|perplexity" access.log | grep -E " (4[0-9][0-9]|5[0-9][0-9]) " | awk '{print $9}' | sort | uniq -c This AI bot analysis approach helps optimize your SEO strategy by understanding how AI systems interact with your content, leading to better visibility in AI-powered search results and improved content discoverability. Recommendations for Log Analysis 1. Regular Monitoring Set up automated scripts to run hourly or daily Monitor for unusual traffic spikes Track new or unknown user agents Set up automated scripts to run hourly or daily Monitor for unusual traffic spikes Track new or unknown user agents 2. IP Address Analysis Maintain whitelist of known good bots Block suspicious IPs showing bot-like behavior Use geolocation data for additional context Maintain whitelist of known good bots Block suspicious IPs showing bot-like behavior Use geolocation data for additional context 3. Rate Limiting Implementation Implement different rate limits for bots vs humans Use progressive delays for repeated requests Consider CAPTCHA for suspicious traffic Implement different rate limits for bots vs humans Use progressive delays for repeated requests Consider CAPTCHA for suspicious traffic 4. Log Retention and Storage Retain logs for at least 30 days for analysis Compress older logs to save storage Consider centralized logging for multiple servers Retain logs for at least 30 days for analysis Compress older logs to save storage Consider centralized logging for multiple servers Conclusion Effective website log analysis requires understanding the distinct patterns of AI bots, search engine crawlers, and human users. By implementing proper monitoring, analysis scripts, and detection mechanisms, webmasters can better manage their traffic, improve security, and optimize user experience. Regular analysis of these patterns helps maintain a healthy balance between allowing beneficial bot traffic while preventing abuse and ensuring optimal performance for human visitors.