Tools · AI
OpenAI
Reachable and readable in ChatGPT search.
OpenAI makes ChatGPT and the GPT models, and runs the crawlers that let ChatGPT search find and read web pages. Donut Analytics makes sure ChatGPT's search can reach and read your site, and sets each of OpenAI's crawlers the way you decide. Buying ads in ChatGPT is a separate job, covered on our ChatGPT Ads page.
How we use it
How we work with OpenAI
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Let ChatGPT's search in
OAI-SearchBot is the crawler that lets your pages show up in ChatGPT search answers. We check robots.txt and your CDN's bot rules so it isn't blocked. Some security settings now block AI crawlers by default.
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Training is a separate choice
GPTBot collects pages that may be used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI treats it separately from search, so you can block training and still appear in ChatGPT search. We set it the way you decide.
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Pages AI search can read
Sites we build are set up for AI search: structured data, plain answers to real questions, an llms.txt file, and crawler rules that let AI search tools in. New pages go to Bing through IndexNow, so they're picked up quickly.
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Room for the ad crawler
If you run ChatGPT ads, OpenAI's ad crawler, OAI-AdsBot, checks each ad's landing page, so it has to get through your site's security too. How we set up and measure the ads is on the ChatGPT Ads page.
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Agents and analysis
Donut Code, our build practice, makes custom agents and copilots on Claude and OpenAI, with a person in the loop where it counts. The same rule holds for analysis: AI moves faster, a person checks the work.
In practice
Where this has come up
Real work, kept anonymous.
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A site rebuild with AI crawlers on the checklist
For a client's upcoming site rebuild, we wrote a media checklist for the developers covering feeds, tracking and crawler access. It names OpenAI's search, user and ad crawlers to allow, and leaves the training crawler as a separate decision.
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Our own site
donutanalytics.com names OpenAI's search, user and training crawlers in robots.txt and lets them in, publishes llms.txt and structured data, and sends new pages to IndexNow after each launch.
What it can’t tell you
What no one can promise you in ChatGPT
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A spot in the answers
Letting OAI-SearchBot in makes your pages eligible for ChatGPT search. It doesn't make ChatGPT cite them, and nobody can promise that it will.
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A full count of AI traffic
GA4 now reports an AI Assistant channel for visits referred by chatbots like ChatGPT. Visits that arrive without a referrer still land in Direct, so the count runs low.
FAQ
Questions about OpenAI
- What's the difference between ChatGPT and the OpenAI API?
- ChatGPT is OpenAI's app for people. The API lets developers build OpenAI's models into their own tools, through the Responses API or the Agents SDK. ChatGPT ads are a third thing, bought in OpenAI's Ads Manager.
- How do I get my site into ChatGPT search?
- Start by letting OpenAI's search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, reach your pages through robots.txt and any CDN bot rules. Then make the pages easy to read, with plain answers to real questions and structured data. Nobody can guarantee a citation.
- Should I block GPTBot?
- That's your call, and it doesn't affect ChatGPT search. GPTBot collects pages that may be used to train OpenAI's models. OAI-SearchBot is the crawler for ChatGPT search, and OpenAI treats the two settings separately.
- Does OpenAI's ad crawler need access to my site?
- Yes, if you run ChatGPT ads. OAI-AdsBot visits only pages submitted as ads, to check them, and OpenAI says it doesn't use that data to train its models.
- What's the difference between OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User and GPTBot?
- They do different jobs. OAI-SearchBot finds and reads pages so they can appear in ChatGPT search. ChatGPT-User visits a page when a person in ChatGPT asks it to, so it acts for that person rather than crawling on its own. GPTBot collects pages that may be used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI names each one separately, so a site can tell them apart.
Pairs with
Make sure ChatGPT can reach you.
Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll build a measurement-first plan for your brand. Email hello@donutanalytics.com or call (407) 394-9720.