Perplexity-User: purpose, robots.txt rules and access checks
Perplexity-User fetches a page when a person asks a question that needs it. A server block can stop that fetch, including its use as a linked source in the answer.
Aditya R. Singh maintains Let The Bots In, a technical AI-readiness scanner and reference site.
Technical reference
| Operator | Perplexity |
|---|---|
| Class | User-triggered browsing |
| HTTP User-Agent | Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; Perplexity-User/1.0; +https://perplexity.ai/perplexity-user) |
| Citation impact | A server block can stop that fetch, including its use as a linked source in the answer. |
| IP verification | Official IP ranges or verification reference |
Header versions can change. Use the product token for robots.txt matching and consult the Perplexity crawler documentation before changing enforcement. Reference checked on 18 October 2026.
Perplexity says this user-requested fetcher generally ignores robots.txt. A Disallow rule is not a reliable access barrier.
How do I allow Perplexity-User?
Merge this group into the robots.txt served from the page's origin. Keep any path exclusions that still apply. A named group may stop inheriting the wildcard group's exclusions.
User-agent: Perplexity-User
Allow: /Allow retrieval and block training
This example separates the operator's documented identities where possible. It changes crawl or data-use preferences; it does not grant server access. User-triggered agents may follow a different robots.txt policy.
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /
User-agent: Perplexity-User
Allow: /Use the interactive robots.txt builder for a per-bot policy. Test the final file against the exact page path before deploying it.
What if the CDN returns HTTP 403?
A robots.txt allow rule cannot override an HTTP 403, a login gate or a JavaScript challenge. Compare the returned body with the public page and locate the request in CDN security events. Grant an exception only after verifying the sender, scoped to the affected public routes.
The scanner uses its own network. A successful header probe does not verify Perplexity access, and a refused probe does not establish a vendor-wide block. See the WAF troubleshooting guide.
Check your site's rules for Perplexity-User
Frequently asked questions
What does Perplexity-User do?
Perplexity operates Perplexity-User. Perplexity-User fetches a page when a person asks a question that needs it.
Does blocking Perplexity-User affect citations?
A server block can stop that fetch, including its use as a linked source in the answer.
How do I verify a Perplexity-User request?
Use the operator's published verification reference linked on this page. Match the source IP, not just the User-Agent header. A scanner probe comes from its own network.
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