AI crawlers · Microsoft Copilot · AI answers · Counted in the score

Copilot

Microsoft documents no Copilot-specific crawler. Copilot's answers draw on Bing's index, which Bingbot builds, so Bingbot rules decide what Copilot can cite. This token appears only in community lists.

Where this comes from

  • Community-listed; no vendor documentation. No vendor page names this token.
  • Robots.txt behaviour undocumented.
  • Counted in the readiness score. It can keep a site out of AI search or answers, so a block costs points.

In the top 1,000 websites

What blocking it costs

Microsoft Copilot says this token controls more than training, so a block can keep your pages out of its answers or product features. The score counts it, so a block costs points.

The robots.txt lines

To let it in (a group that names the crawler replaces any wildcard rules for it, so this also lifts a User-agent: * block):

User-agent: Copilot
Allow: /

To keep it out:

User-agent: Copilot
Disallow: /

A rule in robots.txt is a request. Whether this crawler honours it is undocumented. The robots.txt generator writes a whole file with the same split: block the training crawlers, keep the search and answer crawlers.

Also from Microsoft Copilot

Does Copilot get through on your site?

Run the free check: it reads your robots.txt against all 51 crawlers and tells you which ones can read you, and what to change.