[AI crawlers](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers) · Meta AI · AI answers · Counted in the score

# meta-externalagent

meta-externalagent is Meta AI's ai answers crawler token. Blocking it costs points in the AI readiness score. 16.9% of the top 1,000 websites with a robots.txt block it.

Crawls for training Meta's foundation AI models or improving its products by indexing content directly. Meta's documented way to block it is a robots.txt disallow.

## Where this comes from

- **Documented by the vendor.** Source: [developers.facebook.com](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers/)
- **Honours robots.txt.**
- **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

- **16.9% block it in robots.txt** (96 of the 569 sites with a robots.txt), as of 2026-10-12.
- Method, limits and the full data: [the October 2026 study of the top 1,000 websites](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/research/ai-crawler-access-october-2026).

## What blocking it costs

Meta AI 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: meta-externalagent
Allow: /
```

To keep it out:

```
User-agent: meta-externalagent
Disallow: /
```

A rule in robots.txt is a request. Meta AI says this crawler honours it. The [robots.txt generator](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/tools/robots-txt) writes a whole file with the same split: block the training crawlers, keep the search and answer crawlers.

## Also from [Meta AI](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/vendor/meta-ai)

- [`meta-externalfetcher`](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/meta-externalfetcher) · Fetches when a user asks
- [`FacebookBot`](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/facebookbot) · Training only

## Does meta-externalagent get through on your site?

[Run the free check](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/): it reads your robots.txt against all 51 crawlers and tells you which ones can read you, and what to change.

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Source: https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/meta-externalagent