Illustration of AI crawlers scanning and indexing website content

AI Crawlers and Your Website

AI crawlers are automated bots used by artificial intelligence platforms — such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude — to scan websites and collect text. They work alongside traditional search engine crawlers (like Googlebot) but with different goals: rather than building a search index, they gather information to train models or to provide answers inside AI-driven tools.

How AI crawlers differ from Googlebot

  • Googlebot: Crawls, renders, and indexes web pages for Google Search. It can process JavaScript, but not always perfectly. Heavier or slower websites may reduce crawl efficiency, as Google allocates crawl budget based on site performance and importance. For example, overloaded WordPress sites built with heavy page builders can slow down crawling.
  • AI crawlers: Usually fetch raw HTML and text without rendering complex JavaScript. They rely on visible content, headings, and structured data to interpret your pages. Simple HTML sites or lightweight WordPress setups (e.g. Gutenberg editor) are more accessible to them.
Key takeaway: If your website hides important text behind page builders or heavy scripts, Google may or may not process it, but AI crawlers are even less likely to. Keeping core content in clean, semantic, lightweight HTML makes it easier for both.

What AI crawlers look for

While each AI platform is different, crawlers tend to prioritise content that is:

  • Readable HTML: Clear headings, paragraphs, and lists — instead of text hidden in images, animations, or loaded only via scripts.
  • Structured data: Schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, Product, LocalBusiness) adds context that AI systems can interpret more reliably.
  • Trusted signals: Strong backlinks, transparent authorship, and recognised expertise increase the chances of being cited in AI summaries.
  • Fresh content: Recently updated and relevant pages are more likely to be used, especially in fast-moving topics.
Key takeaway: Many websites — even expensive builds costing €5,000+ — still miss out on proper schema markup. Make sure yours doesn’t.

Why this matters for your business

Increasingly, customers are discovering businesses not just through Google, but through AI assistants that generate answers directly. If your site isn’t easily understood by AI crawlers, you risk being left out of those summaries and recommendations.

For Irish SMEs, this means that a slow, bloated, or poorly structured site could miss opportunities to be referenced when people ask ChatGPT or Perplexity about local services, products, or advice.

Practical steps to improve AI visibility

  • Keep critical content in the page’s HTML (not hidden behind tabs, pop-ups, or injected scripts).
  • Use semantic headings (<h1>, <h2>, <h3>) that describe your key topics clearly.
  • Add structured data where relevant (FAQPage, Product, LocalBusiness, Article).
  • Optimise speed: faster sites are easier for both search engines and AI crawlers to process.
  • Make sure your robots.txt and meta tags allow responsible AI crawlers (like GPTBot) to access public pages you want referenced.
Key takeaway: The same practices that make your site fast, accessible, and SEO-friendly also help AI crawlers understand it.

Looking ahead

AI crawlers are still evolving. Some platforms may improve their ability to process JavaScript-heavy content, but clean HTML and clear structure will remain the safest way to ensure your content is both discoverable and understood.

Treat AI-readiness as an extension of SEO best practice: focus on clarity, speed, and trustworthy information, and your site will be positioned to benefit as AI-driven discovery grows.

Sources

Verify with ChatGPT

Open ChatGPT & copy prompt
Plain-English fact check for business readers (Ireland, 2 Sep 2025). 1) Summarize the page’s main points in 3–5 short bullets (no jargon). 2) Assess key factual claims. For each: Claim: "…exact quote…" — Verdict: True / Mostly true / Needs context / Unclear / False — Why: 1–2 sentences in plain English. Rules: Focus on facts only (web/technical topics). Do not correct style, tone, or grammar. Do not suggest rewrites. Do not discuss legal or pricing issues. If you mark a claim False or Unclear, include 1–2 reputable sources. If none: "No material inaccuracies found." URL: https://quickstep.ie/ai-crawlers

You may need to be logged in to ChatGPT to scan the live URL.

Disclaimer: ChatGPT’s review is a general guide only. AI outputs can be outdated or misinterpret context and often err on the side of caution. Our guidance is based on hands-on experience and our own testing. Our opinions may occasionally disagree with AI checks.

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