See what AI crawlers see on every page that matters
The AI crawler view checker shows whether the bots behind ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can reach your site, and what they actually read once they do. Proofsource audits bot access, checks crawlability across your pages, tests whether each page renders without JavaScript, and puts the bot's view next to a person's view, section by section, so you can fix content AI engines never receive.
| Section | Human | AI crawler |
|---|---|---|
| Plan names and headline | Visible | Visible |
| Pricing table | Visible | Missing |
| Feature comparison with Otter and Fireflies | Visible | Missing |
| Customer reviews | Visible | Visible |
| FAQ | Visible | Missing |
AI crawler view checker, in short
The facts, ready to quote.
- Bots checked
- GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot
- Bot access
- Allowed or blocked per AI bot, checked again on demand
- Crawlability
- Pages crawlable out of pages checked, with the blocked ones listed
- Rendering
- How much of a page is visible without JavaScript, and which sections are hidden
- Side by side
- Each section of a page shown as visible or missing for a person and for an AI crawler
- Who it is for
- Marketing, SEO and web teams whose content AI answers leave out
What is an AI crawler view check?
AI answer engines learn about your site through crawlers: GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot for OpenAI, ClaudeBot for Anthropic, PerplexityBot for Perplexity, and user agents that fetch a page while answering a live question. If those bots are blocked, or if they arrive and find an empty page, the engine has nothing of yours to quote, and it will lean on other sources instead.
There are three common ways this goes wrong. A robots.txt rule or a firewall turns the bot away. A page is reachable but not crawlable, for example because of broken links or noindex rules. Or the page loads its content with JavaScript, which many AI crawlers do not run, so the bot receives a shell with no pricing table, no features and no reviews. A person sees a full page; the crawler sees almost nothing.
A what AI crawlers see check tests all three. Proofsource audits which AI bots can access your site, checks crawlability across your pages, measures how much of each page is visible without JavaScript, and compares the bot's view with the human view section by section. The result is a short list of what to unblock or render on the server, and a way to confirm the fix worked.
How it works
Check whether GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot can reach your site, and compare what a bot reads on a page with what a person sees.
Audit bot access
Proofsource checks whether GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and the other AI bots are allowed in or turned away.
Check crawlability
See how many of your pages are crawlable and which ones are blocked.
Test rendering without JavaScript
Each page is read the way a bot reads it, without running JavaScript, and the hidden sections are listed.
Compare bot and human views
Every section of the page is marked visible or missing for a person and for an AI crawler.
Fix and check again
Unblock the bot or render the content on the server, then run the check again to confirm crawlers now see it.
See it in the product
Screens from the Proofsource app, drawn with sample data for an example brand.
| Bot | Engine | Access |
|---|---|---|
| GPTBot | ChatGPT | Allowed |
| OAI-SearchBot | ChatGPT | Allowed |
| ChatGPT-User | ChatGPT | Allowed |
| ClaudeBot | Claude | Blocked |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Allowed |
Every capability, live today
3 shipped capabilities behind AI crawler view checker, each in the product now.
Bot access and crawlability
Checks whether AI bots such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot can reach your site, how many pages are crawlable and which are blocked, and lets you check again after a change.
Bot view versus human view
Checks whether a page renders without JavaScript, lists the sections a bot cannot see and compares the bot's view with a person's, section by section.
Bot view of your pages
See how AI bots view your brand's pages.
Who it is for
Prove a rendering problem
Show exactly which sections disappear without JavaScript, and confirm the fix after you move them to server rendering.
Find the blocked AI bot
See which AI bot your robots.txt or firewall turns away before it costs you answers.
Explain a missing pricing answer
When an answer quotes your pricing differently from your page, check whether its crawler ever saw the pricing table.
Run a fast first check for clients
Start every engagement with bot access, crawlability and rendering results for the client's key pages.
Why it matters
See the page the bot saw
A side by side view makes a hidden problem obvious to everyone, not only developers.
Catch blocks early
A blocked AI bot is one of the fastest ways to vanish from answers, and one of the easiest to fix.
Short, concrete fix list
Unblock a bot, render a section on the server, fix a crawl rule: each finding points to one change.
Confirm the fix
Run the check again after a change to see the bot now gets the content.
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AI crawler view checker: Proofsource and other tools
Checking AI crawler access is a shared priority across good AI visibility tools; here is how each describes it on its public pages.
| Capability | Proofsource | Otterly.AI | Scrunch | Semrush | Peec AI | Rankscale | Profound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI bot access check | YesAllowed or blocked per AI bot, checked again on demand | YesCrawlability checker checks AI bot accessSource | YesDetects AI bot crawl failures, with fixesSource | YesSite Audit flags blocked AI botsSource | YesSitemap, llms.txt and robots.txt crawlability historySource | YesPage audit checks AI bot crawlabilitySource | RelatedAgent Analytics shows which AI bots access contentSource |
| Rendering without JavaScript | YesShare of a page visible without JavaScript, with hidden sections listed | Not listed | YesSite audit flags JavaScript rendering issuesSource | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | RelatedDynamic Bot Rendering serves fully rendered pages to AI botsSource |
| Bot view next to human view | YesEach section marked visible or missing for a person and for an AI crawler | RelatedFree crawler simulation toolSource | RelatedAXP serves AI agents a machine-readable version of pagesSource | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | RelatedMakes content AI crawlers cannot read availableSource |
| Crawlability across pages | YesCrawlable pages out of pages checked, with blocked ones listed | RelatedCrawlability checker, works on competitor sites tooSource | YesMonitors crawl health for AI botsSource | RelatedAI-readiness audit of 100 pages on the free planSource | RelatedPage-level AI bot crawling in My website viewSource | RelatedTechnical SEO checks within page auditSource | RelatedShows bot crawl activity per pageSource |
| Fix list and re-check | YesUnblock the bot or render on the server, then run the check again | RelatedStructured data and AI-readiness review with fixesSource | YesCrawl failures come with fixesSource | Not listed | Not listed | RelatedAI readiness score; 90+ checks; fixes; 10 to 200 audits per month by planSource | RelatedOpens up content AI crawlers cannot readSource |
| Explains a missing answer | YesShows whether a crawler ever saw the content an answer misquoted, such as a pricing table | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Where each of them shines
Otterly offers free crawler simulation and a crawlability checker that also works on competitor sites. Compare in full
Scrunch goes further on delivery, with an Agent Experience Platform that serves AI agents a readable version of each page. Compare in full
Semrush flags blocked AI bots such as OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot inside Site Audit. Compare in full
Peec keeps a history of sitemap, llms.txt and robots.txt crawlability checks. Compare in full
Rankscale folds bot crawlability into page audits with an AI readiness score.
Profound combines real-time AI bot analytics with crawler verification and rendering for bots. Compare in full
Questions about AI crawler view checker
What do AI crawlers see on my site?
They see the HTML your server returns. Many AI crawlers do not run JavaScript, so content that loads with JavaScript may be missing. Proofsource shows each section as visible or missing for a person and for an AI crawler.
Which AI bots does Proofsource check?
GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User for ChatGPT, ClaudeBot for Claude, and PerplexityBot for Perplexity.
Why would an AI bot be blocked if I never blocked it?
A broad robots.txt rule, a CDN bot firewall or a security plugin can turn AI bots away without anyone deciding to. The bot access audit shows which bots get in.
Do AI crawlers run JavaScript?
Many do not. If your pricing table, features or FAQ load with JavaScript, the crawler may receive the page without them. The rendering analysis shows how much of each page is visible without JavaScript.
How do I fix content AI crawlers cannot see?
Render the important sections on the server or prerender the page, and make sure AI bots are allowed. Then run the check again to confirm the crawler now gets the content.
Does this affect AI answer engines?
Yes. If an engine's crawler cannot read a page, that engine has less of your own text to quote, and it relies more on other sources.
How is this different from Otterly's crawlability checker?
Otterly's checker and free crawler simulation are a good quick test. Proofsource adds a section by section bot view next to the human view, a rendering score per page, and ties the results to the answers you track.
Is this the same as the AI crawler access page?
It goes deeper on the page itself. The crawler access feature checks what your server returns to each bot; this checker also shows what each section of a page looks like to a bot.
Keep exploring
Try it on your own brand.
Proofsource is live: scan your brand and see AI crawler view checker at work with your own answers, competitors and sources.
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