PerplexityBot user agent, IP ranges and robots.txt

Perplexity operates PerplexityBot to find and link websites in Perplexity search results. The operator states it is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models. The bot honors robots.txt under the token PerplexityBot. Perplexity publishes its IP ranges in a JSON file and documents no reverse DNS method, so verification is by IP range plus the User-Agent string.

In access logs the bot appears with a User-Agent containing PerplexityBot/1.0 and a link to perplexity.ai/perplexitybot, which redirects to the Perplexity crawler documentation. Perplexity says the visits exist to find pages and link them in Perplexity search results, and that the bot is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models. The documentation says each robots.txt setting works independently and that changes may take up to 24 hours to take effect.

Allowing PerplexityBot keeps a site eligible to appear as a linked result in Perplexity search. Perplexity recommends allowing the token in robots.txt and permitting requests from its published IP ranges. A Disallow rule for User-agent PerplexityBot keeps the site out of those results, since Perplexity ties appearance in its search to allowing the bot. The documentation does not contain an explicit sentence saying the bot respects robots.txt; the registry's 'yes' rests on the intro statement about robots.txt tags and on the recommendation to allow the bot there.

The IP range file is a JSON object with a creationTime field and a prefixes array, each element holding a single ipv4Prefix. Perplexity says the addresses are updated regularly and should be the source of truth for WAF configuration. The published URL on perplexity.com redirects to the same file on perplexity.ai. The documentation does not mention JavaScript execution anywhere.

Operator note. The docs page opens with: "Webmasters can use the following robots.txt tags to manage how their sites and content interact with Perplexity. Each setting works independently, and it may take up to 24 hours for our systems to reflect changes." The page does not state outright that PerplexityBot respects robots.txt; the robots.txt entry rests on that introduction and on the docs' recommendation to allow the bot in robots.txt. The docs cite the range file at https://www.perplexity.com/perplexitybot.json, which redirects to https://www.perplexity.ai/perplexitybot.json and lists IPv4 prefixes only, and the docs say the addresses "are updated regularly and should be the source of truth for your WAF configurations." The user-agent info URL https://perplexity.ai/perplexitybot redirects to https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers, and JavaScript execution is not mentioned in the docs.