SemrushBot-SWA
Semrush operates SemrushBot-SWA, which its SEO Writing Assistant tool uses to check whether a URL is accessible. The robots.txt token is SemrushBot-SWA and the bot honors robots.txt. No verification method is documented. Semrush states it uses no consecutive IP blocks and documents no reverse-DNS suffix, so site owners identify the bot by its user agent token alone.
What SemrushBot-SWA does
Semrush documents SemrushBot-SWA as a URL check rather than a site crawl. Its wording is that the token blocks SemrushBot from checking URLs on your site for the SWA tool, and that the SEO Writing Assistant uses the check to see if a URL is accessible. A site owner should therefore expect single requests to specific URLs rather than a walk across the site. The documentation gives no full user agent string for this variant, so the SemrushBot-SWA token in the user agent is the identifier to look for.
Blocking SemrushBot-SWA stops the SEO Writing Assistant from confirming that pages on the site are reachable, and allowing it lets that check succeed. Semrush does not say whether the check is user-initiated. JavaScript execution and the IP addresses the bot uses are undocumented. Semrush states it uses no consecutive IP blocks and gives no reverse-DNS suffix, so there is no way to confirm a request beyond the token, and a robots.txt Disallow for SemrushBot-SWA is the documented control.
Operator note. Semrush describes this token as a URL accessibility check rather than a site crawl ("checking URLs on your site"). The documentation does not explicitly say it is user-initiated. JavaScript execution and IP addresses are not documented.
Controlling SemrushBot-SWA with robots.txt
Use the token SemrushBot-SWA in robots.txt. Semrush documents that SemrushBot-SWA honors robots.txt directives.
User-agent: SemrushBot-SWA
Disallow: /User-agent: SemrushBot-SWA
Allow: /Verifying a request is really SemrushBot-SWA
Anyone can put SemrushBot-SWA in a User-Agent header. The operator does not document a verification method. Semrush states that "we do not use any consecutive IP blocks".
Common questions
Should I block SemrushBot-SWA?
Blocking it prevents Semrush's SEO Writing Assistant from checking that URLs on your site are accessible. Semrush documents the bot as a URL check rather than a site crawl. If you object to that check, add a Disallow for SemrushBot-SWA in robots.txt, which the bot honors.
How do I verify SemrushBot-SWA?
The operator's documentation gives no verification method. Semrush says it does not use any consecutive IP blocks and documents no reverse-DNS suffix, so the only identifier is the SemrushBot-SWA token in the user agent.
Does SemrushBot-SWA run JavaScript?
The operator's documentation does not say. Semrush describes the bot only as an accessibility check on URLs for the SEO Writing Assistant and gives no information about rendering or script execution.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against Semrush's own documentation, listed below, and re-checked by a second reviewer before publication. Reviewed September 2026.
Related crawlers
This registry documents how operators describe their own bots so site owners can identify and control them. It does not publish third-party IP lists or guess at undocumented behaviour. To see how your own site responds to automated visitors, the bot detection scanner reads a URL's live response and names the protection it finds.