What is DotBot?
DotBot is Moz's crawler. It crawls for the Moz Link Index, which powers the Moz API, Link Explorer and the links data in Moz campaigns.
Last verified 2026-09-30 against the operator's documentation. All bots
DotBot at a glance
- Operator
- Moz
- Type
- SEO and link-index crawlers
- Purpose
- Gathers data for the Moz Link Index.
- robots.txt token
dotbot- How to verify
- Moz publishes no IP list or reverse DNS domain for DotBot.
- Operator documentation
- https://moz.com/help/moz-procedures/crawlers/dotbot
How often is DotBot impersonated?
Moz publishes no way to check a request that claims to be DotBot, so we cannot say which claims are false and show no share.
This directory measures requests between 3 July 2026 and 28 September 2026. The fake crawler report covers its own, earlier window (late June to 21 September 2026), so its figures differ from the ones here. Read it for the method.
Have a request that claims to be DotBot? Check its IP address.
Should you block DotBot?
- Allow it if
- you or your partners use this tool's backlink or audit data, or the crawl load is not a concern.
- Block it if
- the crawl load is noticeable and you have no use for the tool's data. Blocking it does not affect search rankings.
- What blocking changes
- Moz stops crawling your site for its link index once it rereads robots.txt.
To block it, add this group to your robots.txt. Moz says it respects robots.txt, but DotBot only rereads the file when it starts a new index crawl of a site.
User-agent: dotbot
Disallow: /robots.txt only asks. It does nothing against a client that ignores it or only pretends to be DotBot. Stopping those takes verification at your edge.
DotBot: common questions
See which bots reach your site, and which of them are who they claim to be.
What is DotBot?
DotBot is Moz's crawler. It crawls for the Moz Link Index, which powers the Moz API, Link Explorer and the links data in Moz campaigns.
How do I verify that a request is really DotBot?
Moz publishes no IP list or reverse DNS domain for DotBot. The user agent alone proves nothing: any client can send it.
How do I block DotBot in robots.txt?
Add a group for User-agent: dotbot with Disallow: /. Moz says it respects robots.txt, but DotBot only rereads the file when it starts a new index crawl of a site. robots.txt only asks. A client that ignores it, or pretends to be DotBot, has to be stopped at your edge.
What happens if I block DotBot?
Moz stops crawling your site for its link index once it rereads robots.txt.
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