AhrefsBot

What is AhrefsBot?

AhrefsBot is a web crawler operated by Ahrefs, one of the leading SEO software suites in the industry. It functions as a sophisticated web crawler designed to systematically browse the internet and collect data about websites, their content, and particularly their backlink profiles. The bot crawls websites 24/7 to build and maintain Ahrefs' comprehensive backlink database, enabling the company to provide up-to-date SEO analytics to its users.

When visiting a website, AhrefsBot identifies itself with the user-agent string: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; AhrefsBot/7.0; +http://ahrefs.com/robot/). This identification allows website administrators to recognize its presence in their server logs and distinguish it from other bots.

AhrefsBot is notably one of the most active crawlers on the internet, processing approximately 5 million web pages every minute. It follows links from page to page, much like Google's own crawlers, to discover new content and monitor changes to existing pages. As a well-behaved bot, it respects robots.txt directives, doesn't trigger ads on websites, and doesn't inflate Google Analytics traffic numbers.

Why is AhrefsBot crawling my site?

AhrefsBot crawls your site to collect data about your web pages and their backlink profile. The primary reason for these visits is to gather information about:

1. The backlinks pointing to your website
2. The content structure of your pages
3. On-page SEO elements
4. Link relationships between your site and others

The frequency of AhrefsBot visits depends on several factors, including your site's popularity, how frequently it's updated, and its overall importance in the link ecosystem. High-authority sites with many backlinks may experience more frequent crawling than smaller sites with fewer external connections.

These crawling activities are generally considered authorized as they're part of the normal functioning of the open web. The bot doesn't attempt to access restricted areas and follows standard crawler etiquette by respecting your robots.txt file directives.

What is the purpose of AhrefsBot?

AhrefsBot serves several key purposes within the Ahrefs ecosystem:

The primary function is to gather backlink data that powers Ahrefs' Site Explorer tool, which helps SEO professionals analyze their own and competitors' backlink profiles. This information is crucial for understanding a website's authority and developing effective SEO strategies.

Additionally, AhrefsBot collects data that supports other Ahrefs tools like Keywords Explorer, Content Explorer, and Site Audit. These tools help marketers research keywords, discover content opportunities, and identify technical SEO issues.

The data collected also contributes to Yep.com, a search engine developed by Ahrefs that aims to share ad revenue with content creators.

For website owners, AhrefsBot's crawling can provide indirect benefits. The data it collects helps SEO professionals understand how search engines might view and rank websites, which can lead to improved optimization strategies. However, some site owners may be concerned about the additional server load from frequent crawling, especially on resource-limited hosting plans.

How do I block AhrefsBot?

If you wish to control AhrefsBot's access to your site, you have several options. The simplest and most effective method is using your robots.txt file, as AhrefsBot is designed to respect these directives.

To completely block AhrefsBot from your entire site, add the following to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /

If you want to allow AhrefsBot but reduce its crawling frequency to minimize server load, you can use the crawl-delay directive:

User-agent: AhrefsBot
Crawl-delay: 10

This example instructs AhrefsBot to wait 10 seconds between requests, reducing the crawling intensity. You can adjust this number based on your server's capacity.

To block AhrefsBot from specific sections of your site while allowing it to crawl others, use:

User-agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /members/
Allow: /

Keep in mind that blocking AhrefsBot means your site's data won't be updated in Ahrefs' tools. If you use Ahrefs for your own SEO analysis or if your marketing partners do, blocking the bot could result in outdated or missing information about your site. This might impact your ability to track backlinks, monitor competitors, or analyze your site's performance effectively.

If you're experiencing unusually high traffic from what appears to be AhrefsBot, you can verify if it's legitimate by checking the IP addresses against Ahrefs' official documentation at ahrefs.com/robot.