What is Dot?

Usually not. Dot browses on behalf of a person trying to read, compare, or buy something on your site. Blocking it may prevent that person from completing the task and send them elsewhere. It does not affect traditional search rankings. Almost none of the top websites we track currently have robots.txt rules for Dot.

No. Dot is not expected to follow robots.txt rules, so a disallow rule only communicates your preference. Enforce the block with firewall or server rules, then use Agent Analytics to verify that its requests stop.

Possibly, if a user grants access. Dot operates a real browser session, so when someone signs in through it, the agent can see anything available to that account. Without credentials, it can reach only what an anonymous visitor can.

Agent Analytics tracks visits from Dot and every other known AI agent, crawler, and scraper, then authenticates each visit using Dot's published verification method. You can also check your server logs for requests whose user-agent string contains "Dot". Look for browser-like sessions that move through pages faster or more methodically than a typical person. A matching log entry alone is not proof because any bot can claim to be Dot.

A user gave Dot a task that your site may help complete, such as researching a product, comparing options, or filling out a form. It likely reached your site through links or search results, much like a person would.