Azure AI Search
SafeUser-agent: AzureAI-SearchBot
Category: AI & LLM Bots
SEO impact if blocked: 2/10
Microsoft
2 crawlers operated by Microsoft
https://www.bing.com/Who Microsoft is, for site owners
Microsoft operates 2 crawlers in our directory, filed under AI & LLM Bots and Search Engines. Of those 2, 2 rated safe for crawl behaviour.
Blocking Microsoft carries an SEO impact score of 2/10 to 10/10 across its crawlers. The highest-impact crawler is Bingbot: Critical - Blocking removes you from search results.
Our recommendation for Microsoft, set by its least reassuring crawler (Bingbot, rated safe): Never block - it will remove your site from major search results.
Microsoft at a glance
| Operator | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Crawlers in directory | 2 |
| Categories | AI & LLM Bots, Search Engines |
| SEO impact if blocked | 2/10 to 10/10 |
| Crawl behaviour | 2 rated safe |
| Website | www.bing.com |
| Official crawler docs | Microsoft crawler documentation |
Crawlers operated by Microsoft
Bingbot
SafeUser-agent:
bingbotCategory: Search Engines
SEO impact if blocked: 10/10
How to block or allow Microsoft in robots.txt
These rules cover all 2 crawlers Microsoft operates. Add them to the robots.txt file at the root of your domain.
Block Microsoft completely
User-agent: AzureAI-SearchBot
User-agent: bingbot
Disallow: /
Allow Microsoft explicitly
User-agent: AzureAI-SearchBot
User-agent: bingbot
Allow: /
robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement mechanism. A crawler that ignores it needs a block at the server or CDN layer. Rules are case-sensitive on the path and matched against the user-agent token, not the full user-agent string.
Frequently asked questions about Microsoft
What crawlers does Microsoft run?
Microsoft operates 2 crawlers in our directory: Azure AI Search (user-agent AzureAI-SearchBot), Bingbot (user-agent bingbot).
Should I block Microsoft?
Never block - it will remove your site from major search results. That guidance follows this operator's least reassuring crawler, Bingbot, rated safe, because allowing an operator allows every crawler it runs. The SEO impact score for blocking is 2/10 to 10/10, where 10 means blocking costs you the most visibility.
How do I block Microsoft in robots.txt?
Add the following to robots.txt at your domain root: User-agent: AzureAI-SearchBot then User-agent: bingbot then Disallow: /. One Disallow line covers all 2 user-agent tokens.
Does blocking Microsoft hurt my search rankings?
The highest-impact crawler here is Bingbot, rated: Critical - Blocking removes you from search results. Bingbot is a search-indexing crawler, so blocking it can remove your pages from the corresponding search results. Block it only if you intend to leave that index. The remaining 1 crawler in the list above does not affect search indexing and can be blocked separately.