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AI crawler

What is FacebookBot?

FacebookBot is an older Meta crawler token that Meta no longer lists on its crawler page.

AI trainingNot documentedNo way to verifyOlder token
Operator
Meta
Purpose
AI training. Collects pages to train AI models. Blocking it does not remove you from AI answers.Meta no longer documents FacebookBot. Other sources disagree on its purpose (speech recognition training, search or previews); Referscope groups it with AI training, as the product does.
robots.txt token
FacebookBot
Sample user agent
Meta's current crawler page does not list FacebookBot.User agents change with versions. Match on the token, not the full string.
Follows robots.txt
Not documented by the operator. Meta's current crawler page does not list it.
How to verify
Meta doesn't publish a way to verify it.
Sources
Meta documentation
Last reviewed

Allow or block FacebookBot

Block FacebookBot
User-agent: FacebookBot
Disallow: /

Asks FacebookBot not to crawl any page. Well-behaved crawlers stop; it does not stop anyone who ignores robots.txt.

Allow FacebookBot
User-agent: FacebookBot
Allow: /

Lets FacebookBot crawl everything. You only need this if a broader rule would otherwise block it.

Should you block it?

Blocking FacebookBot asks Meta not to use new crawls of your pages for training. It doesn't remove you from AI answers, and it doesn't affect Meta-WebIndexer.

Write a full policy with the AI Crawler Policy Generator

FacebookBot can't be verified

Meta doesn't publish IP ranges, DNS names or signatures for FacebookBot. The user agent is the only signal, and anyone can copy it, so treat a request that claims to be FacebookBot as unproven.

Questions about FacebookBot

Is FacebookBot safe to allow?

FacebookBot reads public pages; it does not log in or submit forms. Whether to allow it is about how your content is used, not security.

How do I know a request is really FacebookBot?

You can't, from the request alone. Meta doesn't publish IP ranges, DNS names or signatures for it, so the user agent is the only signal, and anyone can copy that.

How often does FacebookBot visit?

It depends on your site; Meta doesn't publish a schedule. Referscope shows the real visits.

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