How is this different from Google Analytics?

Google Analytics shows you traffic. Shadow shows you traffic, AI bot activity, what AI platforms say about your brand, AND tells you what to do about all of it. It's analytics + AI intelligence + action steps in one tool.

Do I need to install anything?

For basic monitoring (bot detection, AI perception, readiness score) — nope, just enter your URL. For full visitor analytics (clicks, behavior, sessions), add one script tag. One-click integrations for Vercel, Shopify, WordPress, and more.

Will it slow down my site?

No. The script is under 5KB and loads async. Zero impact on page speed or Core Web Vitals. External monitoring has literally no impact — it watches from the outside.

What AI bots does Shadow detect?

All of them. GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Bytespider, Amazonbot, and dozens more. The Shadow Network means new bots get identified across all users instantly.

What do you mean by "actionable steps"?

Shadow doesn't just show you graphs. It says things like: "ChatGPT has your pricing wrong — add structured data to /pricing to fix it" or "Your bounce rate on /features is 68% — here's why and what to change." Specific, do-it-today recommendations.

Can Shadow block bots?

Shadow is a telescope, not a shield. It shows you who's visiting and what AI says about you. It generates block rules and robots.txt configs you can apply — but it doesn't intercept traffic.

Yes. Shadow never collects PII. IP addresses are hashed after classification. No cookies on your visitors. All Shadow Network data is anonymized. GDPR compliant by design.

Does blocking Bingbot remove my site from Microsoft Copilot?

Largely yes, over time. Microsoft Copilot draws primarily from Bing's index. Blocking Bingbot prevents new or updated content from being indexed. However, previously indexed pages remain in Bing's index until they age out or are manually removed via Bing Webmaster Tools. For immediate removal, use the Content Removal tool in Bing Webmaster Tools alongside robots.txt.

If I block Bingbot, will my site disappear from Bing Search too?

Yes. Bingbot is the same crawler for both Bing Search and Microsoft Copilot. Blocking it removes your site from Bing's index, which means it disappears from both Bing Search results and Copilot answers. You cannot block Copilot specifically while keeping your Bing Search presence — they share the same index.

Does blocking OAI-SearchBot also remove me from Copilot?

Only partially. ChatGPT Search (OAI-SearchBot) supplements its own index with licensed Bing data. If you block OAI-SearchBot but remain in Bing's index, ChatGPT Search may still surface your content via the Bing data feed. To more comprehensively opt out of ChatGPT Search, block both OAI-SearchBot and Bingbot.

What is the difference between Bingbot, MicrosoftPreview, and AdIdxBot?

Microsoft operates three crawlers: Bingbot is the primary crawler that builds Bing's search index (and by extension feeds Copilot). MicrosoftPreview fetches link previews displayed in Microsoft products like Teams, Outlook, and Edge. AdIdxBot crawls for Bing Ads indexing. For AI and Copilot control, Bingbot is the one that matters most.

Does Microsoft respect robots.txt for Bingbot?

Yes. Microsoft has a strong public commitment to respecting robots.txt for Bingbot, MicrosoftPreview, and AdIdxBot. Unlike some crawlers that have been documented ignoring robots.txt, Bingbot compliance is well-established and independently verified.

Can I remove already-indexed pages from Bing and Copilot?

Yes, via Bing Webmaster Tools. The Content Removal tool allows you to submit specific URLs for removal from Bing's index. This is faster than waiting for robots.txt to take effect on existing pages (which can take weeks or months). You need a verified Bing Webmaster Tools account for your domain.

MicrosoftRespects robots.txtSearch + AI

Bingbot and Microsoft Copilot: Control What Copilot Knows About Your Site

Microsoft Copilot is powered by Bing's search index. Bingbot builds that index. Controlling Bingbot controls your Copilot presence — but it's not a simple on/off: here's the full pipeline.

Updated March 2026

The Bing → Copilot Pipeline

Microsoft Copilot doesn't have its own crawler. It draws from Bing's search index. Controlling Bingbot controls your Copilot presence — but it also controls your Bing Search presence. There is no way to block Copilot while keeping Bing Search.

BingbotPrimary search index crawler. Builds the index powering both Bing Search and Microsoft Copilot.

MicrosoftPreviewLink preview crawler. Generates thumbnails and descriptions for URLs shared in Teams, Outlook, and Edge.

AdIdxBotAdvertising index crawler. Crawls pages for Bing Ads quality scoring and ad placement.

How Bingbot Powers Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat, then Bing Copilot) is an AI assistant integrated into Bing Search, Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365. When Copilot answers a question using web data, that data comes from Bing's search index — the same index built by Bingbot.

This means there is no separate "Copilot crawler." If Bingbot has indexed your page, Copilot can use it to generate AI answers. If you block Bingbot, your content eventually drops from both Bing Search results and Copilot answers.

Bingbot's user agent string is: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm)

How to Block Bingbot in robots.txt

Add this to your robots.txt to block Bingbot from indexing your site:

robots.txtBlock Bingbot (removes from Bing + Copilot)

User-agent: bingbot
Disallow: /

To also block Microsoft's link preview and ad crawlers:

robots.txtBlock all Microsoft crawlers

User-agent: bingbot
Disallow: /

User-agent: MicrosoftPreview
Disallow: /

User-agent: AdIdxBot
Disallow: /

Warning: Blocking Bingbot kills your Bing Search presence

Unlike blocking GPTBot (which only affects AI training), blocking Bingbot removes you from Bing's entire search index — both organic search results and Copilot. If Bing drives meaningful traffic for you, this is a significant trade-off.

The Trade-Off: No Selective Copilot Blocking

This is the core dilemma with Microsoft Copilot. Unlike OpenAI (which has separate crawlers for training, search, and browsing), Microsoft uses a single index for everything. You cannot block Copilot while keeping Bing Search.

What blocking Bingbot stops

• Copilot using your content in AI answers
• Your site appearing in Bing Search results
• New content being indexed by Bing

What it doesn't stop

• Previously indexed pages (until they age out)
• Copilot using your content via third-party sources
• GPTBot or other AI crawlers (block separately)
• Google Search rankings (unaffected)

Removing Already-Indexed Content

Blocking Bingbot via robots.txt prevents future crawling, but already-indexed pages remain in Bing's index until they naturally expire. For faster removal, use Bing Webmaster Tools:

1Register and verify your domain at Bing Webmaster Tools (bing.com/webmasters)

2Navigate to Configure My Site → Block URLs

3Submit specific URLs or URL patterns for immediate removal

4Use the Content Removal tool for DMCA or sensitive content takedowns

The ChatGPT Search Connection

ChatGPT Search (powered by OAI-SearchBot) also licenses data from Bing's index. This means that even if you block OAI-SearchBot, your content may still appear in ChatGPT Search via the Bing data feed — unless you also block Bingbot.

Conversely, if you block Bingbot but allow OAI-SearchBot, OpenAI can still index your content directly for ChatGPT Search. The two indexing systems are partially overlapping but independently controllable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Bing still matter for search traffic?

Yes. Bing holds approximately 3-4% of global desktop search market share. But its influence is larger than that number suggests — Bing powers search in Microsoft Edge (the default browser on every Windows PC), DuckDuckGo (which uses Bing's index), Yahoo Search, and Microsoft Copilot. For many B2B sites, Bing traffic is disproportionately valuable.

Can I use noindex instead of blocking Bingbot?

Yes. Adding a meta robots noindex tag to specific pages tells Bing to de-index those pages without blocking the crawler entirely. This gives you more granular control — you can keep some pages in Bing while removing others from both Bing Search and Copilot.

Does blocking Bingbot also block Microsoft 365 Copilot (the enterprise product)?

No. Microsoft 365 Copilot (the enterprise AI assistant in Word, Excel, Teams, etc.) draws from the organization's own data — SharePoint, OneDrive, email — not from Bing's public web index. Blocking Bingbot only affects the consumer/web-facing Copilot.

Is there a nocache or nosnippet equivalent for Copilot?

Microsoft supports the standard meta robots nosnippet directive, which prevents Bing from showing snippets of your content. However, it's unclear whether this fully prevents Copilot from using the page content when generating answers. For a definitive block, remove the page from Bing's index entirely.

Related Guides

How to Block GPTBot

Copilot also uses OpenAI models

How to Block OAI-SearchBot

OpenAI's search-specific crawler

How to Block Google-Extended

Google's AI training crawler

robots.txt for AI Bots (Complete Guide)

51+ crawlers, full reference table

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