Bot management
In short
Bot management is where the position in robots.txt is enforced, or quietly undone by a default. Which AI bots and agents to let in is the next stop after Bot management. Cloudflare lets every plan block Search, Agent or Training traffic on all pages or only on pages with ads (1 Jul 2026).
Definition
Tools at your CDN, host or firewall that identify automated visitors and allow, challenge or block them. It is where a robots.txt decision is actually enforced.
A dated example
- Read 4 Nov 2026
Cloudflare lets every plan block Search, Agent or Training traffic on all pages or only on pages with ads (1 Jul 2026).
Where it matters
It is where the position in robots.txt is enforced, or quietly undone by a default.
Related terms
- robots.txtA public text file at the root of a site that tells automated visitors which parts they may visit.
- Verified botA bot whose operator has proven its identity to your CDN or bot vendor, through signatures, published IP ranges or a directory.
- Web Bot AuthA proposed standard in which an agent signs its requests so a site can check who operates it, rather than trusting the name it claims.
Sources
- Cloudflare changelog: New options to manage AI traffic (1 Jul 2026) (developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/post/2026-07-01-ai-traffic-options), read 4 Nov 2026.
Last reviewed