What DotBot does
DotBot is Moz's web crawler. It gathers web data for the Moz Link Index, which powers Link Explorer, the Moz Links API, and the Links section of Moz Pro campaigns. It is distinct from Rogerbot, Moz's site audit crawler for Moz Pro campaigns. According to the documentation, newly discovered links can be populated into the index in about 3 days, though discovery time depends on the crawlability and quality of the referring pages.
How to control DotBot
Target DotBot in your robots.txt with the DotBot token. Rules apply per bot, so you can allow this one while blocking others, or the reverse.
Allow DotBot
User-agent: DotBot
Allow: /Block DotBot
User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /DotBot reads your robots.txt only the first time it encounters your site during a new index crawl, so changes to its permissions are not seen until the next time Moz locates links to your site.
How to identify DotBot
Temso identifies DotBottraffic by matching the request's User-Agent header against this pattern. User-agent strings can be spoofed, so treat a match as an indication, not proof.
\bDotBot\bDotBot FAQ
What is DotBot?
DotBot is Moz's web crawler that collects data for the Moz Link Index behind Link Explorer, the Moz Links API, and the Links section of Moz Pro campaigns. It is a different crawler from Rogerbot, which handles Moz Pro site audits.
How do I block DotBot?
Add a robots.txt group with 'User-agent: dotbot' and 'Disallow: /' to block it entirely, or use 'Crawl-delay: 10' to slow it down; Moz states it always respects the Robots Exclusion Protocol. Note that DotBot only checks robots.txt the first time it encounters your site during a new index crawl, so changes take effect on the next index crawl rather than immediately.
About SEO & Analytics Crawlers
Crawlers behind SEO and marketing-intelligence platforms: backlink databases, site audits, rank tracking, and brand monitoring.
Blocking these has no effect on search or AI visibility. It mainly limits what third-party tools (including your competitors' tools) can see about your site.
