FacebookBot — Meta's AI Indexing Crawler
FacebookBot indexes content for Meta's AI features. Learn how it differs from facebookexternalhit and Meta-ExternalAgent.
QUICK FACTS
FacebookBot What is FacebookBot?
FacebookBot is Meta's newer crawler that goes beyond the traditional facebookexternalhit link-preview bot. It indexes web content for Meta's AI features, including AI-powered search and summarization across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It is distinct from Meta-ExternalAgent, which focuses on LLM training data.
How to Block FacebookBot
Add the following to your robots.txt file (located at the root of your website):
User-agent: FacebookBot Disallow: /
What Happens When You Block FacebookBot
Meta's AI features will not index your content. Standard Facebook link previews (via facebookexternalhit) may still work.
Should You Block FacebookBot?
FacebookBot indexes content for AI features operated by Meta. Blocking it removes your visibility in those AI-powered features but does not affect traditional search or social media link previews.
FacebookBot vs Other Meta Crawlers
Meta operates multiple crawlers, each serving a different purpose:
| User-agent | Purpose | Type |
|---|---|---|
| FacebookBot | Indexes content for Meta's AI features beyond link previews | AI Feature Indexing |
| Meta-ExternalAgent | Collects training data for Meta's LLaMA models | AI Training |
Each crawler operates independently. Blocking FacebookBot does not block Meta-ExternalAgent — you must add a separate rule for each.
GENERATE YOUR ROBOTS.TXT
Use our visual generator to create a robots.txt file that blocks FacebookBot and any other crawlers you want to opt out of.
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