What is Applebot-Extended?
Also called Apple training control
Definition
Applebot-Extended is a robots.txt control that lets publishers opt out of having Applebot-crawled content used to train Apple’s generative foundation models. It is distinct from allowing Applebot to crawl for discovery.
The operation of Applebot-Extended is explained.
Apple explains that Applebot data supports search experiences and can also support model training. Disallowing Applebot-Extended addresses the training use; it does not automatically disallow ordinary Applebot crawling.
The relevance of Applebot-Extended is explained.
A SaaS publisher may want its documentation discoverable while limiting foundation-model training use.
That decision requires separate crawler-policy settings rather than assuming a single instruction controls every Apple use of content.
The evaluation of Applebot-Extended is explained.
A deliberate policy distinguishes Applebot crawling, Applebot-Extended training controls, and generated-answer controls.
Apple documents the nosnippet meta tag as an opt-out for content use in broad world knowledge answers; blocking Applebot-Extended alone does not provide that opt-out.
Frequently asked questions about Applebot-Extended
Is Applebot-Extended the main crawler?
Apple documents it as a control for training use of Applebot-crawled data, distinct from ordinary Applebot crawling.
Does blocking it remove all Apple discovery?
Blocking Applebot-Extended does not by itself block ordinary Applebot discovery.
Does it control every AI provider?
The control applies to Apple’s documented use, not every provider’s crawlers or training policies.