01 · Operator
Who operates DataForSeoBot
- Company
- DataForSEO
- Type
- SEO tool crawler
- Official docs
- dataforseo.com
02 · Behavior
What DataForSeoBot does
It crawls websites to discover links and to re-check links already in its database. The data powers DataForSEO's backlink API, which other SEO tools resell. DataForSEO says it obeys robots.txt and Crawl-delay. The default interval is 5 seconds between requests.
03 · Impact
Why DataForSeoBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Your backlinks show up in SEO tools built on DataForSEO data
- It obeys robots.txt and Crawl-delay
- It can be verified by IP and reverse DNS
If you block it
- It brings no direct traffic to your site
- It can generate many requests on large sites
- Competitors can use the data to analyze your links
04 · Allow
How to allow DataForSeoBot
robots.txt
User-agent: DataForSeoBot
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "DataForSeoBot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: DataForSeoBot
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "DataForSeoBot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DataForSeoBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block DataForSeoBot
DataForSeoBot follows robots.txt, so one rule is enough. Use a server or CDN rule only to stop spoofed copies.
robots.txt
User-agent: DataForSeoBot
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "DataForSeoBot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: DataForSeoBot
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "DataForSeoBot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DataForSeoBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for DataForSeoBot
The user agent published by the operator:
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; DataForSeoBot; +https://dataforseo.com/dataforseo-bot)07 · Verification
Is it really DataForSeoBot?
Anyone can copy a user agent. A reverse DNS lookup of a real request resolves to dataforseo.com, and that hostname resolves back to the same IP.
FAQ
Questions about DataForSeoBot
How do I block DataForSeoBot?
Add User-agent: DataForSeoBot with Disallow: / to robots.txt. DataForSEO states the bot obeys robots.txt.
Can I slow DataForSeoBot down instead of blocking it?
Yes. It respects the Crawl-delay directive. Without one it waits 5 seconds between requests by default.
How do I verify DataForSeoBot?
Reverse DNS should return a crawling-gateway host under dataforseo.com. DataForSEO also lists its crawler IP ranges on its bot page.
Last reviewed Oct 7, 2026