What is SISTRIXOptimizer?

SISTRIXOptimizer is a bot in the monitoring and analytics bots category, operated by SISTRIX GmbH.

Bot name
SISTRIXOptimizer
Operator
SISTRIX GmbH
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
SISTRIX
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About SISTRIXOptimizer

SISTRIX Optimizer uptime monitor that requests customer site startpages once per minute to verify availability.

Monitoring bots check uptime, performance and page changes on behalf of a site owner or a third party. Allow the services you run yourself and exclude them from analytics so they do not inflate page views.

SISTRIXOptimizer user agent

SISTRIXOptimizer identifies itself with this user agent string:

  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SISTRIX Optimizer; Uptime; +https://www.sistrix.com/faq/uptime)

Anyone can copy a user agent string. Transfon Security also checks where each request comes from, so a request that claims to be a known crawler but comes from the wrong network is treated as a fake, not as the real crawler.

How to block SISTRIXOptimizer in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether SISTRIXOptimizer follows robots.txt. Add a rule, then check your logs to see that it stopped. robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your domain, such as https://example.com/robots.txt.

Block SISTRIXOptimizer from the whole site

User-agent: SISTRIX
Disallow: /

Block SISTRIXOptimizer from some folders

User-agent: SISTRIX
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /search

Allow SISTRIXOptimizer only on some folders

User-agent: SISTRIX
Allow: /blog/
Disallow: /

Allow SISTRIXOptimizer and block other crawlers

User-agent: SISTRIX
Allow: /

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

Things to know

  • Each host needs its own file. Rules on www.example.com do not apply to shop.example.com.
  • A crawler obeys only the most specific group that names it. Once you add a User-agent: SISTRIX group, SISTRIXOptimizer ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take SISTRIX from SISTRIXOptimizer's user agent; check SISTRIX GmbH's own documentation if it publishes a different robots.txt name.
  • Crawlers cache robots.txt, so changes can take up to a day to apply. Disallow stops crawling but does not remove pages already collected or indexed.

Limits of robots.txt

  1. SISTRIXOptimizer may not follow the rule. robots.txt is a request that nothing enforces, and we have not confirmed that SISTRIXOptimizer follows it. Check your logs after adding a rule.
  2. The user agent could be fake. robots.txt matches the name a request claims. Anyone can send SISTRIXOptimizer's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by SISTRIX GmbH's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real SISTRIXOptimizer from a fake one.

Treat robots.txt as a statement of your policy, and enforce it where requests arrive.

Who should care about SISTRIXOptimizer

Publishers

Allow SISTRIXOptimizer if it is a service you use, and keep its visits out of page views and ad requests either way.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

SISTRIXOptimizer is not a person. Exclude it from campaign and conversion data so reports reflect real visitors.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

Allow SISTRIXOptimizer only if it works for your store, and keep it away from cart and checkout.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

If SISTRIXOptimizer is a service you use, allow it on the endpoints it needs and block it elsewhere.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block SISTRIXOptimizer with Transfon Security

robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement. Transfon Security shows SISTRIXOptimizer by name in the Top Bots report, so you can see how often it visits and which pages it reads. Block or allow it with a User Agent rule, or slow it down with a rate limit decision rule.

Transfon Security

Control SISTRIXOptimizer on your site

  • See every SISTRIXOptimizer visit and the pages it reads
  • Spot bots that fake trusted crawler names
  • Block, allow or rate limit SISTRIXOptimizer with one rule
  • Works with or without robots.txt support

Frequently asked questions

What is SISTRIXOptimizer?

SISTRIXOptimizer is a bot in the monitoring and analytics bots category, operated by SISTRIX GmbH. SISTRIX Optimizer uptime monitor that requests customer site startpages once per minute to verify availability.

Does SISTRIXOptimizer respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether SISTRIXOptimizer follows robots.txt. Add a robots.txt rule, then check your logs to see that it stopped, and block it by user agent if it did not.

How do I block SISTRIXOptimizer?

Add "User-agent: SISTRIX" followed by "Disallow: /" to the robots.txt file at the root of your site. To enforce it, block requests whose user agent contains "SISTRIX Optimizer" at your WAF. In Transfon Security that is one User Agent block rule.

Is robots.txt enough to block SISTRIXOptimizer?

No. robots.txt is voluntary, so SISTRIXOptimizer may not follow it, and anyone can send SISTRIXOptimizer's user agent, so a fake SISTRIXOptimizer ignores your rule. Enforce the rule where requests arrive, at your WAF, and check the source network.

Should I block SISTRIXOptimizer?

Monitoring bots check uptime, performance and page changes on behalf of a site owner or a third party. Allow the services you run yourself and exclude them from analytics so they do not inflate page views.

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