What is Spyglasses?

Spyglasses is a bot in the SEO crawlers category, operated by Spyglasses.

Bot name
Spyglasses
Operator
Spyglasses
Category
SEO Crawlers
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
SpyglassesBot
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
Yes

About Spyglasses

Spyglasses accesses site content to assist with AEO capabilities. Learn more at https://www.spyglasses.io

SEO crawlers map links, keywords and technical issues for SEO tools and backlink databases. They help the tool's customers, often your competitors, rather than you. Rate limit or block the ones you do not use.

Spyglasses user agent

Sample user agent strings sent by Spyglasses:

  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SpyglassesBot/1.0; +https://spyglasses.io/docs/help/spyglasses-bot) Brand Consistency Checker
  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SpyglassesBot/1.0; +https://spyglasses.io/docs/help/spyglasses-bot) AI Readiness Audit
  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SpyglassesBot/1.0; +https://spyglasses.io/docs/help/spyglasses-bot) FAQ Generation
  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SpyglassesBot/1.0; +https://spyglasses.io/docs/help/spyglasses-bot) AI Visibility Report
  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SpyglassesBot/1.0; +https://spyglasses.io/docs/help/spyglasses-bot)
  • Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SpyglassesBot/1.0; +https://spyglasses.io/docs/help/spyglasses-bot) Page Title Fetcher

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 Spyglasses in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether Spyglasses 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 Spyglasses from the whole site

User-agent: SpyglassesBot
Disallow: /

Block Spyglasses from some folders

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

Allow Spyglasses only on some folders

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

Allow Spyglasses and block other crawlers

User-agent: SpyglassesBot
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: SpyglassesBot group, Spyglasses ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take SpyglassesBot from Spyglasses's user agent; check Spyglasses'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. Spyglasses may not follow the rule. robots.txt is a request that nothing enforces, and we have not confirmed that Spyglasses 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 Spyglasses's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by Spyglasses's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real Spyglasses from a fake one.

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

Who should care about Spyglasses

Publishers

Spyglasses works for an SEO tool's customers, often your competitors. It adds server load without readers, so rate limit or block it unless you use the tool.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

SEO crawlers map landing pages and links for competitor research. Keep Spyglasses's visits out of campaign data.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

Spyglasses can map your catalogue, prices and site structure for competitors. Block it unless you use the tool yourself.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

Allow Spyglasses only if your team uses the tool; otherwise rate limit it on docs and marketing pages.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block Spyglasses with Transfon Security

robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement. Transfon Security shows Spyglasses 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 Spyglasses on your site

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Spyglasses?

Spyglasses is a bot in the SEO crawlers category, operated by Spyglasses. Spyglasses accesses site content to assist with AEO capabilities. Learn more at https://www.spyglasses.io

Does Spyglasses respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether Spyglasses 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 Spyglasses?

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

Is robots.txt enough to block Spyglasses?

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

Should I block Spyglasses?

SEO crawlers map links, keywords and technical issues for SEO tools and backlink databases. They help the tool's customers, often your competitors, rather than you. Rate limit or block the ones you do not use.

Related bots

All SEO crawlers · Full bot directory

See Which Bots Visit Your Site

Transfon Security identifies every bot in this directory in your traffic reports, flags fake search crawlers, and lets you allow, block or rate limit each bot.

Stay ahead of the publishing curve

Privacy, security, monetization, and performance insights. A few emails a month, no spam.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.