AI crawler study · UK trade suppliers
Which UK trade suppliers sites block AI crawlers?
5 of 40 UK trade suppliers sites block at least one AI crawler (12.5%). Checked October 2026, 61 sites.
Blocked most often
| Crawler | Kind | Sites blocking it |
|---|---|---|
| Amazonbot Amazon | General | 3 of 40 |
| GPTBot OpenAI | Training | 2 of 40 |
| ClaudeBot Anthropic | Training | 2 of 40 |
| Meta-ExternalAgent Meta | Training | 2 of 40 |
| Bytespider ByteDance | Training | 2 of 40 |
| ChatGPT-User OpenAI | User fetcher | 1 of 40 |
| Claude-User Anthropic | User fetcher | 1 of 40 |
| Perplexity-User Perplexity | User fetcher | 1 of 40 |
| Google-Extended | AI-use control | 1 of 40 |
| Applebot-Extended Apple | AI-use control | 1 of 40 |
| CCBot Common Crawl | Training | 1 of 40 |
| OAI-SearchBot OpenAI | Search | 0 of 40 |
| Claude-SearchBot Anthropic | Search | 0 of 40 |
| PerplexityBot Perplexity | Search | 0 of 40 |
Every site
| Site | Blocks | Which |
|---|---|---|
| machinemart.co.uk | 11 of 14 | GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, Claude-User, Perplexity-User, Google-Extended, Applebot-Extended, CCBot, Meta-ExternalAgent, Amazonbot, Bytespider |
| speedyservices.com | 3 of 14 | GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Amazonbot |
| howdens.com | 1 of 14 | Amazonbot |
| rexel.co.uk | 1 of 14 | Bytespider |
| toolstation.com | 1 of 14 | Meta-ExternalAgent |
| arco.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| baxi.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| british-gypsum.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| celotex.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| cityplumbing.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| dewalt.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| edmundson-electrical.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| hager.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| hanson.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| hilti.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| idealheating.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| jewson.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| johnstonestrade.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| kingspan.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| legrand.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| magnettrade.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| makitauk.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| marshalls.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| plumbnation.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| polypipe.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| rockwool.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| screwfix.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| se.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| sealey.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| simplybearings.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| sunbeltrentals.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| tilegiant.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| tlc-direct.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| toolbank.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| toppstiles.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| travisperkins.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| vaillant.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| wavin.com | 0 of 14 | none |
| wienerberger.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
| yesss.co.uk | 0 of 14 | none |
Left out, because their robots.txt could not be read (bot protection, errors or no answer): axminster.co.uk, brewers.co.uk, buildbase.co.uk, cef.co.uk, clarketools.co.uk, cromwell.co.uk, draper.co.uk, eurocell.co.uk, hss.com, huwsgray.co.uk, ibstockbrick.co.uk, neweyandeyre.co.uk, plumbcenter.co.uk, roofingmegastore.co.uk, rubix.com, tarmac.com, tooled-up.com, tradepoint.co.uk, wolseley.co.uk, worcester-bosch.co.uk, wurth.co.uk.
From each site's robots.txt rules for the homepage, read as the robots.txt standard (RFC 9309) says. robots.txt is a request, not a lock: this shows what sites ask, not what AI companies do. Sites whose robots.txt we could not read are left out. The list of sites was picked by Kavel and is not a sample of the web. Part of Kavel's AI crawler study, built with AI.