On September 15, 2026, Cloudflare changes its default handling of AI-related bot traffic. For new domains, Training and Agent traffic will be blocked by default on pages displaying ads, while Search remains allowed. The key SEO and GEO issue is that some crawlers serve multiple purposes.
What changes?
Cloudflare separates AI traffic into Training, Agent and Search behaviors. It also changes how multi-purpose crawlers are evaluated: the most restrictive applicable rule can determine whether a request is allowed.
Why does this matter for SEO and GEO?
Search visibility depends on crawlers being able to discover and understand pages. GEO builds on the same foundation for generative search. A rule intended to block model training can create unintended consequences if it also affects a crawler used for search.
Could Googlebot or BingBot be affected?
Cloudflare explicitly lists Googlebot, Applebot and BingBot as examples of multi-purpose crawlers. Businesses should therefore review exactly which behaviors are blocked instead of treating every AI bot as one category.
What should businesses do?
- Audit Cloudflare AI bot controls and legacy blocking rules.
- Keep Search allowed when organic discovery matters.
- Review multi-purpose crawler behavior.
- Monitor crawl and indexation in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Document crawler policy as part of the SEO and GEO strategy.
Our recommendation
If you use Cloudflare and depend on organic discovery, review the configuration before September 15. Granular controls are safer than blanket AI blocking.
Read more about Adeo’s SEO and GEO work.