---
title: "Agent purpose: definition and formula · Specoria"
description: "Why a bot visits your site, from the provider’s own documentation: training, AI search index, fetching for a user or classic search engine."
source_url: "https://specoria.com/glossary/agent-purpose/"
lang: "en"
---

GLOSSARY Score model v2.6 · last reviewed October 8, 2026

# Agent purpose: definition and formula

Why a bot visits, from the provider’s own documentation.

## Definition

We recognize 26 AI and search bots: GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User, Googlebot, Googlebot-Image, Googlebot-Video, Googlebot-News, Storebot-Google, GoogleOther, GoogleOther-Image, GoogleOther-Video, Google-Agent, bingbot, Applebot, Amazonbot, Meta-ExternalAgent, Meta-ExternalFetcher, Bytespider, CCBot, DuckAssistBot, MistralAI-User.

## Formula

`training · AI search index · fetching for a user · classic search engine`

## Bots we recognize, by purpose

The purpose comes from each provider’s own documentation. Identities are read from the User-Agent header and stay claims unless verified.

- **Training**: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, GoogleOther, GoogleOther-Image, GoogleOther-Video, Amazonbot, Meta-ExternalAgent, Bytespider, CCBot
- **AI search index**: OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, DuckAssistBot
- **Fetching for a user**: ChatGPT-User, Claude-User, Perplexity-User, Google-Agent, Meta-ExternalFetcher, MistralAI-User
- **Classic search engine**: Googlebot, Googlebot-Image, Googlebot-Video, Googlebot-News, Storebot-Google, bingbot, Applebot

## How to read it

Purpose says what a visit can lead to. Training bots collect pages for model training. AI search index bots build the index an assistant searches when it answers. User fetchers open a page at the moment a person asks an assistant about it. Classic search engines index for regular search.

In our traffic report, AI requests are training, AI search and user fetches; classic search engine bots are listed but left out of the AI totals and of [Crawl-to-refer](https://specoria.com/glossary/crawl-to-refer/).

Where a provider’s documentation gives no exact match, we use the nearest class: GoogleOther, used for research and one-off crawls, counts as training. Bytespider has no official documentation and is listed as training.

## What it does not tell you

- Who really sent the request: identities are read from the User-Agent header and stay claims ([Claimed identity](https://specoria.com/glossary/#claimed-identity)). Where a provider publishes its IP ranges, the report can check addresses against them; some providers publish none. We don’t do reverse DNS or signature checks.
- Bots outside our table: they aren’t counted as AI, and requests with generic automation signs aren’t counted as human page views either ([Human page view](https://specoria.com/glossary/#human-page-view)).
- What the data is finally used for: the purpose is the provider’s stated purpose.

## What moves it

- robots.txt rules per bot name let you treat purposes differently, for example allowing AI search and user fetchers while refusing training. Test a rule with the [robots.txt tester](https://specoria.com/tools/#robots-txt-tester) and look up a bot with the [bot identifier](https://specoria.com/tools/#ai-bot-identifier).
- Blocking the agents named on the [Search and user agents allowed (robots.txt)](https://specoria.com/method/checks/bots-search/) page is a critical blocker in the free test.

See also: [Identify a bot from its user agent](https://specoria.com/tools/)

## Related terms

Agent traffic (from your server logs): What we count when you load an access log, in the project panel or in the free crawl-to-refer tool.

- [Claimed identity](https://specoria.com/glossary/#claimed-identity)
- [Human page view](https://specoria.com/glossary/#human-page-view)
- [AI-referred visit](https://specoria.com/glossary/ai-referred-visit/)
- [Crawl-to-refer](https://specoria.com/glossary/crawl-to-refer/)
- [Training-only page](https://specoria.com/glossary/#training-only-page)

[Run the free test →](https://specoria.com/#contact)[All terms in the glossary →](https://specoria.com/glossary/)