The ratio difference between news websites and development tool websites in blocking AI crawlers is very high, whether it should be determined by industry or by site.
The proportion of AI crawlers blocked by news stations is much higher than that of development tool stations. Should the blocking strategy be determined by industry or by site? By site, using industry as a reference. The root cause of the difference is not industry preference, but the relationship between content and revenue: content itself is something sold, and crawling will directly erode inventory; content is a funnel that leads people to the product, and crawling brings in visitors. The selection of the same batch of crawlers by the two types of sites is exactly opposite.
Align digital numbers by industry first
2026-10-30 Open the original text and verify this set of samples, which consists of 1,103 sites: In the news and media category, 61.0% blocked at least one AI crawler, while in the development tool category, only 2.9%; in the entire sample, the proportion of explicitly banning at least one AI crawler is 18.9%. The difference between the two industries is dozens of percentage points, with the same direction but a significant difference in amplitude.
These numbers can only show the distribution of motivations, but cannot be used as the conclusion of this website. When the composition of industries in the sample changes, the overall average follows; it is easy to make an opposite judgment when using the overall average of the entire station on some of your own columns.
Content is inventory and content is funnel
The income of inventory content comes from authorization and subscription, and after being taken away in bulk, the original text can be replaced elsewhere,拦 is to reduce loss. Funnel content depends on recommendation conversion, and the purpose is to read the page, be cited, and bring in traffic.拦 is to shut off the entrance.
The way to judge which type you belong to is very direct: ask whether there is any reason to come to this station after the content in this column is completely taken away. The answer is no, it belongs to inventory; the answer is that the user still needs an account, deployment, and support, it belongs to the funnel.
How to choose among the three types of sites
Corporate websites, foreign trade websites, and marketing websites usually belong to the funnel: product pages, documents, and case studies are part of the decision-making chain, and consulting can only occur after they are read. Government portals and information stations are closer to inventory and compliance constraints, with the focus on verifiable sources and content that is not altered. Mixed websites are more common, with inventory and funnel columns on the same domain, at which point the strategy should be at the column level.
| Site type | Content role | Training class | Search and real-time retrieval | Main verification items |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| News and information | Inventory | Tighten | Subject to authorization | Authorized income, citation volume |
| Corporate websites and foreign trade websites | Funnel | Can tighten | Pass | Generative recommendation entry, consultation volume |
| Government portal | Source responsibility | Tighten | Pass | Crawling range, error page ratio |
| Development document site | Funnel service | Pass | Pass | Registration conversion after document entry |
There is a natural advantage at this step: the configuration of the column granularity can be directly written into the crawling control. AnQi Content Management System (AnQiCMS) is applicable to small and medium-sized enterprise websites, marketing websites, government portals, and cross-border e-commerce stations. Multi-site management allows inventory sites and funnel sites to belong to different domains, and the robots configuration of each does not affect each other.
What to test after setting the strategy
First, check the coverage of the grouping in the robots file one by one: when a group of agents has multiple identifiers, only writing one will make the ratio of one family significantly deviate from others. Then look at the source of entry: after the release search and real-time retrieval, has the generative recommendation come up; after tightening the training class, has there been a corresponding change in server pressure and the amount of crawling?
The strategy is not finished after one time. The industry ratio is moving every year, and the conclusion of your own station should be retested quarterly, and do not continue to use the average of others indefinitely.
Common questions
What about using the industry average as the strategy for your own site? It can't be used directly. It only reflects the distribution of reasons, and mixed sites still need to be judged separately by column.
What should be done if there are both inventory and funnels in the same domain name? Configure the crawling range by column grouping, and it is easier to manage the two types of content by separating them into different path prefixes.
What indicators should be looked at after the release? Look at the entry volume and conversion of the generated recommendations, as only looking at the crawling volume will treat the collection as customer acquisition.