Cloudflare Could Be Blocking Googlebot

Before you block AI crawlers in Cloudflare — check that Googlebot doesn't get caught in the net too. A worrying signal has surfaced: a site owner in r/TechSEO reported that after enabling AI bot blocking, both Googlebot and Bingbot started getting 403 errors when trying to reach the sitemap. In other words, in shutting your site off from AI training, you can accidentally shut it off from indexing.

The cause is classification: Cloudflare treats Googlebot and Bingbot as "mixed" bots in the Search + Training category. Per the service's docs, crawlers that combine search and training are blocked by every configuration that blocks AI training. The rule fully takes effect on September 15, 2026, so there's still time to check your settings. For now this is an anecdotal case — not broadly confirmed: Google's John Mueller has asked the author to reach out directly to investigate. The details come via Search Engine Journal.

What to do:

• open your Cloudflare AI bot blocking settings and see exactly what falls under the ban;
• make sure Googlebot and Bingbot can reach the sitemap and aren't getting 403s;
• set an explicit allow for search bots before September 15;
• verify indexing in Search Console — the coverage report and URL Inspection.

Even if the case is isolated, the risk is too expensive: lost indexing hits traffic quietly and with a delay. Five minutes in Cloudflare now is cheaper than dropping out of search later.