How to block DataForSEO Bot
Operated by DataForSEO. DataForSEO Bot is a driving force of our leading product - Backlinks API, which has been developed with a single purpose: providing website owners, webmasters, and SEO professionals with opportunities to analyze the key component of website optimization – backlink analytics. You can learn more about the DataForSEO Bot on this dedicated page: https://dataforseo.com/dataforseo-bot
How it identifies itself
RankMath Link Checker/1.0 (+https://dataforseo.com)
robots.txt
What the agent asks to be told. It obeys this or it does not — nothing enforces it.
User-agent: RankMath Link Checker Disallow: /
nginx
In the server block, then reload.
# In the server block. 403 rather than 444: a closed connection tells the
# operator nothing, and an agent that gets a status code can log it.
if ($http_user_agent ~* "(DataForSeoBot|RankMath Link Checker|RSiteAuditor|DataForSEO Bot)") {
return 403;
}
Apache
In .htaccess or the vhost.
BrowserMatchNoCase "DataForSeoBot" bad_bot
BrowserMatchNoCase "RankMath Link Checker" bad_bot
BrowserMatchNoCase "RSiteAuditor" bad_bot
BrowserMatchNoCase "DataForSEO Bot" bad_bot
<RequireAll>
Require all granted
Require not env bad_bot
</RequireAll>
Cloudflare
Security → WAF → Custom rules.
# Security → WAF → Custom rules, action: Block (http.user_agent contains "DataForSeoBot") or (http.user_agent contains "RankMath Link Checker") or (http.user_agent contains "RSiteAuditor") or (http.user_agent contains "DataForSEO Bot")
WordPress
A child theme's functions.php, or a small plugin.
// functions.php of a child theme, or a small plugin. Runs before WordPress
// builds the page, so a blocked agent costs one PHP process and no queries.
add_action('init', function () {
$agent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] ?? '';
foreach (['DataForSeoBot', 'RankMath Link Checker', 'RSiteAuditor', 'DataForSEO Bot'] as $needle) {
if (stripos($agent, $needle) !== false) {
status_header(403);
exit('Blocked: DataForSEO Bot');
}
}
});
robots.txt is a request. The rules below it are the wall.
DataForSEO Bot publishes a token, so the directive above will work for as long as it keeps honouring it — and nothing except its own good manners makes it. The server rules match on a header the requester sets, which stops the agent that says who it is and not the one that copies somebody else's name. Botscope verifies identity against DNS and published address ranges, records which check decided each request, and shows you the ones that lied.