Cloudflare crawler changes may block Googlebot and other search engines

Cloudflare is implementing a new purpose-based crawler classification system that may inadvertently block major search engine bots. Starting September 15, 2026, Cloudflare will categorize crawlers into three groups: Search, Agent, and Training.

On pages displaying advertisements, the new default settings will block Training and Agent bots while allowing Search bots. However, Cloudflare has stated that multi-purpose crawlers—such as Googlebot, Bingbot, and Applebot, which perform both search indexing and AI training—will be blocked if a user has enabled a block on Training bots.

This change affects new domains onboarding to the platform, new zones for existing customers, and existing free-plan users. Some merchants have already reported significant impacts, including a documented case where a site lost 64% of its search impressions in a single week due to these restrictions. Site owners can opt out of these changes through their Security Settings before the September 15 deadline.