AI search platforms

Claude: how Anthropic’s assistant searches the web and picks sources

Claude is the AI assistant made by Anthropic. Since 2025 it has been able to search the web on every plan and cite what it finds. Anthropic runs three separate web bots, and the search side works differently from Google or ChatGPT. Here is what is publicly known, what isn’t, and what a business should do.

Short answer

Claude searches the web when it decides a question needs current information, then cites its sources. Anthropic uses Claude-SearchBot to index pages for search, Claude-User to fetch pages for a person’s question, and ClaudeBot for training. To be findable, allow Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User, and publish clear, factual pages a model can quote accurately.

Get Found · Get Leads · Grow

How we use Claude to get you found, get you leads and help you grow

Get Found

Be reachable and quotable

We confirm Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User can reach your site and publish clear, factual pages Claude can quote: services, service areas, credentials and how to reach you.

Get Leads

Turn AI visits into conversations

Clear text, call and form options on every page, with tracking that separates AI referrals from the rest of your traffic.

Grow

Test, then close the gaps

We test how Claude answers questions about your services and market, then close the gaps in your content and citations over time.

How it works

How Claude finds its sources

Anthropic launched web search for Claude in March 2025 and made it available globally on all plans in May 2025. Claude decides on its own when a search would help, then gives direct citations so people can check its work.

Claude-SearchBot

Crawls the web to improve the relevance and accuracy of Claude’s search results. Anthropic says blocking it “prevents our system from indexing your content for search optimization,” which may reduce your visibility in answers.

Claude-User

Visits a page when a person asks Claude something that needs it. Anthropic says disabling Claude-User prevents its system from retrieving your content in response to a user’s question.

ClaudeBot

Collects public web content that may be used to train Anthropic’s models. Blocking it signals that your future content should be left out of training. It is the training bot, not the search bot.

Anthropic honors robots.txt for these bots and supports the Crawl-delay directive. It notes that blocking IP addresses may not reliably opt you out, so robots.txt is the dependable control. Each subdomain needs its own robots.txt rules.

What makes it different

How Claude differs from the other assistants

A different search partner

In March 2025, TechCrunch and developer Simon Willison reported that Anthropic had added Brave Search to its list of subprocessors, and that Claude’s citations matched Brave’s results in testing. Anthropic has not published how it ranks or chooses sources. That means Claude may not see the web the way Google or Bing does.

It searches only when needed

Claude doesn’t search for every question. It searches when it decides current information would improve the answer. Clear, up-to-date facts on your site, such as hours, service area, pricing approach and credentials, give it something specific to retrieve when it does.

Three bots, three choices

Anthropic splits training, search indexing and live fetching into separate bots. Many sites block “ClaudeBot” and assume they’re done, or block everything from Anthropic without meaning to. Blocking Claude-SearchBot or Claude-User is what affects whether Claude can find and quote you.

No business listing or maps layer

Claude has no claimable business profile. It works from what it can find and read: your website, directories, review sites and articles that mention you. That puts the weight on your own pages and on consistent details across the web.

Checklist

What a local or service business should do

Audit robots.txt for all three Anthropic bots. Allow Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User if you want to be found. Decide on ClaudeBot (training) separately.
Check your firewall and CDN. Security tools sometimes block AI bots by default. Make sure the bots you meant to allow are not being challenged or blocked.
Search for yourself beyond Google. Because Claude reportedly uses Brave Search, check how your business appears in Brave and other engines, not just Google.
Make every key fact quotable. Put your service area, licenses, insurance, years in business and hours in plain sentences near the top of relevant pages.
Answer real questions on their own pages. A focused page on “how long does mold remediation take” is easier to cite than a single page covering everything.
Keep third-party mentions accurate. Fix outdated directory listings and old addresses. An assistant that finds conflicting facts may skip you or repeat the wrong ones.

How MarketPros helps

Practical help, no promised mentions

No agency can guarantee Claude will cite a business. We focus on the parts you control.

Crawler and site audit

We review robots.txt, firewall rules and page structure so the bots you choose can read your site.

AEO services →

Content built to be cited

We write clear, factual service and FAQ pages around the questions your customers ask.

Content strategy →

Consistent local presence

We clean up listings and citations so your business details match wherever an assistant looks.

Local AEO and SEO →

FAQ

Claude questions business owners ask

Which Anthropic bot should I allow to show up in Claude’s answers?

Claude-SearchBot, which indexes pages for search, and Claude-User, which fetches pages when someone asks Claude a question. ClaudeBot is for training, and blocking it is a separate decision.

Does Claude use Google?

Anthropic hasn’t said so. Reporting from March 2025 found Brave Search on Anthropic’s subprocessor list and matching results in tests. Anthropic hasn’t published the details of how Claude ranks sources.

Can I claim my business on Claude?

No. Claude has no business listing program. It relies on what it can find and read on the web, so your website and your listings elsewhere do the work.

How many people use Claude?

We haven’t found a current, official consumer user count from Anthropic, so we don’t quote one here. Claude’s search feature is available on all plans worldwide.

Next step

Want to know whether Claude can read your site and what it says about you? Text (404) 877-2184 to set up a Zoom discovery meeting, or request a free visibility review.

Sources

Last reviewed October 23, 2026 by Don Stormo, founder of MarketPros.AI.