- Free, no sign-up
- Google's own verification method
- 20 IPs at a time
Free DNS Lookup and Bot IP Checker
Two checks SEOs need from DNS. Paste an IP from your server logs and see whether it really is Googlebot, Bingbot, Applebot or an AI crawler such as GPTBot and ClaudeBot: the reverse DNS name, the lookup back to the same IP, and the vendor's published IP list, the way Google says to check. Or enter a domain and see its A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS and CAA records, with notes on what matters for SEO: your Search Console TXT record, www and the bare domain, and records still pointing at services you no longer run. No sign-up.
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How to use it
Paste, read, act
Paste IPs, or enter a domain
Copy IPs from your server or CDN log, with the user agent after each if you have it, up to 20 at a time. Or type a domain, and any other hostnames you use (shop, blog, old, staging).
Read the verdict and the proof
Each IP gets real, fake or not a crawler, with the chain behind it: the reverse name, the lookup back to the IP, and the vendor's list. A domain gets its records and the findings that matter for SEO first.
Block the fakes, fix the records
Block fake bots at your firewall or CDN, never the real ones. Delete records that point at services you stopped using, and fix www, SPF or DMARC where flagged.
Built forLog file analysisBot blockingSite migrationsSearch Console set-up
Quick answer
How do you verify Googlebot?
Run a reverse DNS lookup on the IP from your log: the name must end in googlebot.com, google.com or googleusercontent.com. Then look that name up: it must return the same IP. Or match the IP against the ranges Google publishes in JSON. A user agent that says Googlebot proves nothing on its own: scrapers copy it. Bingbot's names end in search.msn.com and Applebot's in applebot.apple.com; OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity publish IP lists instead.
Every crawler
How each bot is verified
| Crawler | Reverse DNS name ends in | Published IP list |
|---|---|---|
| Googlebot and Google's common crawlers | googlebot.com (crawl-… or geo-crawl-…) | common-crawlers.json |
| Google special-case crawlers (AdsBot and others) | google.com (rate-limited-proxy-…) | special-crawlers.json |
| Google user-triggered fetchers | google.com or gae.googleusercontent.com | user-triggered-fetchers.json, -google.json and user-triggered-agents.json |
| Bingbot | search.msn.com | bingbot.json |
| Applebot | applebot.apple.com | applebot.json |
| GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User | none | OpenAI's three lists |
| ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User | none | Anthropic's list |
| PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User | none | Perplexity's two lists |
| CCBot (Common Crawl) | none (a reverse check is suggested) | Common Crawl's list |
Google's special-case crawlers may not follow robots.txt, and user-triggered fetchers ignore it, because a person asked for the page. Blocking a real crawler at the firewall takes you out of that engine or answer engine; blocking a fake one costs nothing.
Reading records
The DNS records that matter for SEO
| Record | What to look for |
|---|---|
| A, AAAA, CNAME | Where the site lives. Both the bare domain and www should resolve, and one should redirect to the other. |
| TXT: google-site-verification | Proof you own the domain for a Search Console Domain property. Keep it: removing it can un-verify the property. |
| TXT: v=spf1, and _dmarc | Who may send email as your domain. One SPF record only; a DMARC record so forged mail is reported or refused. |
| MX | Where your email goes. |
| NS, SOA | Who hosts your DNS (your registrar, Cloudflare and so on). |
| CAA | Which certificate authorities may issue certificates for the domain. Optional. |
Forgotten records
The record that got a site deindexed
In a case Glenn Gabe published, a www record still pointed at a cloud web app the company had switched off. A spammer created an app with the same name, served spam on the company's own hostname, and the site was deindexed. A record pointing at a service you no longer run is open to anyone who can claim that name on the service. Before you switch off a hosting service, a page builder or a staging site, delete its DNS records the same day, and list every hostname you use in the domain tab now and then.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Is this IP Googlebot?
Paste it in the IP tab. Real Googlebot IPs have a reverse name ending in googlebot.com that resolves back to the same IP, and sit in Google's published ranges.
How do I check if GPTBot or ClaudeBot is real?
They have no reverse DNS names; the IP has to be in OpenAI's or Anthropic's published list. The tool checks every list at once.
What is reverse DNS?
The name an IP address points back to, its PTR record. Anyone can set a reverse name for their own IP, which is why the lookup back to the IP matters.
Why does my log show private IPs like 10.x or 172.16.x?
A proxy, load balancer or CDN sits in front of your server. The visitor's real IP is in a header such as X-Forwarded-For or CF-Connecting-IP; log that instead.
How do I check DNS records for a domain?
Type it in the domain tab: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, CAA and SOA, with www and _dmarc checked too.
How do I check my Search Console TXT record?
Look for google-site-verification= among the domain's TXT records; the tool marks it.
How long does a DNS change take?
From minutes to a day or two, depending on the old record's TTL. The tool compares Google Public DNS and Cloudflare, so you can see whether a change has spread.
What is a dangling DNS record?
A record still pointing at a service you no longer use. If someone else can claim that name on the service, they can serve pages on your hostname.
Should I block fake Googlebots?
Yes, at the firewall or CDN, by IP or by failing the verification. Never block the real ones by user agent alone.
Is anything I enter stored?
No. The lookups run when you press the button, and nothing is kept.
Keep going
More free tools and guides
- Log File Analyzer: every line of a log, verified the same way.
- AI Crawler Checker: what robots.txt lets each AI bot do.
- Redirect Checker: www, https and the four versions of a domain.
- Free Website Audit: SPF and DMARC scored with the rest of the site.
- Crawling at scale and log files (Advanced, chapter 1) and AI crawlers' IP lists (GEO, chapter 6).
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