Bot signals · AI crawler & agent
What is Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors?
Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors extend Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Search to data beyond Microsoft 365. The Enterprise Websites connector indexes webpages from an organisation’s own or public websites, crawling from a root URL or a sitemap, and Microsoft says it follows Disallow rules in robots.txt unless the customer chooses to ignore them.
01 · Profile
Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors at a glance.
What to look for in your logs, and what the lookup API returns for its addresses.
- Type
- AI crawler & agent
- API flag
risk.is_airisk.is_crawler
A user agent alone never sets a flag. Anyone can claim to be Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors; the flag follows the address the request comes from.
02 · In the response
What a match looks like.
A lookup of a Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors address sets risk.is_ai and risk.is_crawler. The flags come with geolocation and network data in the same response, for API keys on every paid plan.
This is AI crawling or retrieval traffic, so it counts as both AI traffic and crawler traffic.
The response says which kind of bot an address belongs to, not which operator. A request that claims to be Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors while risk.is_ai is false should not be trusted as Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors.
{
// … location and network fields …
"risk": {
"is_ai": true,
"is_crawler": true,
"is_scanner": false
}
}
03 · Control
Allow or block Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors.
Your options
- robots.txt works only for crawlers that choose to follow it. Check the operator’s documentation for the token it reads.
- Firewall, WAF or CDN. Many offer bot rules you can allow or deny by category. Use them to enforce what robots.txt only asks for.
- In your app. Look up the client address and allow or deny on
risk.is_ai / risk.is_crawler, alongside the user agent. - Never on the user agent alone. Blocking the name stops only honest clients; allowing it lets anyone in who borrows it.
04 · Questions
About Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors.
What is Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors?
Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors extend Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Search to data beyond Microsoft 365. The Enterprise Websites connector indexes webpages from an organisation’s own or public websites, crawling from a root URL or a sitemap, and Microsoft says it follows Disallow rules in robots.txt unless the customer chooses to ignore them.
How do I block Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors?
Deny it at your firewall, WAF or CDN, or look up each client address and deny requests where risk.is_ai and risk.is_crawler is true. Do not rely on the user agent alone.
Can I trust a request that says it is Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors?
Not on the user agent alone: any client can send a bot’s name in its user agent. A user agent alone never sets a flag. Check the address with the free bot checker or the lookup API.
Which risk flag does Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors set?
Its addresses set risk.is_ai and risk.is_crawler in the lookup response. The risk flags come with every paid plan.
Related bots
Recognise Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors on every request.
is_ai, is_crawler and is_scanner in every lookup, on every paid plan, from 9,00 € a month (VAT included).