How is this different from Google Analytics?

Google Analytics shows you traffic. Shadow shows you traffic, AI bot activity, what AI platforms say about your brand, AND tells you what to do about all of it. It's analytics + AI intelligence + action steps in one tool.

Do I need to install anything?

For basic monitoring (bot detection, AI perception, readiness score) — nope, just enter your URL. For full visitor analytics (clicks, behavior, sessions), add one script tag. One-click integrations for Vercel, Shopify, WordPress, and more.

Will it slow down my site?

No. The script is under 5KB and loads async. Zero impact on page speed or Core Web Vitals. External monitoring has literally no impact — it watches from the outside.

What AI bots does Shadow detect?

All of them. GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Bytespider, Amazonbot, and dozens more. The Shadow Network means new bots get identified across all users instantly.

What do you mean by "actionable steps"?

Shadow doesn't just show you graphs. It says things like: "ChatGPT has your pricing wrong — add structured data to /pricing to fix it" or "Your bounce rate on /features is 68% — here's why and what to change." Specific, do-it-today recommendations.

Can Shadow block bots?

Shadow is a telescope, not a shield. It shows you who's visiting and what AI says about you. It generates block rules and robots.txt configs you can apply — but it doesn't intercept traffic.

Yes. Shadow never collects PII. IP addresses are hashed after classification. No cookies on your visitors. All Shadow Network data is anonymized. GDPR compliant by design.

How do I block SemrushBot?

Add this to your robots.txt file: User-agent: SemrushBot / Disallow: /

Does SemrushBot respect robots.txt?

Yes, SemrushBot by Semrush respects robots.txt directives.

SEO Respects robots.txt

SemrushBot

by Semrush First seen: 2010-01

About

Semrush's web crawler powering one of the largest digital marketing intelligence platforms. Tracks rankings, backlinks, and site health for millions of domains. Frequently encountered by webmasters — it crawls aggressively and its presence usually means your site is being monitored by a competitor's SEO team.

Purpose

SEO competitive intelligence and site audit data collection

User Agent String

Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SemrushBot/7~bl; +https://www.semrush.com/bot.html)

How to Control in robots.txt

🚫 Block SemrushBot

User-agent: SemrushBot
Disallow: /

✅ Allow SemrushBot

User-agent: SemrushBot
Allow: /

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