Cloudflare blocking AVO scans
How to configure Cloudflare to allow AVO bots to scan your website.
If your Authority Score returns a "Blocked" status or pages fail to load during a scan, Cloudflare is likely blocking AVO from accessing your site. This is a common issue and easy to fix.
Cloudflare has security features called Super Bot Fight Mode and WAF (Web Application Firewall) rules. These can block legitimate AI crawlers like the ones AVO uses. You need to create an exception for trusted bots.
Log into Cloudflare
Go to dash.cloudflare.com and log in with your account credentials.
Select your domain
From the main account page, click on the domain you want to configure.
Allow verified bots
In the left sidebar, click Security, then click Settings. Scroll down to find the Super Bot Fight Mode section. Find the row labeled "Verified bots" and make sure it is set to Allow. If it is not, click the edit icon and change it to Allow, then click Save.
This covers most AI bots including GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and Google-Extended because they are in Cloudflare verified bot database.
Create a WAF exception rule
In the left sidebar under Security, click Security rules. Make sure you are on the Custom rules tab. Click Create rule in the top-right corner.
Configure the rule
Name the rule "Allow Trusted Bots". Click Edit expression to switch to the raw expression editor. Paste the expression below into the editor.
Set the action and position
In the Action dropdown, select Skip. Check BOTH "All remaining custom rules" AND "All Super Bot Fight Mode Rules". Set the position to First. Click Save.
(http.user_agent contains "GPTBot") or (http.user_agent contains "ClaudeBot") or (http.user_agent contains "CCBot") or (http.user_agent contains "PerplexityBot") or (http.user_agent contains "Google-Extended") or (http.user_agent contains "anthropic-ai") or (http.user_agent contains "cohere-ai") or (http.user_agent contains "Applebot-Extended") or (http.user_agent contains "MoonshotBot") or (http.user_agent contains "DeepSeekBot")
Verify the fix
After making these changes, re-run your Authority Score. The status should change from Blocked to Normal. You can also check Security > Analytics in Cloudflare to confirm the bots are no longer being blocked.
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