YandexRCA user agent
Operated by Yandex
YandexRCA is the Yandex robot that collects data for page previews.
The YandexRCA bot at a glance
- YandexRCA is operated by Yandex and reads page titles, descriptions and images to build link previews.
- The robots.txt token for YandexRCA is YandexRCA.
- Blocking a search engine crawler removes your pages from that search engine's results.
- YandexRCA robots.txt support: Not for user-requested fetches.
- Recommendation for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Allow.
What is YandexRCA?
It reads pages to build previews in Yandex services.
Yandex lists this robot on its official page of Yandex robots.
Should you block YandexRCA?
Allow YandexRCA unless it causes a measurable load problem.
| Effect on search rankings | Blocking a search engine crawler removes your pages from that search engine's results. |
|---|---|
| Effect on AI visibility | AI features built on that search index, such as Google AI Overviews and AI Mode on top of Googlebot, also lose access to your pages. |
| Follows robots.txt | Not for user-requested fetches |
| Recommendation | Allow |
How to block or allow YandexRCA
Put the robots.txt rule in the file at the root of every domain and subdomain, for example https://example.com/robots.txt. The token YandexRCA is matched case-insensitively. robots.txt alone may not stop YandexRCA, so add the Nginx, Apache or Cloudflare rule as well.
robots.txt: block
# Block YandexRCA
User-agent: YandexRCA
Disallow: /robots.txt: allow
# Allow YandexRCA
User-agent: YandexRCA
Allow: /robots.txt: partial
# Keep YandexRCA out of private areas only
User-agent: YandexRCA
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /my-account/
Allow: /Nginx
# Nginx: return 403 to YandexRCA
if ($http_user_agent ~* "(YandexRCA)") {
return 403;
}Apache
# Apache .htaccess: return 403 to YandexRCA
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (YandexRCA) [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]Cloudflare WAF
# Cloudflare > Security > WAF > Custom rule, action: Block
(http.user_agent contains "YandexRCA")How to verify real YandexRCA traffic
Reverse DNS check: look up the request IP, confirm the hostname ends in yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com, then look up that hostname and confirm it returns the same IP.
# 1. Reverse lookup: the hostname must end in yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com
host REQUEST_IP
# 2. Forward lookup: must return the same REQUEST_IP
host HOSTNAME_FROM_STEP_1How to find YandexRCA in your server logs
Search the web server access log for the token. The command below counts YandexRCA requests per URL on Nginx or Apache.
grep -i "YandexRCA" access.log | awk '{print $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20For a full report per AI bot, upload the log to the AI Log File Analyzer, a free tool by Justin Hà.
YandexRCA user agent string
The full user agent Yandex publishes for YandexRCA. Version numbers such as Chrome/W.X.Y.Z change over time, so match the token, not the whole string.
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexRCA/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots)YandexRCA FAQ
YandexRCA identifies itself with the robots.txt token "YandexRCA". A typical request header reads: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexRCA/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots)
Partly. YandexRCA fetches pages because a user asked for them, and Yandex says robots.txt rules may not apply to those user-requested fetches. Use a firewall rule if you must stop it.
Blocking a search engine crawler removes your pages from that search engine's results. AI features built on that search index, such as Google AI Overviews and AI Mode on top of Googlebot, also lose access to your pages.
Add two lines to the robots.txt file at the root of each domain and subdomain: "User-agent: YandexRCA" followed by "Disallow: /". The token is case-insensitive. Changes can take up to 24 hours to be picked up.
Yes. Run a reverse DNS lookup on the request IP; a real YandexRCA request resolves to yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com, and a forward lookup of that hostname returns the same IP.
Search your server access log for "YandexRCA", for example with: grep -i "YandexRCA" access.log. The AI Log File Analyzer by Justin Hà counts visits per AI bot from an uploaded log file.
Sources: Yandex crawler documentation. Last reviewed by Justin Hà.
See which of these bots actually reach your website
The AI Log File Analyzer by Justin Hà counts visits from GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and other AI crawlers in your server log, for free. The GEO Technical Package sets up robots.txt, llms.txt and crawler access for AI search.
