Why Googlebot May Request /robots.txt via IP
By Jon Waraas - First Published: September 28th, 2025
Exploring the possible reasons behind Googlebot's direct IP requests
As observed on the Googlebot Directly Accessing via IP Address page, Googlebot sometimes requests a website's resources-such as
/robots.txt-using the site's IP address rather than its hostname (domain name).
Google has not publicly confirmed the exact purpose of this behavior, but here are my hypotheses about why it happens:
DNS Resolution Verification (alleged)
Googlebot may use direct IP access to verify that the DNS records for the hostname correctly resolve to the intended server. This could help detect potential misconfigurations, such as incorrect DNS entries, hijacking, or cases where the DNS directs traffic to a different server than the one actually serving the content.
Consistency and Duplicate Detection (alleged)
Accessing content via raw IP might allow Google to check whether the same material is delivered regardless of whether a request is made by domain name or IP. Such behavior could help with canonicalization (deciding which URL should be treated as the authoritative version) and reducing duplicate indexing.
Server and Network Diagnostics (alleged)
By bypassing DNS, direct IP requests may provide insight into how a server responds at the network level. This could highlight issues like firewall misconfigurations, unusual proxy behavior, or hosting irregularities.
Security and Authenticity Checks (alleged)
Since robots.txt defines crawl permissions, Googlebot may allegedly compare the
response when accessed by domain versus IP to identify discrepancies. Such a method could expose
attempts at cloaking (serving different instructions or content depending on access method),
which violates Google's guidelines.
Load Balancing and Infrastructure Verification (alleged)
In large-scale hosting environments, multiple servers are often deployed behind load balancers. Direct IP access may allegedly allow Googlebot to verify whether different nodes in the infrastructure deliver consistent responses.
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Ever since building my first website in 2002, I've been hooked on web development. I now manage my own network of eCommerce/content websites full-time. I'm also building a cabin inside a old ghost town. This is my personal blog, where I discuss web development, SEO, eCommerce, cabin building, and other personal musings.
