RankControl reads your website so it can plan and write content that matches your brand. If a firewall blocks those requests, setup steps stall and your dashboard reports pages it could not reach. This page lists what to allow.
What we fetch
| Task | What it does |
|---|---|
| Workspace setup | Reads your homepage and a few key pages, for brand voice, products, and colors |
| Page import | Reads your sitemap and page titles, so articles can link to the right pages |
| Article delivery | Sends each approved article to your site |
| Publishing checks | Reads a published article’s URL, to confirm it went live |
We read pages a visitor can already see and deliver articles only to the integration you connected. We do not log in, submit forms, or read anything behind a password.
How to identify our requests
| User agent | Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; RankControl/1.0; +https://rctrl.com/docs/bot) |
| IP address | 2.28.24.72 |
| Reverse DNS | bot.rctrl.com |
Every request comes from that single address, so one firewall rule covers all of them. We will update this page before the address ever changes.
Allow RankControl in Cloudflare
You can keep every protection on, including Bot Fight Mode. Add one IP rule
for 2.28.24.72 and nothing else changes.
One rule lets RankControl through. Every protection stays on for everyone else.
Create a custom rule
Go to Security, then Security rules, then Create rule, then Custom rules.
Name and match
- Rule name:
Allow RankControl - Condition:
ip.src eq 2.28.24.72
Choose the action
Under Then take action, set Choose action to Skip. Leave Log matching requests on so the rule’s matches stay visible in your Security overview.
Pick what to skip
Under WAF components to skip:
- Tick All Super Bot Fight Mode Rules
- Click More components to skip to expand it, then tick Security Level
Leave every other checkbox unticked. This lets the one IP through bot challenges and the “I’m Under Attack” page while everything else stays on for all other visitors.
Set execution order and deploy
Under Execution order, set Select order to First, so this rule evaluates before any other custom rules. Save with status Active. Bot Fight Mode itself stays exactly as it is.
Custom rules run before Super Bot Fight Mode, so a skip rule is enough.
Add a skip rule
Go to Security, then WAF, then Custom rules. Create a rule with this expression:
(ip.src eq 2.28.24.72)Set the action to Skip, and tick Super Bot Fight Mode along with the other protections listed.
Allow verified bots
Go to Security, then Settings, and set Verified bots to Allow. This keeps search engines and AI assistants reading your site.
Other firewalls
Wordfence: go to Firewall, then All Firewall Options, and add
2.28.24.72 under Allowlisted IP addresses.
Sucuri: go to Firewall, then Access Control, and add
2.28.24.72 to the allowlist.
Server level: if your host uses ModSecurity or fail2ban, ask them to
allow 2.28.24.72.
robots.txt
We follow robots.txt. If yours blocks unknown crawlers, add:
User-agent: RankControl
Allow: /