---
title: "RankControl crawler"
description: "The user agent and IP address RankControl fetches your site from, and how to allow it through Cloudflare and other firewalls."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://rctrl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# RankControl crawler

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

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>**User agent**</td>
      <td>`Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; RankControl/1.0; +https://rctrl.com/docs/bot)`</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>**IP address**</td>
      <td>`2.28.24.72`</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>**Reverse DNS**</td>
      <td>`bot.rctrl.com`</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

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.

### Free plan

One rule lets RankControl through. Every protection stays on for
everyone else.

1. **Create a custom rule**

Go to **Security**, then **Security rules**, then **Create rule**,
then **Custom rules**.
2. **Name and match**

- Rule name: `Allow RankControl`
- Condition: `ip.src eq 2.28.24.72`
3. **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.
4. **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.
5. **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.
### Pro and above

Custom rules run before Super Bot Fight Mode, so a skip rule is enough.

1. **Add a skip rule**

Go to **Security**, then **WAF**, then **Custom rules**. Create a rule
with this expression:

```txt
    (ip.src eq 2.28.24.72)
```

Set the action to **Skip**, and tick **Super Bot Fight Mode** along
with the other protections listed.
2. **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:

```txt
User-agent: RankControl
Allow: /
```

Source: https://rctrl.com/bot/index.mdx