If you’ve published any content on your accountancy website in the past year, chances are an AI bot has already seen it—possibly copied it. Whether it’s a helpful tax tips blog post, your pricing page, or even a client onboarding guide, AI crawlers are hoovering up content across the web to feed the next generation of chatbots, voice assistants, and search tools.
The big question for accountants now isn’t whether your content is being accessed. It’s whether you should let it happen at all.
In this post, we’ll explore the risks and rewards of allowing AI to crawl your website—and how to take control of what gets shared, what gets protected, and what helps your firm grow.
Why AI Wants Your Content
AI crawlers are software bots—just like Google’s search engine bots—that scan the web, extract content, and store it as training data for large language models (LLMs). These models power tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). They use your words to help them answer users’ questions faster and more confidently.
But unlike traditional search engines, these AI tools don’t always send traffic back to your site. In many cases, they absorb your content and repurpose it—often without credit or a clickable link. That means your tax planning checklist or small business blog post could end up powering someone else’s chatbot, while your website is left out of the loop.
For accountants who rely on their website to generate leads, explain services, and rank on Google, this silent siphoning of content raises a serious concern: is sharing your hard-earned insights helping you—or training the competition?
The Risks: What Accountants Stand to Lose
Letting AI bots crawl your website isn’t risk-free. Here’s what could go wrong:
- Loss of control – Once your content is scraped, you lose control over how it’s used or who presents it. Your advice could be taken out of context or stripped of disclaimers.
- Reduced traffic – If AI tools answer a user’s question directly, fewer people may click through to your site. This could weaken your search performance and reduce enquiries.
- Brand dilution – When your insights are presented without attribution, your authority erodes. Users might benefit from your work without ever knowing you exist.
- Server strain – Some bots hit your site aggressively, consuming bandwidth and slowing things down for real users.
These risks are especially relevant for firms that invest in original, helpful content—guides, blogs, explainers, or videos. In other words, the very things that make SEO work for accountants could now be powering AI tools instead.
Where “SEO for Accountants” Comes In
It’s no longer enough to just rank on Google. The rise of AI-driven search means your content could appear—or disappear—in entirely new ways.
SEO for accountants now needs to consider visibility across AI-powered platforms, not just search engines. For example:
- Tools like ChatGPT with Browse or Perplexity.ai might surface content from sites that allow crawling, while ignoring those that block it.
- Google’s AI Overviews feature pulls snippets into a summary box—without always linking to the source.
- Your competitors may be allowing bots in, meaning their content is training the tools your clients use, while yours stays hidden.
Blocking AI could help you protect your work—but it might also limit your presence in emerging search experiences. As with all SEO decisions, it’s about weighing exposure versus control.
The Argument for Blocking AI Bots
So why are some accountants—and many other business owners—deciding to block AI crawlers?
At its core, it’s about control. If you’ve spent time or money creating valuable content, you may not want that content to be reused without permission. Blocking bots gives you more power over how your work is accessed and by whom.
Other benefits include:
- Protecting your intellectual property – Keep exclusive tools, insights, and guides from being repurposed elsewhere.
- Preserving competitive edge – If your content helps train AI, it may make its way into tools your clients use—removing the need to come to you directly.
- Improving performance – Fewer bots means less strain on your website’s server, which can help with speed and reliability for human visitors.
- Sending a message – Blocking bots is a public stance that says: our work has value, and we expect to be asked before it’s used.
This is particularly important for firms producing premium, evergreen content—like detailed guides for landlords, sector-specific financial checklists, or tax advice for freelancers. If it’s high-value, it may be worth protecting.
But… Should Accountants Always Block AI?
Not necessarily.
Blocking AI isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. There are valid reasons for accountants to keep their content open—for now.
Here’s the other side of the argument:
- Greater visibility – As AI-driven tools become more embedded in search, being open could boost your discoverability across platforms that don’t rely on traditional search engines.
- Staying competitive – If your competitors allow their content to be crawled and indexed, and you don’t, they might become more “present” in AI tools your clients are using.
- Future opportunities – Some AI companies are exploring licensing models or pay-per-crawl schemes. By allowing access now, you could position your firm for future partnerships or revenue sharing.
For firms that are still building their authority and visibility, the short-term exposure may outweigh the long-term risks—especially if your content is regularly updated and less evergreen.
How to Take Control of Your Website’s Content
Whether you decide to allow or block AI crawlers, the good news is: you can take action. Here are the most effective ways to control what AI bots see:
- Use Cloudflare – If your site runs through Cloudflare, their default setting blocks many known AI crawlers. You can review or adjust these settings in your dashboard.
- Update yourrobots.txtfile – This file lives on your site and tells bots what they can and can’t access. You can add specific rules to block bots likeGPTBotorCCBot.
- Monitor activity – Use server logs or analytics tools to track which bots are visiting and how often.
- Segment your strategy – Consider blocking AI bots from key resources (like whitepapers or calculators) while allowing access to blog content that supports discoverability.
- Stay informed – The landscape is changing rapidly. Keep an eye on what major AI platforms are offering in terms of partnerships, licensing, or monetisation.
Protect, Permit or Monetise—The Choice Is Yours
For accountants navigating the evolving digital landscape, AI bots represent both a threat and an opportunity. On the one hand, your hard-earned content could be scraped and repurposed without credit. On the other, blocking everything could mean missing out on valuable exposure in the search tools of tomorrow.
As with any strategy, there’s no universal answer. But now more than ever, intentionality matters.
Whether you choose to protect your content, permit access for visibility, or explore monetisation in the future, one thing is clear: your words are valuable. Make sure they’re working for you—and not just fuelling someone else’s AI.