AI crawler log analysis

Server log analysis for AI crawlers, minus the grep

Log file analysis is the most reliable way to see what AI crawlers do on your site, and the most tedious. WriteWorks collects the requests from your host or CDN, identifies the AI bots, and gives you a live, filterable log explorer instead of gigabytes of access logs.

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Connects to the tools your team already uses

The challenge

Why server log analysis stalls

The data is valuable and painful to reach.

Raw logs are hard to get and harder to read

Access logs live on servers, CDNs and hosting platforms, each in its own format. Getting them out, joined and filtered for AI user agents is an engineering task before any analysis starts.

Log analysers were built for Googlebot

Traditional SEO log file analysis tools focus on search crawlers. They rarely know the full set of AI user agents or what each one is for.

One-off exports go stale

A log export answers today's question. By next week the crawl has changed and someone has to run the whole process again.

Coverage is uneven across engines

Winning the answer on one assistant says nothing about the other nine your buyers actually ask.

The solution

How the WriteWorks log explorer works

Collected, labelled and live.

WriteWorks connects to your host or CDN through one of nine server-side methods, from a Vercel log drain to a Cloudflare Worker or the WordPress plugin, and keeps the requests flowing in.

◆How the WriteWorks log explorer worksLIVE
Customer story

How teams are winning AI search

From invisibility to category dominance across every major answer engine.

Closed the gap

“WriteWorks showed us exactly which competitors AI was recommending instead of us, and the sentiment behind every mention. We closed the gap across every major engine.”

RN
Rohan Navarro Director of Growth, Keepa
Capabilities

Log explorer capabilities

Everything you would do with raw logs, in a browser.

Raw request stream

The record behind every number on the dashboard.

Live mode

Polls for new requests every 15 seconds.

Path filter

Follow one URL or a whole directory.

Pagination

Work back through earlier requests.

CSV export

Hand the rows to an analyst or a spreadsheet.

Bot and engine labels

No user-agent decoding by hand.

Time savings

What changes

From log extraction projects to a live view.

TaskBeforeWith WriteWorksTime saved
Check whether an AI bot fetched a pageRequest logs, filter, searchPath filter in the log explorerMinutes, not hours
Watch a crawler respond to a changeRepeat exportsLive modeReal-time view
Share raw crawler dataCustom log extractionCSV exportOne click
Included

What's included

The log explorer inside AI crawler intelligence.

Live AI crawler request stream
Live mode refreshing every 15 seconds
Path filter and pagination
CSV export
Bot, engine and intent on every row
Nine server-side collection methods
Built for

Who uses it

The people who used to grep the logs.

Technical SEO

AI-focused log file analysis without building a pipeline.

Developers

Debug crawler behaviour on a route without SSH or log tooling.

Agencies

Crawler logs for each client site, no server access needed.

Featured story

“We retired three legacy tools and rebuilt our launch motion around WriteWorks. We can finally see our share of voice on the engines our buyers ask, and prove the lift on every run.”

Read the full story
10+
AI platforms measured
Share of voice
Tracked vs competitors
Proven
Lift on every run
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Everything teams typically ask before getting started.

What is log file analysis?+
Log file analysis is reading your web server or CDN access logs to see exactly which clients requested which URLs and when. For SEO it is the most direct evidence of crawler behaviour, because it records every fetch rather than a sample.
How is this different from a traditional log analyser?+
WriteWorks focuses on AI crawlers: it collects the requests from your host or CDN for you, labels each with the AI engine and intent, and connects the results to your AI visibility data. You do not upload or parse log files yourself.
Do I need access to my server logs?+
You need to connect a source once. WriteWorks supports Vercel, Cloudflare Workers and Logpush, Netlify, Fastly, Amazon CloudFront, Akamai DataStream, a WordPress plugin, and a Next.js, Express or Nginx snippet. Automatic host detection suggests the right one.
Can I export the crawler logs?+
Yes. The log explorer exports to CSV, and crawler data is also available in reports, the WriteWorks MCP server and Ask AI.
Which plans include crawler log analysis?+
AI crawler analytics, including the log explorer, is on the Growth and Enterprise plans and on agency plans, not Starter.
Explore more

Keep exploring

Related solutions, adjacent use cases, and platform features.

Pillar

Other sub-features

Related

Analyse AI crawler logs without the log files

A live, labelled, filterable stream of every AI bot request to your site, with CSV export.

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