Beehiiv partners with Cloudflare to give creators control over AI crawlers

Newsletter platform Beehiiv has partnered with Cloudflare to give creators greater control over how artificial intelligence companies access and use their content.

The system integrates Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control technology directly into the platform, allowing creators to decide whether to maximise visibility by allowing AI search engines and assistants to crawl their content, or restrict access to preserve archives for future monetisation and licensing opportunities.

The feature arrives as AI search tools become an increasingly important way people discover information online. According to Beehiiv, AI bots from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft crawled content hosted on the platform 490 million times last month alone.

"Beehiiv was built to support creator independence," said co-founder and chief executive Tyler Denk. "As AI changes how people find and consume content, publishers need real leverage."

The new controls include analytics showing which AI crawlers are attempting to access content, how often they are being blocked, and what referral traffic they generate. Publishers can also allow or block specific AI companies based on their own preferences.

Cloudflare co-founder and chief executive Matthew Prince said the partnership was designed to give creators more transparency as AI becomes a larger part of the internet.

"As the Internet evolves, our commitment remains the same: ensuring creators have the tools they need to thrive," he said.

The partnership is the latest attempt to tackle growing pressure around AI content use.

Earlier this month, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority introduced measures allowing publishers to opt out of having content used in certain AI search features, while creators and media companies continue to push for greater control over how their work is accessed and surfaced by AI systems.

The AI Crawl Control feature is rolling out in beta to all Beehiiv users, with advanced blocking controls available to customers on the platform's Max tier.

*The Daily Influence's newsletter is hosted on Beehiiv.