500 Internal Server Errors for ChatGPT & AI Bots

[vschimel]

Hi, this is my issue: My blog posts on livejoju.com are visible to human visitors and Shopify. But when ChatGPT or other AI tools (like Google's Bard or OpenAI's crawler) try to access or crawl them, they return a 500 Internal Server Error. This only happens for AI or bot user-agents — not regular users

AEO is a big part of our strategy so we need to resolve - any/all suggestions would be MUCH appreciated. thank you!

[StevenT_A7]

Hi @vschimel ,

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is crucial for enhancing visibility on AI-driven platforms, including ChatGPT, Google's Bard, and voice assistants. To leverage the advantages of AEO and achieve optimal conversions, it is important to ensure that your content is as accessible to AI crawlers and bots as it is to human users.

The occurrence of a 500 Internal Server Error specifically for AI/bot user-agents, such as GPTBot and Google-Extended, suggests a potential issue with server-side rules or firewall/CDN configurations that may be inadvertently blocking or improperly managing these specific user-agents.

To resolve this, I recommend the following actions:

Server/Firewall Configuration: Please review your server logs and the rules configured within your Shopify app's firewall or CDN (such as Cloudflare). Verify that known AI bots, including GPTBot, Google-Extended, and CCBot, are not being blocked. Consider whitelisting the IP addresses and user-agents associated with these legitimate AI crawlers.

Custom Headers/Rate Limits: Some hosting environments may misinterpret bot traffic. It may be beneficial to implement rate-limiting exceptions specifically for recognized AI bots to prevent them from being flagged as potentially abusive.

Furthermore, for AEO optimization, I advise utilizing structured data, such as FAQ schema and HowTo schema. As mentioned in the blog, this practice assists AI engines in efficiently extracting and presenting your content in a clear and understandable manner.

Should you require any further clarification or information, please do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks!

[Kudosi-Carlos]

Hello @vschimel 

It looks like your theme or an app is mistakenly treating AI/bot user-agents as “bad” traffic and throwing a 500 error, even though regular visitors see the page just fine. To fix it, you’ll need to identify and remove that faulty bot-detection logic so all crawlers can fetch your content without crashing. Here’s how to smooth it out:

1. Confirm the culprit

Run a quick curl test from your terminal, emulating a bot UA:

curl -I -A "ChatGPT" https://livejoju.com/blogs/your-post

• If you see a 500 Internal Server Error, you know it’s triggered by the user-agent check.

2. Search your theme for UA filters

• In Online Store → Themes → Edit code, open theme.liquid (and any snippet that runs site-wide scripts).
• Look for code like navigator.userAgent or Liquid conditionals checking request.user_agent (e.g., {% if request.user_agent contains 'bot' %}).

3. Remove or sanitize the check

• Comment out or delete any logic that returns an error or blocks access when the UA matches “bot,” “spider,” “curl,” or specific names like “ChatGPT.”
• If you need bot-filtering, wrap it in a safer conditional that only logs or redirects, not throws a server error.

4. Check installed apps and widgets

Some analytics, anti-spam, or personalization apps inject UA-based redirects. Temporarily disable any recently added apps one by one and retest your curl command.

5. Deploy and validate

• Save your changes, then re-run the curl test to ensure you now get a 200 OK.
• You can also use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to confirm crawlers can access your pages.

[vschimel]

Thank you so much! Is this something you can help me out with? Or know someone who might be able to? I’m not a developer

[PieLab]

Hello there! AI might be restricted from accessing your content due to Shopify's protective measures, which prioritizes security for store links. Also, note that only old links that have been indexed on Google are likely accessible, and this relies on Google's cache rather than direct viewing @vschimel 

[Wendell4]

Hi @vschimel

I fail to find out your 500 internal server errors screenshot in this topic, therefore I can only do my best to share some ideas which may be helpful on this issue. Please kindly check and test if work for you. Thank you!

The challenge with HTTP 500 (Internal Server Error) responses lies in their generic nature, indicating only that the server encountered an unexpected condition and could not fulfill the request. These errors provide no specific diagnostic details, as they encompass a broad spectrum of potential issues, from configuration errors to application-level failures. To effectively diagnose the root cause, administrators must perform the following steps:

1. Review Server and Application Logs: Analyze error logs (e.g., Apache, Nginx, or application-specific logs) to identify timestamps, error messages, and stack traces correlated with the incidents.

2. Monitor Server Activity: Investigate server resource utilization (CPU, memory, disk I/O), recent code deployments, or database connectivity issues occurring during the error window.

3. Assess Error Patterns: Determine whether the errors are isolated incidents or recurring systematically, as persistent occurrences may indicate unresolved infrastructure or code defects.

Without log analysis and contextual server data, troubleshooting remains speculative. Persistent 500 errors warrant escalation to development or infrastructure teams for comprehensive debugging and resolution.

Usually on the returned 500 internal Server Error page, you will find out the cause code. By searching or further investigating the cause code, you may be able to find out the solution to avoid it happening again, a kind reminder here!