---
title: Bot Detection Issues
description: "##### Known Bots Not Appearing in Reports Server logs confirm GPTBot visited but not in PulseRank **Checklist:** - **Caching Bypass:** Some aggressive caches block tracking AJAX. Solution: Exclude `/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php` from cache - **IP Verification Failed:** Bot may not be from official IP range. Check:…"
url: "https://pulserank.ai/docs/bot-detection-issues/"
updated: "2026-01-09"
category: Troubleshooting
---

# Bot Detection Issues

##### Known Bots Not Appearing in Reports

Server logs confirm GPTBot visited but not in PulseRank

**Checklist:**

- **Caching Bypass:** Some aggressive caches block tracking AJAX. Solution: Exclude `/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php` from cache
- **IP Verification Failed:** Bot may not be from official IP range. Check: PulseRank → Settings → Diagnostics → Current Request Inspection. PulseRank may categorize as unverified scraper.
- **Tracking Disabled:** Check: PulseRank → Settings → General. Ensure tracking is not disabled by filter hook.
- **Session Threshold:** Very short visits (< 1 second) may be filtered. Bot must request at least one resource.

**Verify in Server Logs:**

```
# Apache access.log
grep "GPTBot" /var/log/apache2/access.log

# Nginx access.log
grep "GPTBot" /var/log/nginx/access.log
```

##### False Positive Bot Detection

Human visitors detected as bots

**Rare but possible causes:**

- **VPN/Proxy from Datacenter:** User's IP matches datacenter range. PulseRank may flag as potential bot.
- **Browser Extension:** User has extension that modifies user-agent. May match bot pattern.
- **Curl/Wget Scripts:** Developer testing with command-line tools. Correctly identified as bots.

**Solution:**

PulseRank excludes logged-in editors by default (Settings → Exclude Logged-In Users). For testing, disable tracking via consent filter:

```
add_filter( 'pulserank_tracking_enabled', '__return_false' );
```

##### IP Verification Always Failing

All bots marked as 'Unverified' or not detected

**Cause:** External API requests blocked

**Diagnosis:**

1. Check if your server can reach: gstatic.com (Google), bing.com (Microsoft), openai.com (OpenAI)
2. Test connectivity:

```
$response = wp_remote_get( 'https://www.gstatic.com/ipranges/goog.json' );
var_dump( $response );
```

**Solutions:**

- **Firewall Blocking:** Whitelist domains in hosting firewall. Contact host to allow outbound HTTPS to these domains.
- **SSL Certificate Issue:** Update CA certificates on server. Check with: `curl -I https://www.gstatic.com`
- **PHP Disabled Functions:** Ensure `curl_exec` or `fsockopen` not disabled. Check: `phpinfo()` → disabled_functions

**Workaround:** IP verification is optional. PulseRank will still detect bots by user-agent alone.