---
schema_version: "newruntime-reader-dossiers-v1"
type: "reader_dossier"
slug: "meta-webindexer"
kind: "search"
operator: "Meta"
researched_at: "2026-10-23"
confidence: "high"
json_url: "https://newruntime.com/readers/meta-webindexer.json"
canonical_url: "https://newruntime.com/readers/meta-webindexer/"
---

# Meta-WebIndexer

> Navigates the web to improve Meta AI search result quality; allowing it helps Meta cite and link content in Meta AI responses.

## Dossier

- Kind: Search engines
- Operator: Meta (https://www.meta.com/)
- Documentation: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers
- robots.txt tokens: Meta-WebIndexer
- Feeds: search index
- Respects robots.txt: Yes, per its documentation. Controlled by its own robots.txt group; Meta notes allowing it helps citation in Meta AI answers.
- Verification: No published method
- Labels matched in our logs: meta-webindexer

## Why it matters to New Runtime (our interpretation)

Indexing by Meta-WebIndexer is the route to New Runtime being cited inside Meta AI answers.

## Observed behaviour

- Baseline 2026-10-23 (93-day window): 2 requests on 1 days; first seen 2026-10-21, last seen 2026-10-21; New this week.
- Live numbers: https://newruntime.com/bot-traffic-history.json and https://newruntime.com/crawler-journeys.json

## Sources

- https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers

Identity: A family name is what a client claims in its user agent. It is verified only when its request came from the operator's published IP ranges or passed forward-confirmed reverse DNS, as reported per family in /crawler-journeys.json. Anyone can claim any name.

All dossiers: https://newruntime.com/readers.md