Websites are closing their doors to AI agents

AI agents that book reservations, shop or clean out inboxes for users are spreading, but websites are not ready for them. According to The Verge users of agents from Meta, xAI, OpenAI and Instinct have reported blocks across many major sites in recent weeks.

Which sites are blocking agents?

Yelp told TechCrunch it only allows AI agents that pay for its data licensing programme. Delta Air Lines is preventing agents from booking tickets on behalf of users. JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab confirmed they block agents from accessing accounts for security reasons. Amazon banned Perplexity's shopping agent last year and sued the company.

Are the blocks always deliberate?

No. EquiStamp CEO Chris Canal says many systems are built to stop bots and scams in general, and agents trigger the same safeguards. Tools from providers such as Cloudflare against AI crawlers add to the picture.

Others are opening the door: Meta has partnered with retailers such as Walmart, Gap, Sephora and Best Buy so that Muse can shop on their sites, and Shopify has opened its network of storefronts to AI agents.

What should e-commerce companies in Turkey do?

The source gives no Turkey-specific data, but as agent traffic grows every store will need a policy. Review your e-commerce infrastructure with that in mind:

• Track the share of agent-originated requests and blocked order attempts in your server logs and bot management tool.
• Decide whether you will accept agents, ask for a licence or block them entirely, and put that decision in a written policy.
• Test your checkout flow to see whether bot defences accidentally stop a real customer's agent.
• Keep product data (price, stock, delivery) machine-readable and consistent; whichever route you choose, agents can only pass on clean data accurately.