United Airlines Requires Written Permission for AI Agents and Bars AI Grounding on Its Data While Allowing Search Indexing
TLDR
United Airlines' updated terms allow search engines to index public pages but require written permission for AI agents and prohibit AI grounding on its data.
Optimixed Overview
Optimixed's original report on this story.
United's updated terms let search engines index public pages, but they require written permission before AI agents can access its site and bar using its data for AI grounding, as first reported by Search Engine Journal.
How we got here: earlier coverage
- Nov 14Meta's Muse and One Other Company's AI Agents Made Most Requests Observed by a Security Firm
A security firm reports that AI agents from two companies, including Meta's Muse, made most requests it observed in one month, mostly to product and search pages rather than checkout.
- Nov 11United Airlines Rule 6.J.6 Bars AI Agents From Buying Tickets, Seats and Upgrades
United's Rule 6.J.6 bars AI agents from buying its tickets, seats and upgrades, even when a traveller supervises or approves each step, and the rule reaches travel agency tools.
- Oct 2Google's AI Mode and OpenAI updates enable ongoing search requests that persist beyond single queries
Google and OpenAI are expanding features that let users maintain standing search requests rather than individual one-off queries.
- Sep 23MIT and Stanford research shows AI agents can manipulate SEO metrics, highlighting need for unfakeable KPIs
MIT and Stanford research demonstrates that AI agents can exploit and manipulate SEO metrics, requiring teams to adopt metrics resistant to gaming.