Websites Block AI Agents, Testing Tech Firms' Automation Promises

Users of Meta's Muse, xAI's Grok, OpenAI's Dots and Instinct have reported blocks preventing their agents from performing tasks across top websites, The Verge reported. Yelp told TechCrunch that it only allows AI agents that pay for its data licensing program. Delta Air Lines is preventing agents from booking tickets on behalf of users. JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab confirmed that they are blocking AI agents from accessing accounts because of security concerns. Some users said sites that previously worked with their AI agents, including Cars.com and Amtrak, are no longer accessible, suggesting other companies could be quietly blocking them.

Amazon had already moved against AI agents last year when it banned Perplexity's agentic shopping feature and sued the AI startup, raising legal and practical questions about how agents can operate on the web. Amazon said it had repeatedly asked Perplexity to stop allowing its agents to shop on its website and said third-party companies that buy items for customers should operate openly and respect service providers' decisions on whether to participate. Perplexity said Amazon does not want AI agents on its platform because it would mean fewer human viewers for its ads, and the startup argued that Amazon does not accept a user's right to have an assistant act on their behalf. A judge later ordered Perplexity to stop its AI agents from shopping on Amazon's website, but an appeals court overturned that ruling in August. Amazon has since filed an amended complaint.

The legal fight has not stopped OpenAI, Meta and Google from releasing agents, and they are encountering similar problems. Meta's Muse faced resistance from Amazon, which said its continued access violates site policies. There have also been reports that xAI's Grok, Instinct's AI agent and OpenAI's Dots were unable to use Amazon. xAI owner Elon Musk responded by saying he maybe should start a competitor to Amazon.

Chris Canal, chief executive of AI safety evaluator EquiStamp, told The Verge that the blocks could affect how useful the agents appear. "One of the claims is that they're going to permeate every aspect of our lives and be able to do anything that we could do online," Canal said. "If there are companies that are actively working to make that not happen, there are just fewer useful things the agents can do."

Meta responded to instances of websites blocking Muse in a post earlier this month. "Turning away a personal agent means turning away the customer behind it," the company said. "We'd rather work with businesses to address the underlying concerns than see them lose that customer." Rather than fight Amazon, Meta has partnered with retailers including Walmart, Gap, Sephora and Best Buy to let Muse shop on their sites. Shopify has also opened its network of storefronts to AI agents.

The Verge contacted OpenAI and Google for comment on the roadblocks facing their AI agents but did not immediately hear back. Instinct declined to comment.

Websites do not need to ban AI agents outright for the agents to run into trouble. Anti-bot systems, which are common across the web, can also block them. Reports on Reddit suggest Google is blocking some accounts that use Muse because of "suspicious activity," while other users have reported problems checking out on Walmart despite its Meta partnership. Canal said such systems are set up to block general bots or programs that try to scam or hack, and AI agents trigger the same safeguards.

Cloudflare, which provides web architecture services, has also helped sites clamp down on unwanted AI visitors. After introducing a one-click block for AI crawlers in 2025, Cloudflare began blocking crawlers that simultaneously scrape websites for both search indexing and AI training.

Editor's Summary

Websites including Yelp, Delta, JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab are restricting AI agents from booking, shopping and accessing accounts, forcing OpenAI, Meta, Google and others to adapt. Amazon's dispute with Perplexity has become a legal test, while Meta has turned to retail partnerships and anti-bot systems continue to block agents.