Cloudflare and GoDaddy have announced a strategic partnership aimed at giving website owners greater control over how artificial intelligence systems access and use online content, as the internet rapidly evolves into an AI-driven ecosystem.
The collaboration seeks to address growing concerns over unchecked AI crawler activity and the lack of transparency around automated agents interacting with websites.
Tackling the rise of AI-driven web traffic
As the internet shifts from a human-centric model to one increasingly powered by AI agents, both companies say the absence of clear standards risks exposing website owners—particularly small businesses and content creators—to unregulated and potentially harmful bot traffic.
To address this, GoDaddy will integrate Cloudflare’s AI Crawl Control into its hosting platform, enabling users to monitor and manage how AI-powered crawlers interact with their sites.
This includes the ability to allow, block, or set conditions—such as payment requirements—for AI systems seeking to access website content.
Introducing identity for AI agents
Beyond controlling access, the partnership is also focused on solving a deeper challenge: identifying who or what is behind AI-driven interactions online.
GoDaddy is promoting a new open standard known as Agent Name Service (ANS), designed to provide consistent naming, verification, and discovery for AI agents using established technologies like DNS and public key infrastructure.
The system aims to help website owners distinguish between legitimate AI tools and potentially malicious or impersonating bots.
Cloudflare is supporting this initiative alongside its own tools, including Web Bot Auth, which uses cryptography to verify bot identities, and a Signature Agent Card that allows developers to clearly disclose an agent’s purpose and ownership.
Building a trusted “agentic” web
The partnership is positioned as a step toward building a more transparent and secure “agentic web,” where AI systems can interact, transact, and operate with verified identities.
According to Stephanie Cohen, Chief Strategy Officer at Cloudflare, the goal is to equip creators with the tools needed to manage AI interactions while enabling legitimate agents to operate transparently.
GoDaddy’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jared Sine, said the collaboration would help customers adapt to an AI-first internet by providing clearer visibility and control over digital interactions.
Implications for the future of online business
Industry analysts say the move reflects a broader shift in how value is created and protected online, as AI-generated answers begin to replace traditional search-driven traffic models.
By combining access controls with verifiable agent identity, Cloudflare and GoDaddy are attempting to lay the groundwork for a more balanced digital economy—one where content creators can retain control and potentially monetise how their data is used by AI systems.
As AI continues to reshape the internet, the success of such frameworks may determine whether the next phase of the web remains open, secure, and economically sustainable.
