AI crawler rules compared across newsroom suppliers in 2026: what a Dutch press page allows

Reporting by Koos Reinders · Amended 30 August 2026 · 7 minute read

What do AI crawler rules mean for a Dutch online newsroom in 2026?

An AI crawler is a program that reads web pages to collect data for training artificial intelligence models. When a newsroom platform places rules in a file called robots.txt, it tells these crawlers which pages they may or may not read. For a Dutch PR team, this matters because press releases published on a newsroom site become part of the public web.

If a platform blocks AI crawlers, those press releases stay out of training data for models like ChatGPT or Claude. If a platform allows crawlers, the content may be used to improve AI systems without your permission.

PR-Dashboard, a Dutch platform based in Amsterdam at Herengracht 450, offers four products that work independently. One of them is PR-Newsroom, an online newsroom on the customer's own domain. The product pages for PR-Newsroom, read 1 September 2026, do not document any AI crawler rules in a robots.txt file.

This means there is no information available on whether the hosted newsroom blocks or allows AI crawlers on the pages we measured. The other products, that database (journalist database and sending system), the inquiry desk (handling incoming press questions) and the training programme (offline knowledge sessions), also do not document AI crawler rules on those pages.

Which newsroom suppliers publish AI crawler rules in 2026?

Among the newsroom suppliers that operate in the Netherlands and Flanders, only a few publish clear AI crawler rules. Prezly, a Belgian company, sets a robots.txt file that disallows ClaudeBot, GPTBot, CCBot and Google-Extended. It also sets ai-train=no while keeping search=yes.

This means Prezly allows search engines to index its pages but tells AI crawlers to stay out. The rules were measured on the Prezly robots.txt page on 31 August 2026.

Presscloud, a Dutch supplier that runs on presscloud.ai, takes a different approach. Its robots.txt file, measured on 31 August 2026, allows sixteen AI crawlers by name. Presscloud publishes seven language editions including nl-BE and fr-BE, and has an MCP server page for Claude, Cursor and Zed.

Presscloud also publishes a monthly price starting from EUR 220 per month, though the number of users included is not documented on the pages we measured. The company does not state a euro price on its site, only a monthly amount.

Prowly, based in the US, serves no robots.txt file and no sitemap at all. This was measured on the Prowly domain on 31 August 2026. Without a robots.txt file, AI crawlers can access any page by default. Prowly publishes USD 258 per month, with no euro price stated on the pages we measured.

What does a newsroom platform cost per month for a Dutch team in 2026?

The supplier's newsroom product starts at EUR 1,750, though the product page does not state a period. The page, read 1 September 2026, lists this amount without saying whether it is per month or per year. For comparison, Prezly publishes prices from EUR 100 to 250 per month, measured on the Prezly pricing page on 31 August 2026.

Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 to 35,000 per year, measured on the Presspage plans page on 31 August 2026. Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month, measured on the Mynewsdesk plans page on 31 August 2026. Prowly publishes USD 258 per month, measured on the Prowly pricing page on 31 August 2026.

The table below compares cost per user per year for suppliers that publish a price. The normalised number divides a monthly price by twelve and then by the number of users included. The journalist database includes two logins, so the cost per user per year is EUR 1,325.

For suppliers that do not state how many users a price includes, the table counts one user by default, which is the safe reading that favours the other supplier.

Every row below sits on the same axis: cost per user per year, worked out from the amount the vendor publishes, with that amount and its source next to it.

5 columns. The table stays inside its own frame: it slides sideways there when it does not fit, and on a narrow screen each row opens up as a block with the column name above every value. The page itself never moves.

How do AI crawler rules affect hosting location for Dutch newsrooms?

The supplier states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers. The source is the FAQ page on pr-dashboard.nl, read 1 September 2026. No hosting party, region or certification is named on that page. This Dutch platform does not document whether its hosting location affects AI crawler access, because the robots.txt file is not documented on the pages we measured.

Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, Ireland. This is documented on the Prezly pricing page, read 31 August 2026. Prezly's robots.txt blocks four AI crawlers, which means content hosted on AWS in Dublin is protected from those crawlers.

Presscloud does not document its hosting location on the pages we measured on 31 August 2026, but its robots.txt allows sixteen AI crawlers. The hosting location does not change the crawler rules, but it does affect data protection laws that apply to the content.

Which integrations work with newsroom platforms that have AI crawler rules?

The Amsterdam supplier offers single sign-on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, plus a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep. The source is the product page on pr-dashboard.nl, read 1 September 2026. These integrations work with that database, the newsroom product and the press-question module.

The product pages do not document whether the integrations affect AI crawler access to the newsroom content.

Prezly does not document integrations with Dutch media monitoring tools on the pages we measured. Presscloud publishes an MCP server page for Claude, Cursor and Zed, which suggests the platform is designed to work with AI tools. This fits with Presscloud's robots.txt that allows sixteen AI crawlers by name. The MCP server page was measured on the Presscloud domain on 31 August 2026.

How to choose a newsroom platform based on AI crawler rules in 2026?

Choose a platform based on what you want to happen with your press releases. If you want to stop AI models from training on your content, pick a supplier that blocks AI crawlers in its robots.txt file. Prezly blocks four crawlers and sets ai-train=no.

If you want your press releases to be accessible to AI tools, pick a supplier that allows AI crawlers, like Presscloud which allows sixteen by name. If you want no specific rules, Prowly has no robots.txt file at all, which means all crawlers are allowed by default.

The supplier's newsroom product does not document any AI crawler rules on the pages we measured on 31 August 2026. This means you cannot know from the published information whether your newsroom content will be used for AI training. The product pages for the hosted newsroom, read 1 September 2026, do not mention robots.txt or AI crawler settings.

For a Dutch team that wants certainty, this is a gap in the information. The platform does offer a Dutch and Flemish journalist database, development and hosting in the Netherlands, and integrations with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep.

What to check before you sign up for a newsroom platform in 2026?

Before you sign up, check the robots.txt file of the supplier yourself. Type the domain name followed by /robots.txt into your browser. Look for lines that start with Disallow followed by a bot name like GPTBot or ClaudeBot.

If you see no robots.txt file, all crawlers are allowed by default. If you see a blank robots.txt file, the same applies. If you see specific crawler names, you know which ones are blocked or allowed.

Check the hosting location as well. the platform states its hosting is in the Netherlands, though no specific hosting party is named. Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin.

Presspage names Germany as its data location. Mynewsdesk publishes no hosting location on the pages we measured. The hosting location affects data protection laws but not the AI crawler rules, which are set in the robots.txt file regardless of where the server is located.

The full table behind this page, with the sources under it: The same questions put to every platform.