{"id":28,"slug":"ai-crawlers-do-not-execute-js","title":"AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) generally do not execute JavaScript — client-side React/Vue without SSR is invisible","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","dev","candid-team"],"topics":["ai-citation","core-web-vitals","nextjs"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Multiple measurement sources confirm: AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript at scale.\n\n- OtterlyAI 1M-citation study: 73% of audited sites blocked AI crawlers via robots.txt or JS-only rendering\n- Cloudflare crawler logs (Jan-July 2025): GPTBot / ClaudeBot / PerplexityBot fetched raw HTML; no JS execution observed\n\n**Sources:** <https://otterly.ai/blog/the-ai-citations-report-2026/>; <https://ekamoira.com/blog/ai-citations-llm-sources>\n\n**Confidence:** Industry-consensus.\n\n**Implication for Candid stack choices:** Client-side React/Vue/Angular without server-side rendering is **invisible** to AI engines. Static generation (Next.js App Router export, Astro, Hugo) or true SSR is a prerequisite. The Candid Creative marketing site is server-rendered Next.js — it satisfies this constraint by design. KW SMB clients on Wix-default or single-page-app sites do not. See [[rule-server-render-for-ai-crawlers]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"otterly-third-party-citations-2026","title":"OtterlyAI (Sept 2025): community platforms (Reddit, Quora) capture 52.5% of AI citations vs 47.5% brand domains","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-server-render-for-ai-crawlers","title":"RULE: Always server-render or statically generate content for AI crawlers. Never ship client-side-only HTML.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"astro-vs-nextjs-40pct-faster-90pct-less-js","title":"Astro vs Next.js (eastondev benchmark, Dec 2025): ~40% faster, ~90% less JS for static content","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"astro-cloudflare-pages-zero-cost-vs-nextjs","title":"Astro on Cloudflare Pages: ~$0/month vs Next.js SSR ~$20-200/month (Bobes 2026 benchmark)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"page-builder-cost-catalogue","title":"Reference: what page builders cost a small-business site — 10 categories ranked by long-term impact","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-prefer-headless-astro-for-content-heavy-seo-critical-clients","title":"RULE: For content-heavy SEO/AI-critical clients (~$10k+ budget), default proposal is headless WordPress + Astro on Cloudflare Pages","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T18:57:39.585Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T18:57:39.585Z"}