TDM opt-out (TDMRep)
A TDM opt-out is a machine-readable declaration that your content may not be used for text and data mining or the training of AI models. TDMRep is the format for it — it protects against training but does not prevent reading and citation by AI answer systems.
A TDM opt-out (text and data mining opt-out) is a usage reservation in machine-readable form. With it you declare unambiguously that your website content may not be used for the automated analysis of large amounts of data — in particular for the training of AI models. TDMRep is the standardised format in which this reservation is stored, so machines reliably recognise it.
The distinction matters: a TDM opt-out protects against training, meaning against your content permanently flowing into an AI model. It does not, however, prevent an AI answer system from reading and citing your page at the moment of a question. This distinction is decisive — because as a rule you do want to be cited, but you would rather not be absorbed into training.
For you this means keeping sovereignty over your content. You decide what it may be used for — and you make that decision technically enforceable, instead of leaving it to a legal text alone.
The right order matters: first decide what may happen with your content, then store the reservation in machine-readable form — that way your site stays citable without your text flowing into AI models unasked.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions.
Can my website appear in AI answers without AI models being trained on it?
Yes — visibility in AI answers and AI training are two separate processes you can control separately. AI search reads your site live while answering a question; training, by contrast, permanently bakes content into models. With machine-readable usage reservations like TDMRep you allow the former and forbid the latter.
What does GEO get me — why should my website be cited by AI?
When more and more people get their answers straight from ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI, whether you get found is no longer decided by your Google ranking alone — but by whether the AI names you as a source. That is exactly what GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) does: it prepares your content so AI systems read it correctly, understand it and cite it in their answers. The benefit is concrete: you get recommended when a potential customer asks the AI for a provider like you — with clear, independently readable statements, structured data and machine-readable formats. If you're not visible here, you simply don't exist for this growing group of searchers.