United Airlines’ website terms , updated Nov. 11, allow search engines to index its public pages. However, any AI agent that searches, books, or makes purchases on united.com or in its app needs written permission. The terms also bar anyone from using fares, schedules, availability, pricing or other data from United’s site or app to “train, fine-tune, ground, evaluate, or otherwise develop” an AI model.

The changes came with United’s announcement that it is restricting unauthorized third-party AI agents on its own platforms and through travel agencies and booking sites. The airline updated its contract of carriage (the passenger agreement that comes with buying a ticket) on the same day.

For those on SEO and ecommerce teams who have created their own rules for AI agents, the airline’s rules are an example of what a big company has done. The rules for the AI agents can be found in both the terms and conditions and the contract. As of Nov.…