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Embedly

Embedly link preview service (operated by Medium) that fetches metadata and embeds for URLs.
EmbedlyEmbedly
Preview

What is Embedly?

Embedly fetches a URL on behalf of a site or application using its embedding services. Its backend retrieves information about the address, checks malware registries, and validates the result before returning material that the customer can place in an embed or card.

The amount fetched depends on the Embedly product. The basic Embed API follows oEmbed and returns embeddable content, while the Extract API can retrieve article text and images. Embedly also operates an image proxy and resizing service, so an origin may see requests for a page, an image, or both.

These requests support a customer's presentation of third-party web content. The documentation does not assign this bot an AI search index or foundation-model training job. An Embedly fetch may lead to content appearing in a customer's app, but it is not evidence that an AI assistant will cite the source.

The recorded user agent is Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Embedly/0.2; +http://support.embed.ly/), and Embedly is the stable token. The bot metadata leaves robots.txt support unknown, while Cloudflare's bot directory marks it as not following the file. Neither a verified IP status nor a signature-agent URL is present.

Indirectly relevant

Is Embedly relevant for AI search?

Indirectly. Embedly has no AI product of its own, but its output can end up in the systems that AI answers draw on.

Embedly fetches pages to build link-preview cards. It does not feed an AI index, but it reads the same Open Graph and structured metadata that AI systems parse to understand your pages, so clean preview metadata doubles as AI-friendly metadata.

How to handle Embedly

Allow Embedly to retrieve public pages and assets when your publishing stack, or a known partner, depends on its embeds. Expect that Extract can request more than a title and thumbnail. Keep paid or private content behind authentication rather than assuming a metadata-only fetch.

The stable token can be used to express a site preference:

User-agent: Embedly
Disallow: /

Cloudflare's bot directory records followsRobotsTxt as false, so this is not a reliable access control. Use a firewall or application response if Embedly must be denied, then check any dependent embeds for missing content.

Examples

  • A CMS submits a video URL to Embedly's oEmbed service and the source site sees the recorded Embedly user agent retrieving information for the embed.
  • An application calls the Extract API for a public article, producing requests for the article page and an image referenced in the extracted result.

Frequently asked questions about Embedly

Learn about AI visibility monitoring and how Promptwatch helps your brand succeed in AI search.

A developer or publishing service may have submitted the URL to an Embedly API to create an embed, extract page material, or proxy an image.

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