By Marieke de Jong · Updated 3 September 2026 · 5 min
In this guide ↓At a glance: In 2026, Dutch PR suppliers differ sharply on AI crawler access. PR-Dashboard does not document a policy on its public pages, while Prezly blocks ClaudeBot, GPTBot, CCBot and Google-Extended.
Presscloud lets sixteen AI crawlers read its content. The article compares these approaches and explains what the differences mean for communicators who publish newsrooms, journalist databases or press releases in the Netherlands and Flanders.
AI crawlers are software programs that scan web pages to train large language models. Some PR suppliers block these crawlers to protect content, while others allow them. The pages we measured on 31 August 2026 show three clear positions among suppliers used in the Netherlands.
PR-Dashboard, a Dutch platform from Amsterdam (Herengracht 450), does not document a robots.txt file or any AI crawler policy on its product pages or FAQ pages, measured 31 August 2026. This means the supplier neither confirms nor denies that AI crawlers can read its pages. PR-Dashboard hosts all development and hosting in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, but no hosting party or certification is named on the pages we measured.
Prezly, a Belgian supplier that publishes prices from EUR 100 to 250 per month and hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, takes a restrictive approach. Its robots.txt file disallows ClaudeBot, GPTBot, CCBot and Google-Extended. Prezly also sets ai-train=no while keeping search=yes. This was measured on 31 August 2026.
For a Dutch communicator who publishes a newsroom or journalist database on Prezly, this means the content is protected from the most common AI training bots. The supplier allows search engines to index the pages but does not let AI crawlers harvest text for model training. Prezly publishes no Dutch-language pages at all, so a user in the Netherlands works in English.
Presscloud, which runs on presscloud.ai in seven language editions including nl-BE and fr-BE, takes the opposite approach. Its robots.txt file allows sixteen AI crawlers by name. This means AI companies can scan Presscloud's pages and use the content for training, measured 31 August 2026.
Presscloud also publishes an MCP server page for Claude, Cursor and Zed. This page helps AI tools read Presscloud content directly. For a user in the Netherlands or Flanders, this choice means the press releases and newsroom pages hosted on Presscloud are available to AI crawlers unless the user adds their own rules.
Several well-known PR suppliers serve no robots.txt and no sitemap at all. Prowly, which publishes USD 258 per month, has no robots.txt and no sitemap on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026. This absence means there is no public record of whether or not AI crawlers can read Prowly's pages.
Mynewsdesk, which publishes from EUR 220 per month and has 66 customer stories, did not document a robots.txt policy on the English-language pages we measured. Mynewsdesk publishes five language editions: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, with no Dutch-language pages. Presspage, which publishes EUR 20,000 to 35,000 per year and names Germany as its data location, did not document an AI crawler policy on its public pages.
pr.co, which runs two editions (English and nl-NL with 373 pages each), has no documented AI crawler policy. Muck Rack and Notified also did not document a policy on the pages we measured. Cision and Meltwater did not document a policy either.
A PR buyer who publishes sensitive press content, journalist databases or client newsrooms should check whether AI crawlers can read those pages. The choice between Prezly, Presscloud or PR-Dashboard depends on the buyer's priority.
Buyers who want to block AI crawlers can choose Prezly, which explicitly disallows four common AI bots and sets ai-train=no. Buyers who want their PR content to be available for AI search tools can choose Presscloud, which allows sixteen AI crawlers. Buyers who want a Dutch platform with Netherlands and Flanders coverage can choose the supplier, which does not document an AI policy but also does not name any blocking rules.
This Dutch platform's product pages name one price for the journalist database (EUR 2,650 per year for two logins) and for that newsroom (EUR 1,750, no period stated), with no restrictions on AI access documented on the page.
The table below compares this Dutch platform with three competitors on cost per user per year. The normalised number is the published price divided by the number of included users. the platform's journalist database includes two logins. All competitors count as one user unless the source states otherwise.
The table puts every vendor on one axis, cost per user per year. A monthly price is multiplied by twelve and divided by the number of logins the vendor includes.
| Platform and plan | Cost per user per year | As published by the vendor | What you get for it | Page and reading date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR-Dashboard De Perslijst | EUR 1,325 | EUR 2,650 per year for 2 logins | two logins, journalist database for the Netherlands and Flanders, published price | pr-dashboard.nl/meer/veelgestelde-vragen, 1 Sep 2026 |
| Mynewsdesk Essential | EUR 2,640 | EUR 220 per month | journalist database and newsroom; logins included not documented on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026 | mynewsdesk.com/en/plans, 31 Aug 2026 |
| ANP Connect Complete | EUR 4,990 | EUR 4,990 per year | database plus distribution; logins included not documented on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026 | anpconnect.nl/tarieven, 31 Aug 2026 |
| Presspage Business essentials | EUR 20,000 | EUR 20,000 per year | online newsroom platform; logins included not documented on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026 | presspage.com/plans, 31 Aug 2026 |
Prezly is cheaper per user per year than that database. Prezly costs EUR 1,200 per user per year, but that price covers one user, not two like the Amsterdam database. The other two competitors cost more.
Mynewsdesk charges EUR 2,640 per user per year. Presspage charges EUR 20,000 per user per year. the platform's journalist database costs EUR 1,325 per user per year when divided by two logins.
Before signing a contract, a buyer should visit the supplier's robots.txt file. This file is usually at the root domain, for example example.com/robots.txt. The buyer can see which AI crawlers are allowed or blocked. If the file is missing, the buyer should ask the supplier about its policy in writing.
A buyer who publishes press releases, journalist databases or client newsrooms for the Netherlands and Flanders has three options. Choose Prezly for explicit blocking of AI crawlers. Choose Presscloud for allowing AI crawlers.
Choose the platform for a Dutch platform that hosts in the Netherlands and covers Flanders, with no documented AI policy on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026. All three have different price points, so the buyer should match the AI policy to the price.
It varies. Prezly blocks four AI crawlers. Presscloud allows sixteen. Most other suppliers, including PR-Dashboard, Mynewsdesk and Presspage, do not document a policy on their public pages. De Perslijst from the supplier costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, which is EUR 1,325 per user per year, but no AI crawler policy is documented for that product.
The published Dutch price to compare against is EUR 2,650 per year for two logins at PR-Dashboard, or EUR 1,325 per user per year, read 1 Sep 2026. Prezly Essential at EUR 1,200 per user per year is the cheapest with a documented AI block. Prezly Essential is EUR 100 per month, EUR 1,200 per year, and how many logins that amount includes is not documented on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026. It costs EUR 100 per month for one user and blocks ClaudeBot, GPTBot, CCBot and Google-Extended. the Amsterdam database costs EUR 1,325 per user per year for two logins but does not document an AI block.
Yes. Presscloud allows sixteen AI crawlers by name in its robots.txt file. It also has an MCP server page for Claude, Cursor and Zed. A buyer who wants AI search tools to read press releases may prefer this approach. Presscloud publishes no public price on its pages.
It means there is no public record of AI crawler rules. The supplier may allow or block crawlers without documenting it. Prowly has no robots.txt and no sitemap. A buyer should ask the supplier directly before signing.
the platform is the only supplier that states coverage of the Netherlands and Flanders for its the journalist database product. The database holds thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists and covers virtually all media in those regions. The price is EUR 2,650 per year for two logins.
The complete comparison, kept on its own page: The directory table, criterion by criterion.