# How to get cited by Mistral Vibe

> Mistral's assistant used to be called Le Chat. Since May 2026 it is Vibe. Here is how it finds web pages, which of Mistral's crawlers to allow, and what makes a page worth citing.

Updated September 29, 2026 · AI Syndicate team · https://www.aisyndicate.com/blog/how-to-get-cited-by-mistral/

**Quick answer:** **Mistral Vibe**, formerly **Le Chat**, answers from its own training plus web search, news and other sources, and it shows citations. Mistral runs three crawlers. To be cited, allow **MistralAI-User** and **MistralAI-Index** in robots.txt. You can block **MistralAI-Training** on its own. Then write pages whose answers hold up when quoted alone.

## Is Le Chat still called Le Chat?

No. On May 28, 2026, Mistral wrote: "Le Chat is now Vibe—one agent and one licence across work and code, with every conversation, setting, and plan carried over." It still lives at chat.mistral.ai. [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/vibe-agent/)

Vibe has modes for work, code and chat. Mistral says the old turn-based chat mode will be retired, with past conversations kept. For a business, the name change matters less than what stayed the same: the assistant searches the web and cites what it finds.

Many people still call it Le Chat, so this guide uses both names.

## Where does Mistral's assistant get its answers?

Mistral added "web search with citations" to Le Chat in November 2024. [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/mistral-chat/) In January 2025 it signed a deal with the news agency AFP, and said Le Chat "will now have access to AFP's newswire stories": 2,300 stories a day in six languages. [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/mistral-afp/)

When it launched its phone apps in February 2025, Mistral described the mix this way: its models' own knowledge plus "recent information balanced across web search, robust journalism, social media, and multiple other sources," with "detailed citations." [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/all-new-le-chat/)

So there are two ways a business shows up:

- **From what the model already learned.** Facts about you that were widely published before training.
- **From a live search.** A page Mistral finds and reads while answering, which can appear as a cited link.

The second one is the one you can influence this month. Mistral hasn't said which search provider it uses or how it picks sources, so the steps below stick to what Mistral does publish: its crawlers.

## Which Mistral crawlers should I allow in robots.txt?

Mistral lists three crawlers on its robots page, each with its own job: [Mistral Docs](https://docs.mistral.ai/robots)

| Crawler | What Mistral says it does | Allow it to be cited? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `MistralAI-User` | When users ask Vibe a question, "it may visit a web page to help answer" | Yes |
| `MistralAI-Index` | Crawls "for indexing purposes only" and "indexes content for Mistral search" | Yes |
| `MistralAI-Training` | Crawls to "build datasets for training Mistral generative AI models" | Your choice |

Mistral says the first two are not used for AI training. That split is useful: **you can block training without blocking citations.** Disallow `MistralAI-Training` if you don't want your pages used to train Mistral's models, and keep the other two allowed.

> **Check your firewall too.** A robots.txt that allows Mistral does nothing if a CDN or bot-protection setting blocks unknown crawlers before they reach your page. Many sites block AI crawlers without knowing it.

## How do I write pages Mistral will cite?

A cited page has to answer the question better than the other pages found in the same search. These habits help with Mistral and every other assistant:

1. **Answer first.** Put the direct answer in the first sentence under each heading.
2. **Make facts stand alone.** *"We install heat pumps in Lyon and Villeurbanne"* still makes sense when it's quoted without the rest of the page.
3. **Keep text in the HTML.** Pages that only show content after JavaScript runs are harder for any crawler to read.
4. **Date what changes.** Prices, hours and offers should say when they were last checked.
5. **Publish in your customers' language.** Mistral is a French company and AFP's feed covers six languages. If you serve customers in French, German or Spanish, a page in their language gives Vibe a page to cite in that language.
6. **Keep one set of facts.** Your site, listings and profiles should agree on your name, address, services and prices.

## What should be on my Mistral checklist?

| Check | Done when | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `MistralAI-User` allowed | robots.txt doesn't disallow it | Mistral Docs |
| `MistralAI-Index` allowed | robots.txt doesn't disallow it | Mistral Docs |
| Training choice made | `MistralAI-Training` allowed or disallowed on purpose | Mistral Docs |
| Firewall reviewed | Bot protection doesn't block Mistral's crawlers | Our advice |
| Text in the page source | Key facts are readable without JavaScript | Our advice |
| Answers come first | The first sentence under each heading answers it | Our advice |
| Pages in customers' languages | Main service pages exist in each language you sell in | Our advice |
| Facts match everywhere | Site, listings and profiles say the same thing | Our advice |

## How do I check whether Mistral cites me?

Ask Vibe the questions your customers ask, at chat.mistral.ai, and open the cited sources. Note whether it links your site, a directory, or a competitor, and try the same question in each language you serve.

To check many questions at once, our [Prompt Simulator](/prompt-simulator/) runs one question across 12 engines, Mistral included, and highlights where you're cited. Clicks from a cited link can show up in your analytics as a referral from Mistral. [How to track AI search traffic](/blog/track-ai-search-traffic/) covers the setup.

## FAQ

### What is Mistral Vibe?

It is the new name for Le Chat, Mistral's AI assistant. Mistral renamed it on May 28, 2026, and it still runs at chat.mistral.ai with past conversations carried over. [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/vibe-agent/)

### Does Le Chat cite its sources?

Yes. Mistral launched web search with citations in November 2024 and describes its answers as coming with detailed citations. [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/mistral-chat/) [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/all-new-le-chat/)

### Can I block Mistral from training on my site but still be cited?

Yes. Mistral uses a separate crawler, MistralAI-Training, for training data. Disallow that one in robots.txt and keep MistralAI-User and MistralAI-Index allowed. Mistral says those two are not used for training. [Mistral Docs](https://docs.mistral.ai/robots)

### Which search engine does Mistral use?

Mistral hasn't said on its own pages. It describes answers as drawing on web search, journalism such as AFP's newswire, social media and other sources, and it runs its own index crawler, MistralAI-Index. [Mistral](https://mistral.ai/news/all-new-le-chat/) [Mistral Docs](https://docs.mistral.ai/robots)

## Sources

1. [Vibe gets to work.](https://mistral.ai/news/vibe-agent/) — Mistral. Read Sep 29, 2026.
2. [Mistral crawlers](https://docs.mistral.ai/robots) — Mistral Docs. Read Sep 29, 2026.
3. [Mistral has entered the chat](https://mistral.ai/news/mistral-chat/) — Mistral. Read Sep 29, 2026.
4. [Purr-fectly informed](https://mistral.ai/news/mistral-afp/) — Mistral. Read Sep 29, 2026.
5. [The all new le Chat: Your AI assistant for life and work](https://mistral.ai/news/all-new-le-chat/) — Mistral. Read Sep 29, 2026.