Geppetto Has More Robots Than IEEE's Robots Guide. Here's Why That Matters.
If you've ever searched for a specific robot online and ended up on robotsguide.com, you already know the experience: great photography, solid specs, and then — no price, no place to buy it, no way to compare it against alternatives. The IEEE Robots Guide is a genuinely excellent resource for what it is. The problem is what it isn't: a tool for people who want to find, compare, and buy robots.
That's the gap Geppetto was built to fill.
The Numbers
The IEEE Robots Guide has been running in some form since 2006. It features approximately 265 robots, hand-selected by an editorial committee that includes robotics professors, IEEE Spectrum staff, and members of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. Every robot in their catalog is there because an expert decided it deserved to be.
Geppetto launched in March 2026 with over 450 robots across 30 categories, with new records added daily by RoboScout — the site's automated discovery agent. By the time you read this, that number is higher.
| Geppetto | IEEE Robots Guide | |
|---|---|---|
| Robot catalog size | 450+ at launch, growing daily | ~265, manually curated |
| Categories | 30 (consumer-aligned) | 18 (engineering-aligned) |
| Pricing data | ✓ Amazon PA-API verified | ✗ None |
| Where to buy | ✓ Affiliate links + brand-direct | ✗ None |
| Comparison pages | ✓ Programmatic /compare/ | ✗ None |
| AI engine citability | ✓ All 14 crawlers allowed | ✗ Blocked by ToS |
| Jobs / labour data | ✓ Jobs Index | ✗ None |
| Updated | Daily (RoboScout) | Editorial schedule |
Sources: robotsguide.com/robots; Geppetto catalog — March 2026
Why IEEE Stops at 265
The IEEE editorial model is deliberately selective. Their stated goal is to feature "hundreds of the world's most advanced and influential robots" — a curatorial standard that filters for prestige and historical significance, not market completeness.
That produces a catalog where you'll find Boston Dynamics' original hydraulic Atlas (retired in 2024) alongside the current electric version, where Roomba appears as a category representative rather than as thirty distinct models across five years of releases, and where the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra — one of the most purchased robots in the world right now — does not appear at all.
There's nothing wrong with that approach for an educational archive. But if you're trying to decide which robot vacuum to buy, which cobot fits your production line, or whether the Unitree G1 or G1 Pro better suits your research budget, the IEEE catalog cannot help you.
What 30 Categories vs 18 Actually Means
IEEE's 18 categories are organised around engineering disciplines: aerospace robots, agricultural robots, disaster response, entertainment, and so on. These map cleanly to how roboticists think about the field.
Geppetto's 30 categories are organised around how buyers think about robots:
- Cleaning — not just "consumer robots," but the specific category you search when your floors need vacuuming
- Lawn — not buried inside "outdoor robots," but its own category with wire-free vs perimeter wire as a primary filter
- Security — separated from companion robots because the buying decision is completely different
- Industrial-lite — cobots and entry-level automation for small businesses, a category IEEE doesn't recognise at all
The practical result: when someone searches "best robot for my warehouse" or "robot lawn mower without boundary wire," Geppetto has a category page built for that query. IEEE has an engineering taxonomy that doesn't map to it.
The AI Citability Gap
This is the least visible difference and arguably the most consequential one for how people will discover robots in 2026 and beyond.
IEEE's Terms of Use explicitly prohibit AI engines from using their content: you may not use any portion of the site in connection with the development of any software program, app, model, or algorithm — including AI, generative AI, or large language models. This applies regardless of what their robots.txt file says.
The practical consequence: when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude about robots — what robots exist, which one to buy, how robots compare — those AI engines cannot legally cite IEEE's content. They will cite whatever structured, AI-accessible source answers the question best.
Geppetto's robots.txt explicitly allows all 14 major AI crawlers. Every robot listing has JSON-LD Product schema. Every blog post has a Quick Answer block written to be quoted directly. Every category page has a structured description designed for AI citation.
IEEE has better domain authority built over 18 years. Geppetto has better AI citability built from day one. In 2026, the second advantage is growing faster than the first. What is a robot? →
What Geppetto Covers That IEEE Doesn't
The catalog gap isn't just about numbers — it's about coverage philosophy.
Pricing and purchase paths. Every robot listing on Geppetto includes verified pricing from Amazon's PA-API or a direct brand link, and a clear CTA — buy on Amazon, go to brand site, or request pricing for B2B products. IEEE has none of this. A visitor who arrives at IEEE wanting to buy a robot leaves with no path to do so.
Comparison pages. Geppetto generates programmatic comparison pages for every robot pair in the database — `/compare/roborock-s8-maxv-ultra-vs-dreame-x40-ultra`, for example. IEEE has a "face-off" feature that lets you vote for which robot looks cooler. These are not the same thing.
The Jobs Index. Geppetto's Robot Jobs Index tracks which professions robots are displacing, scored using O*NET, IFR, Oxford, and OECD data. IEEE covers labour displacement as reactive journalism. Geppetto covers it as a structured, always-on data product that researchers, journalists, and policymakers can cite.
Consumer categories that don't exist on IEEE. Pool cleaning robots, window washing robots, pet care robots, elderly care robots — these are real products people buy. They don't appear as dedicated categories on IEEE because the site isn't built for buyers.
The One Thing IEEE Does Better
Domain authority. Eighteen years of institutional backlinks from universities, research papers, and engineering publications give robotsguide.com a head start on traditional search rankings that Geppetto will take time to close.
That gap matters less than it used to. Google's Helpful Content updates reward sites that comprehensively serve specific user needs — and for the query "which robot vacuum should I buy" or "how do I compare cobots for my factory," Geppetto's depth beats IEEE's prestige. AI-driven search, where IEEE has surrendered the field entirely, is growing faster than traditional search in robotics queries.
The trajectory favors comprehensiveness over curation. Geppetto is built for the trajectory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Geppetto the same as the IEEE Robots Guide?
No. The IEEE Robots Guide (robotsguide.com) is an educational archive of approximately 265 historically significant robots, operated by IEEE Spectrum. It has no pricing, no purchase links, and no buyer tools. Geppetto is a consumer-facing robot directory and comparison platform with 450+ robots at launch, verified pricing, affiliate links, comparison pages, and the Robot Jobs Index. The audiences and purposes are different.
Why does Geppetto have more robots than IEEE?
Geppetto uses a programmatic approach — RoboScout discovers new robots from manufacturer newsrooms, press releases, and retail channels daily. IEEE uses a manual editorial process with a steering committee that selects robots based on historical significance and engineering innovation. Geppetto is optimised for market completeness; IEEE is optimised for editorial quality.
Does IEEE have pricing or buy links for robots?
No. IEEE's mission is educational — to help people learn about robotics, not to facilitate purchases. robotsguide.com has no pricing data, no affiliate links, and no way to find where to buy a robot.
Can AI engines use IEEE's robot data?
IEEE's Terms of Use explicitly prohibit use of their content in AI training or AI-generated outputs. Geppetto's robots.txt allows all 14 major AI crawlers by name, and every listing and article is structured specifically for AI citability.
How often does Geppetto add new robots?
RoboScout — Geppetto's automated discovery agent — processes manufacturer newsrooms, press releases, and retail channels daily. New robots are added as drafts for human review; verified records go live after editorial approval.
Data sources: robotsguide.com/robots (March 2026); Geppetto catalog data (March 2026); IEEE Terms of Use. Last updated: March 2026.