Is your site visible to AI search engines?

A robots.txt file is a simple text file that sits at the root of your website (example.com/robots.txt) and tells search engines and AI crawlers which parts of your site they can and cannot access.

Think of it as a security guard for your website - it doesn't physically block access, but legitimate crawlers like Google, ChatGPT, and Claude respect its rules. You use it to prevent crawlers from accessing admin pages, overloading your server, or indexing duplicate content.

While not mandatory, having a well-configured robots.txt helps you control how your site appears in search results and AI responses, making it an essential SEO tool.

No, it's not necessarily bad! When you don't have a robots.txt file, search engines and AI crawlers assume they can access your entire website, which is often exactly what you want.

However, you miss out on some benefits: you can't specify your sitemap location (helping crawlers find all your pages faster), you can't prevent crawling of duplicate content or resource-heavy pages, and you can't block bad bots that ignore robots.txt anyway.

For most small to medium websites, having no robots.txt is better than having one with errors that accidentally blocks important crawlers.

These files serve opposite but complementary purposes:

• robots.txt tells crawlers what NOT to access - it's like a 'Do Not Enter' sign

• sitemap.xml tells crawlers what TO crawl - it's like a map of your website

Your robots.txt should reference your sitemap with a line like 'Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml'. This helps crawlers immediately find your sitemap and discover all your important pages, leading to faster and more complete indexing.

Yes, legitimate AI crawlers follow robots.txt rules just like traditional search engines. However, they use different user-agent names:

• Google uses 'Googlebot'

• ChatGPT uses 'GPTBot' (training), 'ChatGPT-User' (browsing), and 'OAI-SearchBot' (search)

• Claude uses 'Claude-Web'

• Perplexity uses 'PerplexityBot'

This means you need to specifically allow or block each AI crawler by name. Many websites accidentally block AI crawlers because they don't know these user-agent names or use outdated robots.txt templates.

This usually happens because of the wildcard character (*) combined with 'Disallow: /'. This deadly combination blocks every crawler from accessing any part of your site:

User-agent: * Disallow: /

To fix this, be specific about what you want to block. For example, to only block bad bots, list them individually. To block only certain directories, specify the paths. Never use 'Disallow: /' with 'User-agent: *' unless you truly want to hide your entire site from the internet.

Every website has unique needs, and copying another site's robots.txt can cause serious problems:

• Path-specific blocks: They might block '/shop/' but your store is at '/store/'

• Outdated crawler names: Old robots.txt files might not include new AI crawlers

• Site-specific folders: Their admin area might be different from yours

• Development remnants: They might have test server blocks you don't need

Always create a robots.txt specific to your site structure and needs. Start simple and only add restrictions you truly understand and need.

CMS platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and Wix often generate default robots.txt files that might not be optimal:

• WordPress: Often blocks /wp-admin/ but might also block important Ajax endpoints

• Shopify: May block search and filter pages that could have SEO value

• Development mode: Some CMS platforms block all crawlers during development and forget to remove it

Always review your CMS-generated robots.txt and ensure it's not blocking AI crawlers (which older CMS versions don't know about) or important parts of your site. Our tool helps identify these issues instantly.

This depends on your business goals, but here's what to consider:

Reasons to ALLOW AI crawlers:

• Get recommended when users ask AI for suggestions in your industry

• Build future traffic as AI search becomes more popular

• Stay competitive (your competitors likely allow them)

Reasons to BLOCK AI crawlers:

• You have proprietary content you don't want in AI training data

• Legal or compliance requirements

• You prefer human-only traffic

Most businesses benefit from allowing AI crawlers, as AI-driven discovery is becoming a major traffic source.

The most important AI crawlers to consider are:

• GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI/ChatGPT)

• Claude-Web (Anthropic/Claude)

• PerplexityBot (Perplexity AI)

• Meta-ExternalAgent (Meta AI)

• Applebot-Extended (Apple Intelligence)

• Google-Extended (Google AI features)

These crawlers power AI search features that millions use daily. Blocking them means missing out on AI-driven traffic and recommendations. Our tool checks all major AI crawlers automatically.

It's complicated because ChatGPT uses three different crawlers:

• GPTBot: Crawls content for training future models

• ChatGPT-User: Used when ChatGPT browses the web in real-time

• OAI-SearchBot: Powers ChatGPT's search features

If you only block GPTBot, ChatGPT can still show your content through real-time browsing and search. To completely prevent ChatGPT from accessing your site, you'd need to block all three. However, this means losing all ChatGPT-driven traffic and recommendations.

These subtle differences can dramatically change what you're blocking:

• /admin - Blocks only the exact URL 'example.com/admin'

• /admin/ - Blocks the directory and everything inside it

• /admin* - Blocks anything starting with 'admin' (including /administrator, /admin123)

Most people want /admin/ (with the trailing slash) to block an entire directory. Using /admin without the slash might leave your admin area exposed. Always test your patterns to ensure they work as intended.

Here's the correct way to block specific folders while allowing general access:

User-agent: * Disallow: /private/ Disallow: /tmp/ Disallow: /admin/ Allow: / Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

Key points: List what you want to block first, use trailing slashes for directories, and 'Allow: /' isn't always necessary but makes your intentions clear. Always declare your sitemap at the end.

No! This is a critical security mistake. robots.txt is completely public - anyone can view it by visiting yoursite.com/robots.txt. Using it to 'hide' sensitive content actually advertises exactly where that content is located.

Malicious actors often check robots.txt first to find interesting directories. Instead of robots.txt, use proper security measures: password protection, authentication, IP restrictions, or move sensitive content outside your web root entirely.

robots.txt is for crawler guidance, not security. It's like putting a 'Please Don't Look Here' sign - it only works for legitimate crawlers who choose to respect it.

Yes, sitemaps provide valuable benefits even if crawlers find your pages naturally:

• Priority signals: Tell search engines which pages matter most

• Update frequency: Indicate how often pages change

• Discovery speed: New pages get found and indexed faster

• Complete coverage: Ensure orphaned pages aren't missed

Large sites, new sites, and sites with dynamic content benefit most from sitemaps. They're especially important for AI crawlers who might have limited crawl budgets for your site.

Yes! Always include your sitemap location in robots.txt. It's the first place crawlers look, and it ensures immediate discovery. The correct format is:

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

You can list multiple sitemaps if needed. This is especially useful for large sites with separate sitemaps for different sections, languages, or content types. Place sitemap declarations at the end of your robots.txt file.

Your sitemap should update whenever your content changes:

• News sites: Multiple times daily or real-time

• E-commerce: Daily (for inventory changes)

• Blogs: After each new post

• Corporate sites: Weekly or monthly

Use dynamic sitemaps that automatically update when content changes. Include accurate last-modified dates to help crawlers prioritize fresh content. Ping search engines when significant updates occur.

Several reasons why crawlers might ignore your rules:

• Malicious bots: They intentionally ignore robots.txt to scrape content

• Syntax errors: Invalid formatting makes your rules unreadable

• Caching: Crawlers might use an old cached version

• Case sensitivity: Some crawlers are case-sensitive with user-agent names

For malicious bots, use server-level blocking (htaccess, firewall rules). For legitimate crawlers, ensure your syntax is correct and consider using our tool to validate your robots.txt configuration.

There are several ways to test your robots.txt:

• Use our free tool for instant analysis of all major crawlers

• Google Search Console's robots.txt Tester for Googlebot

• Check server logs to see which crawlers are respecting rules

• Manual testing with curl or wget using different user-agents

Regular testing is important because a single typo can block all your traffic. Test after any changes and monitor your search visibility metrics for unexpected drops.

robots.txt is just one factor in crawlability. Other issues might include:

• Geographic restrictions: Your server blocks certain countries

• Cloudflare/WAF rules: Security settings blocking AI crawlers

• Slow response times: Crawlers timeout before loading pages

• JavaScript-only content: Some crawlers can't execute JavaScript

• Rate limiting: Your server throttles crawler requests

Check your server logs, CDN settings, and ensure your site loads quickly. AI crawlers often have stricter requirements than traditional search engines.

For most websites, a simple robots.txt that allows everything and declares your sitemap is perfect:

User-agent: * Disallow: Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

This allows all crawlers to access everything while helping them find your sitemap. Only add restrictions when you have a specific need, like blocking duplicate content or protecting server resources. Remember: it's better to have no robots.txt than a broken one.

Stay ahead of the curve with these strategies:

• Use positive allowlisting: Explicitly allow known good crawlers rather than trying to block bad ones

• Monitor industry news: New AI services announce their crawler names

• Regular audits: Use our tool quarterly to check for new crawlers

• Follow standards: Stick to official robots.txt syntax

• Join communities: SEO forums often discuss new crawler discoveries

The AI landscape changes rapidly. A robots.txt that works today might block important crawlers tomorrow. Regular monitoring and updates are essential for maintaining visibility.