The Complete Robots.txt Guide
Control what search engines and AI crawlers can access on your site.
Your robots.txt file is no longer just about search engines. In 2026, it's your first line of defense — and strategy — for managing how AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini access your content.
This guide covers everything from basic robots.txt syntax to advanced AI crawler management strategies. We've published individual guides for every major crawler, so you can make informed decisions about what to allow, what to block, and why.
Crawler-by-crawler guides
Each guide below covers the specific user-agent, its behavior, what it's used for, and our recommended robots.txt configuration.
GPTBot Robots.txt Guide
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ClaudeBot Robots.txt Guide
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PerplexityBot Robots.txt Guide
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Google-Extended Robots.txt Guide
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Bingbot Robots.txt Guide
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Applebot-Extended Robots.txt Guide
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Amazonbot Robots.txt Guide
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Emerging AI Crawlers Guide
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Frequently asked questions
Robots.txt is a text file placed at the root of your website that tells web crawlers which pages they can and cannot access. It follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol and is the primary mechanism for controlling crawler access to your site's content.
It depends on your strategy. Blocking AI crawlers prevents your content from being used to train AI models or appear in AI-generated answers. However, allowing selective access — like we do — can increase your brand's visibility in AI search results. We recommend allowing access to valuable content while blocking sensitive pages.
Robots.txt doesn't directly affect rankings, but incorrect configuration can prevent important pages from being crawled and indexed. It's also increasingly important for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — the right AI crawler rules can determine whether your brand gets cited in AI-generated answers.
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