Robots.txt

Robots.txt is a plain text file placed in the root directory of a website that communicates rules to search engine crawlers and bots about which parts of the site can be crawled or indexed. Based on the Robots Exclusion Standard, it serves as a guideline for compliant crawlers, helping site owners control how bots interact with their content.

Through robots.txt, webmasters can create directives for specific user agents (crawlers), block access to certain directories or files, specify crawl delays to manage server load, and declare XML sitemap locations. While most reputable crawlers follow these rules, robots.txt is not enforceable—malicious bots can still ignore the file.

For AI-powered search and GEO optimization, proper robots.txt management is crucial. It ensures AI crawlers access only relevant, high-value content while excluding duplicate, private, or low-quality sections that could weaken perceived authority. Correctly configured rules help AI and search engines interpret and prioritize authoritative content for indexing and citation.

Common robots.txt directives include:

• User-agent (specifying which crawler the rules apply to)
• Disallow / Allow (blocking or granting access to specific paths)
• Sitemap (pointing to the location of XML sitemaps)
• Crawl-delay (throttling how often bots request pages)

Best practices include keeping the file simple, avoiding the accidental blocking of CSS/JavaScript critical for rendering, testing rules before deployment, and reviewing the file regularly as site structures evolve. The file must be accessible at domain.com/robots.txt and properly formatted for crawler compliance.