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Robots.txt Generator

Generate robots.txt files with user-agent rules, allow/disallow paths, and sitemap references.

Quick Presets

Allow Paths
Disallow Paths

Generated robots.txt

User-agent: *
Allow: /
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a robots.txt file?
A robots.txt file is a plain text file placed at the root of a website that tells search engine crawlers which pages or sections of the site they are allowed or not allowed to access. It follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to communicate with web crawlers and bots. The file must be accessible at yoursite.com/robots.txt.
Does robots.txt block pages from appearing in search results?
No, robots.txt only tells crawlers not to access certain pages, but it does not prevent those pages from appearing in search results. If other pages link to a disallowed URL, search engines may still index it based on external signals. To truly prevent a page from being indexed, use a noindex meta tag or X-Robots-Tag HTTP header instead.
What is the crawl-delay directive?
The crawl-delay directive tells crawlers to wait a specified number of seconds between successive requests to your server. This is useful for preventing server overload from aggressive crawlers. Note that Google does not honor the crawl-delay directive; instead, you should configure crawl rate in Google Search Console. Bing and other crawlers do respect this directive.
Should I include a sitemap URL in robots.txt?
Yes, including a Sitemap directive in your robots.txt file is a best practice. It helps search engines discover your sitemap without relying solely on Search Console submissions. The sitemap URL should be the full absolute URL to your XML sitemap. You can include multiple Sitemap directives if you have more than one sitemap.
What does the wildcard (*) mean in User-agent?
The wildcard asterisk (*) in the User-agent field means the rules apply to all crawlers and bots. You can also specify individual bot names like Googlebot, Bingbot, or GPTBot to create rules that only apply to specific crawlers. Rules for specific bots take precedence over wildcard rules.
Where should I place the robots.txt file?
The robots.txt file must be placed at the root of your domain, so it is accessible at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt. It will not work if placed in a subdirectory. Each subdomain needs its own robots.txt file. The file must be a plain text file with UTF-8 encoding and use the filename robots.txt exactly.
Can robots.txt improve my SEO?
Robots.txt can indirectly improve SEO by directing crawlers to focus on your most important pages. By blocking access to low-value pages like admin panels, duplicate content, or staging areas, you help search engines use their crawl budget more efficiently on pages that matter. However, misconfiguring robots.txt can accidentally block important pages from being crawled.

How to Use the Robots.txt Generator

Creating a proper robots.txt file is essential for controlling how search engines crawl your website. Our free online robots.txt generator makes it easy to build a correctly formatted robots.txt file without memorizing the syntax or worrying about formatting errors.

Step 1: Choose a preset or start from scratch. Select from common presets like "Allow All" (lets all crawlers access everything), "Block All" (prevents all crawling), or "Block Specific Bots" to quickly set up common configurations. You can also start with an empty configuration and build your rules manually.

Step 2: Add user-agent rules. Define rules for specific crawlers or use the wildcard (*) to apply rules to all bots. For each user-agent, add Allow and Disallow paths to control which sections of your site the crawler can access. Common disallow paths include /admin/, /private/, /tmp/, and /api/.

Step 3: Configure optional settings. Add your sitemap URL so search engines can easily discover your XML sitemap. Set a crawl-delay if your server needs protection from aggressive crawling. These optional directives help fine-tune how crawlers interact with your site.

Step 4: Copy or download. Once your rules are configured, copy the generated robots.txt content and place it at the root of your website. The file must be accessible at yourdomain.com/robots.txt for crawlers to find it.

Understanding the Robots Exclusion Protocol

The Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP) was created in 1994 as a way for website owners to communicate with web crawlers. The robots.txt file is the primary mechanism of this protocol. When a crawler visits your site, it first checks for a robots.txt file at the root domain and follows the directives it finds there before crawling any pages.

The protocol uses a simple text-based format with User-agent, Allow, Disallow, Sitemap, and Crawl-delay directives. Each group of rules begins with a User-agent line specifying which crawler the rules apply to, followed by one or more Allow or Disallow lines. The Sitemap directive can appear anywhere in the file and is not tied to a specific user-agent group.

It is important to understand that robots.txt is advisory, not enforceable. Well-behaved crawlers from major search engines respect these directives, but malicious bots may ignore them entirely. For truly sensitive content, use server-side access controls such as authentication, IP blocking, or firewall rules rather than relying solely on robots.txt.

Common Robots.txt Patterns

Allow all crawling. The simplest robots.txt file allows all crawlers to access all pages. This is achieved with a User-agent: * followed by no Disallow directives, or by having an empty robots.txt file. This is appropriate for most public websites that want maximum search engine visibility.

Block specific directories. Many websites block access to administrative areas, user-generated content, internal search results, and API endpoints. Disallowing /admin/, /cgi-bin/, /search?, and /api/ prevents crawlers from wasting time on pages that should not appear in search results.

Bot-specific rules. You can create different rules for different crawlers. For example, you might allow Googlebot full access while restricting other crawlers. This is increasingly used to manage AI crawlers like GPTBot, CCBot, and Google-Extended, which can be blocked while still allowing traditional search engine indexing.

Staging and development sites. Development and staging environments should completely block all crawlers to prevent duplicate content issues. Use User-agent: * with Disallow: / to block everything. This is one of the most common uses of robots.txt and prevents accidental indexing of test content.

Why Use Our Robots.txt Generator?

Syntax validation. Our generator produces correctly formatted robots.txt content that follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol specification. Manual editing often leads to syntax errors like missing colons, incorrect path formats, or improperly grouped rules that can cause crawlers to misinterpret your directives.

Common presets. Start with battle-tested configurations for common scenarios instead of building from scratch. Our presets cover standard use cases including allowing all crawling, blocking all crawling, blocking AI crawlers, and protecting staging environments.

Completely client-side. Your website structure and configuration details never leave your browser. The entire generator runs locally, ensuring your site architecture information remains private. No data is sent to any server during the generation process.

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