Question 1

What is robots.txt and why is it important for SEO?

Accepted Answer

Robots.txt lives at /robots.txt and sets basic crawl rules for search bots. Use it to steer crawl budget toward pages that matter, keep staging or admin paths out of Google, and prevent duplicate or low-value sections from being indexed. It is still guidance for polite crawlers, so add real access controls for anything sensitive.

Question 2

Can robots.txt block my entire site from search engines?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A directive such as "Disallow: /" or a broad wildcard tells crawlers to skip the whole site, which pulls every page from search results until you remove it. Use our analyzer to catch those patterns and rely on temporary meta robots or X-Robots-Tag noindex headers when you just need a short-term hold.

Question 3

How do I test if a specific URL is blocked by robots.txt?

Accepted Answer

Paste your robots.txt into the analyzer, pick the URL and user-agent you care about (for example Googlebot), and run the test. We show whether the path is allowed, which rule matched, and the line to edit so you can validate every change before it reaches production.

Question 4

What are the most common robots.txt syntax errors?

Accepted Answer

Frequent mistakes include adding Disallow lines before declaring a matching User-agent, mixing Allow and Disallow rules without realizing the most specific one wins, misusing wildcards or uppercase paths, and accidentally blocking CSS or JavaScript that Google needs to render pages. The analyzer highlights each issue and offers a quick fix.

Question 5

How does robots.txt relate to security and privacy?

Accepted Answer

Robots.txt is public, so directives like "Disallow: /admin" can give attackers a roadmap. Treat the file strictly as crawler etiquette. Keep sensitive paths out of it when you can, guard private areas with authentication or firewall rules, and add AI-scraper blocks only as a courtesy instead of relying on robots.txt for enforcement.

Question 6

How do I block AI scrapers and LLM training bots?

Accepted Answer

List the AI-specific user-agents you want to stop (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, Google-Extended, anthropic-ai, CCBot, Bytespider) and give each a `Disallow: /` while leaving normal search bots allowed. That only deters cooperative crawlers, so back it up with rate limits, auth, or firewall rules if you need enforcement.

Question 7

What are the SEO best practices for robots.txt?

Accepted Answer

Keep the file lean, under the 500 KB limit, and never block CSS or JavaScript so Google can render pages. Point to every XML sitemap, group related rules together, prefer precise paths over aggressive wildcards, and retest in Search Console and this analyzer after each deployment to catch accidental blocks quickly.

Question 8

How do I use robots.txt for different environments (staging, production)?

Accepted Answer

Serve a robots.txt that matches each environment: production should allow crawlers and list sitemaps, while staging and development should return `User-agent: *` plus `Disallow: /` and be backed up with password protection or IP allowlists. Automate the swap with build steps or environment variables so a staging file never ships to production by accident.

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