Use this robots.txt generator to guide Google and AI crawlers. Easily manage website indexing, block private content, and control access to different parts of your site.
Your robots.txt file is like a traffic director for search engine crawlers. One wrong line can accidentally block Google from your entire site. Our free robots.txt generator creates a properly formatted file that tells search engines what to crawl and what to skip. Perfect for WordPress sites, e-commerce stores, or any website that wants to manage its crawl budget wisely.
I learned this lesson the hard way back in 2018. I had a client with a massive e-commerce site—50,000+ products. Their server was constantly slowing down, and we couldn't figure out why. Turns out Google's bot was crawling their filter pages, creating infinite URL combinations like `/shoes?color=red&size=9&sort=price&page=247`. Their server was generating thousands of useless pages for a bot that would never index them. One properly configured robots.txt file cut their server load in half overnight. This file isn't optional; it's essential infrastructure.
- Platform-specific templates: Pre-built rules for WordPress, Shopify, Magento, and custom sites.
- Crawl-delay control: Slow down aggressive bots that are hammering your server.
- Sitemap auto-discovery: Point search engines to your sitemap for better indexing.
- AI crawler rules: Block or allow GPTBot, Claude, and other AI training crawlers.
- Real-time syntax validation: Catches errors before you deploy.
1. Never block your entire site: Sounds obvious, but I've seen "Disallow: /" kill businesses. Double-check before saving.
2. Block admin areas: `/wp-admin/`, `/admin/`, `/cgi-bin/` should always be disallowed.
3. Use crawl-delay carefully: Only add it if your server is struggling. Most sites don't need it.
4. Test with Google Search Console: After uploading, verify Google can access your important pages.
5. Keep a backup
It must go in your root directory: `https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt`. If you use WordPress, upload it via FTP or your hosting file manager—don't put it in `/wp-content/` or any subfolder.
Yes. Use the User-agent directive. For example: `User-agent: GPTBot` followed by `Disallow: /` blocks OpenAI's crawler. Our generator includes options for major AI bots, which is crucial now that they're training on web content.
Not always. robots.txt prevents crawling, but if other sites link to that page, Google might still index the URL (though usually without a description). For sensitive pages, use meta noindex tags plus robots.txt blocking.
Review it quarterly, and always check it after major site changes. Added a new forum? Block the user profiles from crawlers. Launched a new product line? Make sure you're not accidentally disallowing it. I check mine the first Monday of every quarter.
Absolutely. Blocking important pages can decimate your organic traffic. I once saw a developer accidentally block their entire blog section during a site redesign. Took three months to recover the lost rankings. Always test in Google Search Console before and after changes.