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Robots.txt Generator

Create, preview, and download robots.txt files with our free online generator. Configure user-agent rules, Allow/Disallow directives, crawl-delay settings, sitemap URLs, and AI bot controls through an intuitive checklist interface - no manual editing required.

Robots.txt Generator

Build a robots.txt file with rules for search engines and AI crawlers. Toggle crawlers, configure allow/disallow paths, and add global directives - all with explanations for every option. The generated robots.txt is ready to copy or download.

Used to generate the sitemap URL. Does not leave your browser.

Search Engines & AI Crawlers

6 of 13 active

Google's main web crawler for search indexing.

Controls Google's AI training crawler (Gemini, Bard). Disallow to opt out of AI training.

OpenAI's web crawler used to train ChatGPT and GPT models.

Anthropic's web crawler used to train Claude AI models.

Perplexity AI's crawler for their AI search engine.

Microsoft Bing's web crawler for search indexing.

Yahoo's web crawler for search results.

DuckDuckGo's privacy-focused search crawler.

Baidu's Chinese search engine crawler.

Yandex's Russian search engine crawler.

Facebook's crawler for link previews and Open Graph data.

Twitter/X's crawler for link card previews.

Apple's web crawler for Siri and Spotlight suggestions.

Global Settings

Add your XML sitemap URL so crawlers can discover your content.

Add a global Crawl-delay directive (in seconds) to rate-limit all crawlers.

Yandex-specific directive specifying the canonical hostname.

Ignore URL parameters to prevent duplicate content issues.

Generated robots.txt(40 lines)

# robots.txt generated by Aback Tools
# https://abacktools.com/tools/web/utilities/robots-txt-generator

# Googlebot
# Google's main web crawler for search indexing.
User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /admin/login
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /tmp/
Disallow: /admin/

# Google-Extended
# Controls Google's AI training crawler (Gemini, Bard). Disallow to opt out of AI training.
User-agent: Google-Extended
Disallow: /

# GPTBot
# OpenAI's web crawler used to train ChatGPT and GPT models.
User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

# ClaudeBot
# Anthropic's web crawler used to train Claude AI models.
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Disallow: /

# PerplexityBot
# Perplexity AI's crawler for their AI search engine.
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Disallow: /

# Bingbot
# Microsoft Bing's web crawler for search indexing.
User-agent: Bingbot
Disallow: /private/

# Default rule - applies to all crawlers not listed above
User-agent: *
Disallow:

The robots.txt generator runs entirely in your browser. No data is ever sent to a server. Always verify your robots.txt with Google Search Console before deploying.

Powerful Features, Simple Interface

Everything you need to create, manage, and export robots.txt files for any website.

Instant robots.txt Generation

Build a complete robots.txt file in seconds with our intuitive checklist interface. Select crawlers, set directives, and preview the output - no manual editing required.

Live Syntax Preview

See your robots.txt rendered in real time as you configure options. The live preview panel shows the exact output you can copy or download, eliminating guesswork and typos.

SEO Best Practices Built-In

Guided options for common SEO patterns including sitemap URL submission, crawl-delay for polite crawling, and AI bot directives to manage LLM crawler access.

Copy & Download

One-click copy to clipboard or download as a .txt file. No sign-up, no server uploads - everything runs locally in your browser.

Who Needs a Robots.txt Generator?

From personal blogs to enterprise SEO - anyone managing a website benefits from a well-crafted robots.txt.

Launching a New Website

Generate a proper robots.txt when launching a new site to guide search engines to the right pages and keep staging or private areas out of the index.

SEO Audit & Optimisation

During an SEO audit, rebuild your robots.txt to fix common issues like blocking important resources or allowing unwanted crawlers on private paths.

E-Commerce & Membership Sites

Prevent search engines from indexing cart, checkout, login, and account pages while ensuring product pages and categories are fully crawlable.

Blog & Content Publishers

Configure crawl-delay to be polite to servers during high-traffic periods, submit sitemap URLs, and manage access for AI training crawlers.

Learning & Education

Students and educators learning about SEO and web crawling can experiment with robots.txt directives in a safe, visual environment.

Agency & Client Deliverables

Quickly generate and export clean robots.txt files for multiple client sites with consistent patterns for sitemaps, crawl-delay, and AI bot policies.

About Robots.txt Generator

Everything you need to know about creating and managing robots.txt files for your website.

What Is a Robots.txt File?

A robots.txt file is a plain text file placed in the root of a website that tells web crawlers (like Googlebot, Bingbot) which URLs they can and cannot access. It follows the Robots Exclusion Standard and is the first file crawlers check when they visit a site.

How the Robots.txt Generator Works

Our generator provides an intuitive checklist-driven interface. Select the crawler (user-agent), choose from common directives like Allow, Disallow, Crawl-Delay, and Sitemap, and specify the paths. The live preview updates instantly, and you can copy or download the final file - no server-side processing required.

Why Use a Generator Instead of Writing Manually?

Manual robots.txt editing is error-prone - a single typo in a path or a misplaced directive can accidentally block important pages from search engines. A visual generator eliminates syntax errors, enforces best practices, and provides guidance on modern SEO patterns like AI bot directives and sitemap submissions.

Tips for an Effective Robots.txt

Always include a Sitemap directive pointing to your XML sitemap. Use Crawl-Delay for shared hosting or rate-limited servers. Be specific with paths - broad Disallow rules can unintentionally hide content. Test your robots.txt using Google Search Console's robots.txt Tester before deploying to production.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about robots.txt files and how to use our generator.

A robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which parts of your website they are allowed to access. It helps prevent crawlers from wasting bandwidth on admin pages, duplicate content, or staging environments. While not strictly required, it is considered an SEO best practice and is the first file most crawlers check when visiting your site.

The robots.txt file must be placed in the root directory of your website - for example, https://example.com/robots.txt. It cannot be placed in subdirectories. Most web hosts and CMS platforms (WordPress, Shopify, etc.) provide a way to upload or edit this file from the file manager or admin panel.

Disallow tells crawlers they should not access the specified URL path. Allow overrides a Disallow rule for a more specific path, which is useful when you want to block a directory but allow a specific file within it. Both directives follow the longest-match rule: the most specific path wins when there are conflicting rules.

The User-agent directive specifies which crawler the following rules apply to. For example, User-agent: Googlebot applies the subsequent rules only to Google's crawler. Use a wildcard (*) to target all crawlers. You can define multiple user-agent blocks to set different rules for different crawlers.

Many website owners choose to block AI training crawlers (like GPTBot, CCBot, Claude-Web) to prevent their content from being used to train large language models without attribution. Our generator includes dedicated options for these crawlers so you can make an informed decision about AI bot access.

Crawl-Delay tells crawlers to wait a specified number of seconds between requests. It is useful for shared hosting plans, rate-limited servers, or sites that experience performance issues during crawler activity. The directive is supported by Bing, Yandex, and some smaller crawlers, but Google ignores it in favour of its own crawl rate settings in Search Console.

Add a Sitemap directive at the bottom of your robots.txt file: Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml. You can include multiple Sitemap directives for different sitemap files. This helps crawlers discover your sitemap immediately without needing to submit it through search engine webmaster tools.

Robots.txt is a publicly accessible file - anyone can view it by visiting /robots.txt on your domain. Do not use it to hide sensitive pages (like admin panels) since it acts as a hint, not a security measure. Malicious actors may use robots.txt to discover hidden paths. For real security, use authentication and server-side access controls.

Google Search Console provides a built-in robots.txt Tester that lets you validate your file and test how Googlebot would interpret specific URLs. You can also use our related Robots.txt Validator tool on this site for comprehensive syntax and best-practice checking before deploying to production.