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Free Robots.txt Generator — Block AI Crawlers & Set Crawl Rules

Generate a complete robots.txt file in seconds. Choose your crawl access rules, block AI training crawlers like GPTBot and Google-Extended with one click, set a sitemap URL, and download a ready-to-upload file. No coding required, all processing happens in your browser.

Configure Your Robots.txt
Crawl Access
Block AI Training Crawlers
These bots crawl your content to train AI models. Block them to protect your content.
Sitemap URL (optional)
Your robots.txt File
Download robots.txt

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How to Use the Robots.txt Generator

  1. Choose your crawl access setting: “Allow All Crawlers” is the right choice for most live websites. Use “Custom Rules” to block specific directories, or “Block All Crawlers” if the site is in development and you don’t want it indexed.
  2. Choose which AI crawlers to block. GPTBot, CCBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot and Bytespider collect content for AI training. PerplexityBot is different: it’s what puts your pages into Perplexity’s answers, so blocking it removes you from them.
  3. Add your sitemap URL so search engines can find your content efficiently. For WordPress, this is usually https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml.
  4. Copy or download the generated file, then upload it to your website’s root directory (e.g., public_html/robots.txt).

What Is a Robots.txt File?

A robots.txt file is a plain text file placed in the root of your website that tells web crawlers which pages or directories they are and are not allowed to access. It follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP), a standard that most legitimate search engine bots and web crawlers respect.

  • It is not a security measure: robots.txt is a polite request, not a lock. Malicious scrapers ignore it. Use proper authentication for truly private content.
  • It controls crawling, not indexing. A page blocked in robots.txt can still appear in Google without a description if other sites link to it. To keep a page out of Google, use noindex or a password instead.
  • It can improve crawl efficiency: telling Google not to crawl admin pages, internal search results, and staging areas helps your crawl budget focus on pages that matter.

Should you block AI crawlers?

It depends on what the crawler does. Some collect content to train AI models; others fetch pages so an AI search tool can cite you. Blocking the first kind keeps your content out of future training data. Blocking the second kind removes you from those AI answers, which is usually the opposite of what a business wants.

  • GPTBot: OpenAI’s training crawler. Blocking it does not remove you from ChatGPT search, which uses a separate crawler, OAI-SearchBot.
  • Google-Extended: controls whether Google can use your content to train future Gemini models and to ground answers in Gemini apps. Google says it does not affect inclusion or ranking in Google Search.
  • CCBot: run by Common Crawl, a non-profit that provides web data used widely in AI research and model training.
  • ClaudeBot: Anthropic’s training crawler. Anthropic uses separate agents, Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User, to fetch pages for Claude’s answers, according to Search Engine Land.
  • PerplexityBot: surfaces and links websites in Perplexity’s results, and Perplexity says it is not used to train AI models. Block it only if you don’t want to appear in Perplexity.
  • Bytespider: ByteDance’s (TikTok’s parent company) crawler used for AI model training.

Blocking these crawlers doesn’t affect your rankings in Google or Bing, which use Googlebot and Bingbot.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I upload the robots.txt file?

Upload robots.txt to the root of your domain, the same folder where your homepage lives. For most WordPress sites, this is the public_html folder via FTP or your hosting file manager. The file must be accessible at https://yoursite.com/robots.txt.

Will blocking AI crawlers hurt my SEO?

Not your Google or Bing rankings. Training crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended are separate from Googlebot and Bingbot. Blocking AI search crawlers such as PerplexityBot or OAI-SearchBot will, however, stop those tools from citing your pages.

Does robots.txt stop all crawlers?

It stops crawlers that follow the Robots Exclusion Protocol, which includes all major search engines and most legitimate bots. Malicious scrapers and less reputable crawlers may ignore it. Use server-level access controls or rate limiting for stronger protection.

What is the Sitemap directive in robots.txt?

Adding Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml to your robots.txt tells crawlers where to find your sitemap file, making it easier for them to discover and index all your pages efficiently.

Is this tool free?

Yes, completely free with no account required. The file is generated locally in your browser, no data is sent to any server.

Sources

  1. Google Search Central, “Introduction to robots.txt“, accessed September 2026.
  2. Google Search Central, “List of Google’s common crawlers“, accessed September 2026.
  3. OpenAI Help Center, “Publishers and Developers FAQ“, accessed September 2026.
  4. Perplexity, “Perplexity crawlers“, accessed September 2026.
  5. Search Engine Land, “Anthropic clarifies how Claude bots crawl sites and how to block them“, February 2026.

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