Robots.txt Tester
The Robots.txt Tester lets you verify whether specific URLs on your website are accessible or blocked for different crawlers. This is essential for ensuring search engines can crawl your important pages while keeping private areas protected.
Paste your robots.txt content and enter the URL path you want to test. Select from popular user agents including Googlebot, GPTBot, Bingbot, and other AI crawlers. The tool instantly shows whether that URL is allowed or blocked, highlighting the specific rule that matched.
Understanding robots.txt syntax can be tricky—wildcards, multiple user-agent blocks, and rule ordering can create unexpected results. Our tester eliminates guesswork by showing exactly how crawlers interpret your rules.
Perfect for debugging crawl issues, verifying new robots.txt changes before deployment, and ensuring AI crawlers can access your content for AI search visibility.
How It Works
Get results in just a few simple steps
Paste your robots.txt content into the text area
Enter the URL path you want to test (e.g., /blog/article)
Select a user agent (Googlebot, GPTBot, etc.)
Click test to see if the URL is allowed or blocked
View the specific rule that matched your test
Adjust your robots.txt and re-test as needed
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't make these frequent errors
Testing with wrong user-agent case (robots.txt is case-sensitive)
Forgetting that more specific rules override general ones
Not understanding wildcard (*) behavior in paths
Confusing Disallow: / (blocks all) with Disallow: (blocks nothing)
Testing relative paths when you meant absolute paths
Frequently Asked Questions
Is robots.txt case-sensitive?
Yes, user-agent names in robots.txt are case-sensitive. 'Googlebot' is different from 'googlebot'. However, URL paths are typically case-sensitive based on your server configuration. Always match the exact case used by crawlers.
What's the difference between Allow and Disallow?
Disallow blocks crawlers from accessing specified paths. Allow explicitly permits access and is useful for overriding broader Disallow rules. For example, you might Disallow: /admin/ but Allow: /admin/public/.
How do wildcards work in robots.txt?
The asterisk (*) matches any sequence of characters. For example, Disallow: /*.pdf blocks all PDF files. The dollar sign ($) matches the end of a URL. Disallow: /*.php$ blocks URLs ending in .php but not /page.php?id=1.
Why test for AI crawlers specifically?
AI crawlers like GPTBot and PerplexityBot are often accidentally blocked by overly broad robots.txt rules. Testing ensures your content can be discovered by AI search engines, which is increasingly important for traffic and visibility.
Related Resources
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