Robots.txt plays a crucial role in SEO by guiding search engine crawlers on which pages to access or avoid. A well-configured file helps prevent indexing of irrelevant content, improves crawl efficiency, and ensures search engines focus on your most valuable pages.

Search Engine Land contributor Elmer Boutin has published an article on what you need to know about Robots.txt and SEO in 2026.

He says, “A practical look at modern robots.txt use, from allow and disallow logic to wildcards, crawl-rate control and avoiding common pitfalls.

The Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP), commonly known as robots.txt, has been a web standard since 1994 and remains a key tool for website optimization today.

This simple yet powerful file helps control how search engines and other bots interact with a site.

Recent updates have made it important to understand the best ways to use it.

Why robots.txt matters

Robots.txt is a set of instructions for web crawlers, telling them what they can and can’t do on your site.

It helps you keep certain parts of your website private or avoid crawling pages that aren’t important.”

Robots.txt and SEO: What you need to know in 2026

Search Engine Land

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