Playbook
robots.txt for AI crawlers for resale platforms
A practical playbook for circular commerce marketers to improve robots.txt AI policy—with checks, fixes, and measurement.
Why robots.txt AI policy matters in resale
circular commerce marketers cannot win AI shortlists on content alone if robots.txt AI policy is broken. Your robots.txt is the first policy surface AI crawlers read. Intentional Allow/Disallow rules for GPTBot, search bots, and agents determine what can be fetched.
In resale, common blockers include: Pricing is unclear to crawlers; llms.txt is missing or outdated; Share of voice lags larger incumbents. Open-source alternatives and community docs can crowd out commercial brands that hide details behind demos.
What to check
- Per-agent rules for training vs search vs browsing user-agents
- No accidental Disallow: / on paths you want cited
- Sitemap directive present and accurate
- Optional references to llms.txt for AI discovery
resale-specific page priorities
- Solutions by persona — ensure this URL is crawlable HTML with facts assistants can quote when answering “best resale platforms for teams evaluating options”
- Industry examples — ensure this URL is crawlable HTML with facts assistants can quote when answering “best resale platforms for teams evaluating options”
- Support docs — ensure this URL is crawlable HTML with facts assistants can quote when answering “best resale platforms for teams evaluating options”
Fix guidance
Document an AI crawling policy, implement it in robots.txt, and verify with live bot fetches—not only a parser.
Deep dive: robots.txt for AI crawlers. Industry hub: AI visibility for resale platforms.
Measure with BatSignal
- Run a Visibility Scan on your resale site
- Inspect the pillar tied to robots.txt AI policy
- Ship the prioritized fixes and copy-paste deliverables
- Re-verify within 30 days to confirm movement
Related
- resale hub
- crawl access for resale
- content readiness for resale
- ChatGPT citations for resale
- llms.txt for resale
- robots.txt for AI crawlers
- All industries
FAQ
What is robots.txt AI policy for resale platforms?
Your robots.txt is the first policy surface AI crawlers read. Intentional Allow/Disallow rules for GPTBot, search bots, and agents determine what can be fetched. For resale, this shows up when buyers ask “best resale platforms for teams evaluating options” and when AI crawlers attempt to fetch your commercial pages.
How do we improve robots.txt AI policy?
Document an AI crawling policy, implement it in robots.txt, and verify with live bot fetches—not only a parser. Industry-specific must-have pages include Solutions by persona, Industry examples, Support docs.
How does BatSignal score this?
Crawl access. See the [methodology](/methodology) and related guide: /guides/robots-txt-ai-crawlers.