In brief: robots.txt is a text file in the host root through which a website tells supported crawlers which paths they may fetch. It is not a reliable tool for removing URLs from an index.
How I use robots.txt in practice
In practice, I do not use the term robots.txt as another number for a presentation. First, I determine which decision it should make more precise, which data or observations it is based on, and who will change something based on the result. I check the actual file on every host, rules for a specific user agent, and whether blocking prevents content or the noindex directive from being fetched. I also record the baseline, measurement date and limits of interpretation. This makes it possible to later distinguish a genuine shift from a change in the tool, sample or query wording.
What to watch out for
The greatest risk is precision that is only apparent. A blocked URL can still appear in results without a snippet because the bot does not read its noindex or status response. I therefore compare the result over time, on a stable sample and together with the business context. If the term does not lead to a concrete next step, it has not produced an analysis, only a new label.
Questions for decision-making
- Which bot does the rule apply to?
- Does it block important CSS, JavaScript or pages?
- Should the URL not be crawled, or genuinely not be indexed?
- Does the file list the correct sitemap?