agents.txt explained: the permission file for AI agents

agents.txt is a plain-text file at your site root that tells automated AI agents what they are and aren't allowed to do — read pages, submit forms, call APIs, scrape, or not. Think of it as robots.txt, but written for agents instead of crawlers.

Why it matters

• Autonomous agents (and the models that drive them) are starting to act, not just read. They need explicit permission boundaries.
• A clear agents.txt reduces abuse and tells well-behaved agents exactly how to use your site safely.
• It is one of the 8 surfaces AI-visibility checkers now score — sites without it score lower.

Copy-paste template

# agents.txt
User-agent: *
Allow: /public/
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /api/

# What agents may do
Can: read, cite
Cannot: submit-forms, purchase, scrape-email

# Preferred contact for agent operators
Contact: mailto:hello@yourdomain.com

Next steps

• Drop the file at https://yourdomain.com/agents.txt.
• Score your site on our AI Visibility Index.
• Want it done for you? Get the Full AI Visibility Report — €19.

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