How should robots.txt be configured for AI Bots?

Robots.txt for AI is the practice of using robots directives to control how AI crawlers, search bots, and training-related user agents access your site. It matters because different AI systems use different crawlers for search indexing, browsing, model training, or citation retrieval. Blocking every AI bot may reduce unwanted scraping, but it can also prevent your content from appearing in AI answers. A good policy separates strategic access from unwanted access: allow crawlers that support visibility and citations, block crawlers that do not align with your policy, and monitor server logs to confirm behavior. Robots.txt should be reviewed as AI crawler names change.