robots.txt for Shopware 5 & 6 in the AI Era: Make Products Visible, Control Crawlers, Seize Opportunities

The digital landscape is currently undergoing a fundamental change: Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing not only the way we search for information but also how we find and consume it. Systems like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity have evolved from simple question-and-answer tools to full-fledged shopping advisors. They offer tailored product recommendations, detailed price comparisons, and even direct links to online stores—all in seconds and in natural language. For operators of Shopware 5 and 6 shops, this paradigm shift presents both a tremendous opportunity and a strategic challenge: How can you ensure that your products appear in these AI-generated responses and do not disappear into digital obscurity? Or conversely: How can you specifically prevent certain information from being captured and disseminated by AI systems? The answer lies in the appropriate robots.txt for AI.

The key to this new dimension of visibility surprisingly lies in a well-known file: the robots.txt.

As a Shopware agency with over 15 years of experience and a specialized SEO department, we will show you in this post specifically about robots.txt for AI, how to turn this inconspicuous text file into a powerful control tool—one that not only guides traditional search engines like Google & Co., but also strategically regulates access by AI crawlers. The result: more digital visibility, more precise control over your content, and a decisive competitive advantage in an increasingly AI-driven shopping world."

What is therobots.txt

The robots.txt is a simple text file in the main directory of your website, which is accessed first by any crawler—whether from Google, Bing, or an AI system. It regulates which pages and directories a bot is allowed to crawl and which not.

Call example:
https://www.meinshop.de/robots.txt

In the past, it primarily served to exclude sensitive shop areas such as checkout or customer accounts from indexing. Today, it is a central tool to consciously allow or limit visibility in AI systems.

How AI systems access your content

Modern AI platforms use two main ways to capture content:

1. Own Crawlers – The New Generation of Digital Explorers

The major AI companies have developed specialized crawlers that systematically scour the web for usable content:

• GPTBot (OpenAI/ChatGPT) has been actively scouring the web since 2023 to continuously expand the knowledge base of ChatGPT. Particularly relevant: It captures and interprets product data, prices, and availability.

• ClaudeBot (Anthropic) works similarly, but places special emphasis on capturing context and semantic connections – crucial for the high-quality integration of your products into Claude responses.

• PerplexityBot (Perplexity.ai) is specialized in real-time content capture and can integrate your products particularly up-to-date in search responses.

• Gemini (Google) uses the comprehensive infrastructure of the GoogleBot and benefits from its decades of optimization—with the difference that your content can now appear not only in search results, but also in AI-generated responses.

What these bots have in common: They respect the access rules set in your robots.txt. If you block one of these crawlers, it will not capture and process your content – with direct consequences for your visibility in the respective AI systems.

2. Indirect Sources – The Backdoor to Your Visibility

Parallel to direct crawling, many AI platforms use existing search indexes as information sources – particularly Microsoft's Bing:

• ChatGPT's integrated "Browsing" feature primarily relies on Bing search results.

• Perplexity.ai also uses Bing data to enrich its answers

• More AI tools like Copilot (Microsoft) are directly connected with Bing

This provides an important insight for shop operators: Even if you block direct access from AI crawlers like GPTBot, your content can still flow into AI responses via Bing—provided you haven't blocked the bingbot as well.

This duality of access requires a well-thought-out strategy that considers and specifically manages both direct and indirect access routes.

Visibility in AI Responses: From Text to Product Recommendation

More and more often, AI systems provide not only descriptive texts but directly structured product recommendations, e.g.:

• Product name

• Product image

• Brief description

• Price

• Link to the product page

• Availability & Delivery Time

Example answer in Perplexity or ChatGPT:

"Here are sneakers under €100, available in German shops:
- EcoRun Pro, 89.90 €, 1–2 days delivery time
– www.shopx.de/ecorun
– Image: [Product image]“

These data come from:

• Product text

• structured data (e.g., schema.org via JSON-LD)

• Price and shipping information

• freely accessible images (e.g., from /media/)

Only if crawlers are allowed access, can your product page become part of such responses.

Source: https://www.perplexity.ai/ 21/05/2025 

The role of robots.txt: Visibility switch for AI

When GPTBot, ClaudeBot & Co. are blocked: 

• Your content is not being processed

• Your products do not appear in AI responses

• You are giving away visibility in new search channels

If only bingbot is allowed:

• Your content may indirectly appear (e.g., via Bing) in ChatGPT responses.

• You retain control over the types of crawlers, but not over presentation & context

If you allow all bots: 

• Your products, images, and data can be fully integrated into AI searches

• You use the full potential of modern assistance systems – with calculable loss of control

Screenshot of ClaudeAI from 21.05.2025

Opportunities & Risks from the Perspective of a Shopware Agency

As an experienced Shopware agency, we observe daily how AI systems are transforming e-commerce. The decision to open or close your shop to AI crawlers should be based on a thorough consideration of the following aspects:

Potential of an AI-optimized presence:

The integration of your products into AI responses opens up entirely new dimensions of visibility. Unlike the traditional Google search where users actively have to search for specific terms, AI systems can recommend your products contextually in conversations—even if the user hasn't explicitly mentioned your shop or brand. A query like "I'm looking for waterproof hiking boots for the autumn" can directly lead to a recommendation of your product, complete with image, price, and a direct link to your product page.

Particularly valuable: This type of presentation appears less like advertising and more like a personal recommendation, which increases trust and the likelihood of conversion. In addition, you reach an increasingly relevant target group: users who prefer semantic searches and are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on AI recommendations.

The first-mover advantage should not be underestimated either. While many online shops are still generally blocking AI crawlers—often due to uncertainty or lack of understanding—you can secure market shares in this new search channel through early strategic positioning, before the competition follows.

Advantages:

• New visibility outside of classic Google searches

• Direct product recommendations with link and image

• Access to semantically thinking target groups

• Early market positioning while many competitors are still stalling

Challenges and potential risks:

However, opening your shop to AI crawlers also brings challenges. The additional bot traffic can lead to performance losses, especially with resource-intensive shops or limited server infrastructure. In extreme cases, aggressive crawling can even cause temporary outages—a risk that can be minimized through targeted crawl-delay settings.

In terms of content, there is a risk that sensitive or time-critical information such as prices, special offers, or limited availabilities may appear in AI responses, even if they are already outdated. Since AI systems do not update their databases in real-time, customers could arrive on your site with false expectations – a potential annoyance that can cloud the customer experience.

Not least, opening up to AI crawlers also allows competitors and automated price comparison systems to gain deeper insights into your product range and pricing strategy. This can lead to increased price pressure and affect your margins.

However, these risks should not lead to a general isolation, but to a differentiated control – this is precisely where the strategic configuration of your robots.txt comes into play."

Risks:

• Server load due to bot traffic

• Unwanted display of prices or delivery times

• Potential exploitation by price comparison bots and competitors

• No guarantee for accuracy or completeness in the AI output

Our recommendations for robots.txt configuration

Allow AI crawler specifically (recommended for visibility):

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /account/
Erlauben: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Verbieten: /checkout/
Disallow: /account/
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /account/
Permitir: /

Block AI-crawler and bingbot (recommended for sensitive content): 

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: bingbot
Disallow: /

Technical Best Practices for Shopware Shops

Shopware 5 - differentiated and performance-friendly:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /account/
Disallow: /register/
Disallow: /note/
Disallow: /compare/
Disallow: /ticket/
Disallow: /newsletter/
Disallow: /backend/
Disallow: /recovery/
Verbieten: /api/
Disallow: /widgets/checkout/
Disallow: /widgets/compare/
Disallow: /widgets/notes/
Allow: /widgets/emotion/
Permitir: /widgets/listing/
Erlauben: /widgets/empfehlung/
Permitir: /media/
Allow: /web/cache/
Allow: /sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.meinshop.de/sitemap.xml

Shopware 6 – modern architecture, clear structure:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /checkout
Disallow: /account
Disallow: /wishlist
Disallow: /newsletter
Disallow: /widgets
Disallow: /admin
Disallow: /api
Disallow: /store-api
Permitir: /media/
Allow: /sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.meinshop.de/sitemap.xml

Caution with high server load: How to protect yourself

If your site is open to AI bots, high traffic may lead to performance issues. Our recommendation:

1. Set crawl-delay (if supported):

User-agent: GPTBot
Crawl-delay: 10 

1. Monitor bot access:
   Use server logs, Cloudflare, or monitoring tools.

2. Set up IP blocking or user-agent filtering via .htaccess or hosting panel if necessary.

Conclusion: The robots.txt as a strategic lever in the AI era

The digital transformation of online commerce has reached a new dimension: While yesterday classic search engines were the primary gatekeepers to the customer, today AI systems increasingly determine which products are recommended, which stores are visible, and which buying decisions are made.

Your robots.txt – once just a technical detail on the sidelines – is thus moving to the center of your digital strategy. It becomes a control tool that decides whether your products will be recommended tomorrow in ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity with image, price, and direct link – or whether you leave this growing potential unused.

The decision requires careful consideration between maximum visibility and necessary control, between innovative market presence and technical stability. There is no universal solution – the optimal configuration depends on your specific business goals, your technical infrastructure, and your competitive situation.

As Shopware experts with many years of experience in integrating SEO and technical optimizations, we see: companies that act strategically now and configure their robots.txt for the future secure crucial competitive advantages in a world where AI-driven purchase recommendations become the new normal.

Take control of designing your digital future yourself. Invest in a well-thought-out robots.txt strategy—not as a technical obligation, but as a farsighted positioning in a fundamentally changed search and purchasing environment.

Would you like to future-proof your robots.txt or have it checked?

Our experts are ready to accompany you on this journey: with sound advice, technical expertise, and strategic vision. Contact us – together we will unlock the potential of AI-optimized visibility for your Shopware store.

As a Shopware agency with our own SEO and technical department, we support you:

• to develop the optimal configuration for your goals

• Specifically controlling AI bots

• Monitor crawling and protect your content

• Create visibility today where it will be necessary tomorrow