LectionFree Tool

Meta Robots Tag Generator

Build a valid robots meta tag for page-level indexing, link-following, snippet, translation, and image preview controls, then copy or download it for free.

Free robots meta tag generatorSEO indexing controlsCopy or download HTML
Free to runNo credit cardStructured results
Try:
Use robots for all crawlers, or target googlebot or googlebot-news.
Choose one. Do not publish both index and noindex for the same target.
Use a non-negative number of characters, such as 160.

Meta robots rules only work when the crawler can access the page HTML.

What is a meta robots tag?

A meta robots tag is an HTML instruction that gives search crawlers page-level guidance about indexing and how links or search-result previews should be handled. It is usually written in the page's HTML with name="robots", or with a crawler-specific name such as googlebot.

This free meta robots tag generator builds the directive from clear controls for index, noindex, follow, nofollow, snippet limits, image previews, caching, and translation. It produces both a meta tag and an equivalent header-style value.

These rules are instructions, not a replacement for access control. A crawler must be able to fetch the page to read them, and a robots.txt block can prevent the crawler from seeing the directive. For PDFs and other non-HTML files, use an X-Robots-Tag response header instead.

How to use a meta robots tag

Step 1

Choose the target

Use robots for a general rule, or select a supported crawler when only one search service should receive the instruction.

Step 2

Set page behavior

Choose index or noindex and follow or nofollow, then add preview controls only when the page requirement calls for them.

Step 3

Publish and test

Place the generated tag in the HTML, deploy it, and inspect the rendered source or response headers on the live URL.

For a private confirmation page that should remain accessible by link but out of search results, a common starting point is noindex, follow. For an indexable article with a controlled text snippet, add max-snippet:160 and review the live search behavior after deployment.

This tool complements the Robots.txt Tester. Use robots.txt for crawl access and a meta robots tag for page-level indexing and presentation instructions.

Common Use Cases

  • Creating a noindex tag for staging, thank-you, login, or internal search pages.
  • Adding nofollow or preview controls to a specific HTML page.
  • Preparing crawler-specific Googlebot or Google News directives.
  • Generating an X-Robots-Tag value for PDFs, images, videos, and other non-HTML resources.
  • Standardizing page-level SEO instructions during a CMS migration.

FAQ

What is a free meta robots tag generator?
It creates a ready-to-paste robots meta tag from page indexing, link, snippet, image preview, caching, and translation choices. It also shows an equivalent X-Robots-Tag value.
What is the difference between robots.txt and a meta robots tag?
Robots.txt controls whether crawlers can request URLs, while a meta robots tag gives page-level instructions after the HTML is fetched. Use the right control for the job, and do not block a page from crawling if the crawler must read its noindex directive.
How do I generate a noindex follow meta tag?
Choose the noindex indexing rule and follow as the link rule, then generate the output. The result contains noindex, follow for the selected crawler.
Where should I put a robots meta tag?
Add it to the HTML document served for the page, commonly inside the head. Confirm the deployed HTML contains the tag and that the page is accessible to the crawler.
Can I use a meta robots tag for a PDF?
Use an X-Robots-Tag HTTP response header for PDFs and other non-HTML files. The generated header value provides a starting point for that server configuration.
Should I use robots or googlebot as the meta tag name?
Use robots for a rule intended for all crawlers. Use googlebot or googlebot-news only when the instruction is specifically for Google's relevant crawler.
Does noindex remove a page immediately from Google?
No. The crawler must fetch the page, process the directive, and update its index. Do not rely on a blocked robots.txt path to deliver a noindex instruction.

Related Resources

Robots.txt Tester

Test whether a crawler is allowed to fetch a specific URL path.

Open tool →

Robots.txt Generator

Build crawl rules for user-agent groups, paths, and sitemaps.

Open tool →

Indexability Checker

Review noindex, canonical, redirect, and status signals on a live page.

Open tool →

Meta Tag Checker

Inspect existing robots, title, description, and social metadata.

Open tool →

For repeatable website research and extraction workflows, explore the Lection home page or see automation options on the pricing page.

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