# Bolt.new SEO for ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI search

> Can ChatGPT and Perplexity read your Bolt.new site? How to check rendering, plus robots.txt, llms.txt, JSON-LD, sitemap and prerendering options.

Canonical page: https://getrankroot.com/builders/bolt · AI app builder · checked 2026-10-18

What Bolt.new's own documentation says about how AI crawlers see sites built with it, and the exact settings for robots.txt, llms.txt, structured data and the sitemap.

## How Bolt.new delivers pages to crawlers

**Not documented** (Not documented: check yourself)

Bolt's help center doesn't say how published pages are delivered to crawlers. It says Bolt supports Node.js for the backend and "any JavaScript framework that runs on the frontend", so the answer depends on what Bolt generated for your project. Check it yourself: open your published page, use View Page Source, and search for a sentence from the page. If the sentence isn't in the source, crawlers that don't run JavaScript see an empty page. RankRoot's free audit runs the same check for you.

Why it matters: many AI crawlers don't run JavaScript. If your text only appears after scripts run, they may see an empty page.

## Make your content readable without JavaScript

1. Run the [free audit](https://getrankroot.com/#scan) on your published URL, or view the page source and search for your headline text.
2. If the text is missing, the page is built in the browser with JavaScript. Netlify's docs (Bolt links to them) note that many AI agents, chat services and crawlers can't run JavaScript, and that sites using server-side rendering or static site generation avoid the problem. You can ask Bolt to render your key pages that way.
3. Bolt documents publishing to Netlify instead of Bolt hosting: **gear icon** > **All project settings** > **Domains & Hosting** > **Hosting Provider** > **Netlify**. Netlify documents a Prerender extension that serves pre-rendered HTML to crawlers, agents and preview services while visitors get the normal app. Bolt notes Netlify can't host a database or a traditional backend.
4. Turn on Bolt's curated **SEO/GEO** skill in your project's Skills settings, or use the built-in SEO prompts in the Prompt Library (chatbox **+** > **Open Prompt Library**).

## robots.txt: let AI search crawlers in

1. Bolt's help center has no robots.txt article. Ask Bolt to create a `robots.txt` (the SEO/GEO skill or an SEO prompt helps), or add the file yourself in Code view.
2. Bolt's docs describe a **Public** folder in Code view for files your project serves, such as images. Put `robots.txt` there or ask Bolt where it belongs for your framework.
3. Publish. Bolt says changes don't appear on your site until you update it from the **Publish** menu.
4. Open `yourdomain.com/robots.txt` to confirm the file is served at the root.

Rules that let AI search crawlers in:

```
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Claude-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Claude-User
Allow: /

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
```

## Add llms.txt

1. Bolt documents no llms.txt feature. Write the file with the [llms.txt generator](https://getrankroot.com/tools/llms-txt-generator).
2. Add it as `llms.txt` next to your `robots.txt` (for example in the Public folder), or ask Bolt to serve it at `/llms.txt`.
3. Publish, open `yourdomain.com/llms.txt`, and check it with the [llms.txt validator](https://getrankroot.com/tools/llms-txt-validator).

## Add JSON-LD and head code

1. Ask Bolt to give each page a unique `<title>` and meta description, and to add JSON-LD (for example `Organization` on the home page) inside a `<script type="application/ld+json">` tag.
2. Republish, then view the page source. The tags should be in the HTML itself. If they only appear after JavaScript runs, crawlers that don't run JavaScript won't see them.

## Sitemap

1. Bolt's help center doesn't mention an automatic sitemap. Ask Bolt to generate `sitemap.xml` listing every public page with full `https://` URLs on your primary domain.
2. Add a `Sitemap:` line pointing to it in `robots.txt`.
3. Republish and open `yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml` to check it.

## Common mistakes

- Publishing as a private site. Bolt says private sites (available on Pro and Teams plans) can't be found or listed by search engines. Public is the default.
- Editing the project and forgetting to republish. Bolt says your site only changes when you update it from the Publish menu.
- Linking to an alias domain. Bolt forwards aliases to your primary domain to keep one consistent address, so use the primary domain in your sitemap, canonical tags and llms.txt.
- Reading a jump in Bolt hosting analytics as real visitors. Bolt says its analytics include crawlers and bots and can't separate them yet.

## FAQ

### Is my Bolt.new site visible to ChatGPT?

Only if it is published as public and your content is in the HTML. Bolt says public sites can be found by search engines and private ones can't. Bolt doesn't document how pages are rendered for crawlers, so view the page source or run the free audit to see what AI crawlers get.

### Does Bolt create robots.txt and a sitemap automatically?

Bolt's help center doesn't say so. Ask Bolt to create both (its SEO/GEO skill and SEO prompts are built for this), republish, and check yourdomain.com/robots.txt and /sitemap.xml.

### Can I pre-render a Bolt app for AI crawlers?

Bolt documents publishing to Netlify, and Netlify documents a Prerender extension that serves pre-rendered HTML to crawlers and agents. Netlify can't host a database or traditional backend, so this suits front-end-only projects. Otherwise ask Bolt to render key pages on the server or at build time.

### How do I add llms.txt to a Bolt project?

Generate the file, add it to your project so it's served at /llms.txt (for example via the Public folder in Code view), republish, then validate it.

## Sources

- [Bolt: Supported technologies (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/reference/supported-technologies)
- [Bolt: Publish your project to a live website (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/bolt-cloud/hosting/publish)
- [Bolt: Collaborate with others (publishing updates) (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/collaboration/collaborate)
- [Bolt: Netlify for hosting (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/integrations/netlify)
- [Bolt: Use skills (SEO/GEO skill) (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/building/skills)
- [Bolt: Save and manage prompts (Prompt Library) (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/prompting/prompt-library)
- [Bolt: Attach files to your project (Public folder) (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/building/upload-files)
- [Bolt: Domain aliases (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/bolt-cloud/domains/aliases)
- [Bolt: Hosting analytics (read 2026-10-18)](https://support.bolt.new/bolt-cloud/hosting/analytics)
- [Netlify: Prerendering (read 2026-10-18)](https://docs.netlify.com/build/post-processing/prerendering/)

RankRoot is not affiliated with Bolt.new. Check a live site: https://getrankroot.com/ or `GET https://getrankroot.com/api/audit?url=example.com`. Other builders: https://getrankroot.com/builders.md