Welcome to Part I of Edition No. 70 of my weekly newsletter, providing practical analysis in the world of digital content strategy.
Contents
Tip: How To See Your robots.txt file
Analysis: Using Gemini To Come Up with Interview Questions
Tip: How To See Your robots.txt file
What is a robots.txt file?
A robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which URLs the crawler can access on your site. This is used mainly to avoid overloading your site with requests; it is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google. To keep a web page out of Google, block indexing with
noindex
or password-protect the page.
A robots.txt is a great way to find out what directives your website is giving bots (whether Google’s crawler, ChatGPT’s, Amazon’s and many more).
Anyone can view pretty much anyone’s robots.txt file. Just add “/robots.txt” to the end of your homepage URL.
e.g. https://nytimes.com/robots.txt
Check yours out to better understand the directives you’re giving spiders (aka crawlers) and talk with your developer or explore your CMS to make necessary updates.
Did you find this tip useful? Share it to help spread the word.
Analysis: Using Gemini To Come Up with Interview Questions
Google earlier this month announced that Bard is now called Gemini. I was especially excited about this change, as people kept confusing me for an AI chatbot.
I typically use ChatGPT 4 to assist with my content creation initiatives. For this week’s analysis, I’m going to run Gemini through an exercise that’s both realistic and practical.
Realistic and practical in the sense that this is something on which Gemini could reliably be counted on to do, and that its output should be actionable.
The task? Formulating interview questions.
Not only will these be easy to fact-check, but they’ll be able to uncover ideas and angles that a journalist or marketer may not think of themselves. This could be especially useful for interviewing (quasi-)famous about whom there’s a lot of information online from which Gemini can draw.
How to get there: gemini.google.com/app (this is an update from the previous URL, bard.google.com/chat, which now redirects)
The Gemini disclaimer: Your conversations are processed by human reviewers to improve the technologies powering Gemini Apps. Don’t enter anything you wouldn’t want reviewed or used.
This will mark my first full year living in Nashville. My wife and I are now Nashville SC season ticket-holders. As such, I thought formulating questions for a fake interview with Walker Zimmerman, one of Nashville’s star players, would be fun.
Since the idea is to save time while uncovering new ideas, I’m going to give Gemini minimal information and direction.
Prompt I Used
I want to write a blog post about Nashville SC star Walker Zimmerman. Assuming I secure an interview, please give me 20 unique questions I should ask him that would make for an interesting profile.
Response Summary
Gemini broke the 20 questions into four categories – Career & Playing Style; Life & Personality; Nashville & MLS; Fun & Unexpected – and even included bonus questions.
I’m impressed by the organization and “thoughtfulness.”
Full Response
20 Unique Questions for Walker Zimmerman Blog Post:
Career & Playing Style:
Beyond trophies, what moment defines your career so far, and why?
Describe your evolution as a defender over the years. What areas have you improved the most?
You're known for your leadership. How do you motivate yourself and your teammates on and off the field?
Nashville SC plays an attacking style. How do you adapt your defending to different formations and tactics?
Who is the toughest striker you've faced, and what made them challenging?
What advice would you give to young aspiring defenders?
Life & Personality:
What are your passions outside of soccer? How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
You're involved in community work. Why is giving back important to you, and what causes are close to your heart?
Describe your pre-game rituals or superstitions. Does music play a role in your focus?
What book, movie, or TV show has impacted you the most, and why?
You spend a lot of time traveling. What's your favorite away city to visit, and why?
Who is your biggest inspiration, on or off the field, and why?
Nashville & MLS:
How has Nashville evolved as a soccer city since you joined? What excites you most about its future?
What are your thoughts on the growth of MLS compared to European leagues? What are the unique challenges and opportunities?
Looking ahead, what are your personal and team goals for the upcoming season?
You've captained the US national team. What does representing your country mean to you?
What are your thoughts on the upcoming World Cup in 2026 being hosted in the USA, Mexico, and Canada?
What advice would you give to fans who want to get more involved in supporting Nashville SC and MLS?
Fun & Unexpected:
If you weren't a professional soccer player, what career path do you think you would have chosen?
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or dead), who would they be and why?
Bonus:
Ask him about any interesting pre-match traditions or rituals he or his teammates have.
Get his thoughts on any current events or issues relevant to soccer or his community.
Prepare some follow-up questions based on his individual responses to delve deeper into specific topics.
Remember, these are just suggestions. Adapt them to fit your style and the overall direction of your interview. Good luck!'
END OF GEMINI RESPONSE
Analysis
I’m conducting this analysis through the lens of: If I were actually going to interview Walker Zimmerman, would Gemini’s response help me? More specifically:
Does it save time?
Are the questions accurate?
Did it come up with questions I wouldn’t have considered?
Let’s take these one at a time.
1. Does it save time?
The short answer is “Yes.”
The time saved in typing these questions alone is significant. It’s the difference between typing those 20-plus questions manually, or simply having to copy and paste them.
The other way in which it could save time is in research and idea generation.
I would hope that before conducting an interview, the interviewer would research their topic and NOT rely solely on an AI chatbot for that step. Even so, if the reporter/writer has in fact researched their topic, any fact-checking on the questions should be minimal.
If there is a question that raises a red flag, one of two things could happen. You recognize that something about the question doesn’t seem quite right and 1) confirm it contains inaccuracies and remove it from the list or 2) realize in your follow-up that this red flag was actually something you didn’t know, thereby teaching you something new about your subject.
That challenge aside, this is great for idea generation. You could ask Gemini to come up with a list of 20 additional, completely unrelated questions, and you would have a treasure trove from which to choose.
Conclusion: In this exercise, Gemini saved time in both the typing of the questions as well as idea generation.
I 100 percent recommend using Gemini (or other reliable chatbots) to save time and generate ideas for interview questions.
Those questions, however, are only useful if they are accurate.
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