Create a public knowledge base

Public knowledge bases are one of the easiest to set up. In this scenario, your knowledge base and all of its content are freely available to anyone on the internet.

Make your knowledge base public

To make your knowledge base public and available to anyone with the link:

1. Go to Security and access > Security settings.
2. Set the Content authentication to Public:
   Set the Content authentication to Public
3. Save your changes.

If your site is public, it can show up in Google and other search engines.

Learn more about search engine optimization in our SEO guide.

Make certain features public

Certain features may require adjustments to use in a public knowledge base:

• Subscriptions: If you want public readers to be able to subscribe to categories for updates, there's a separate setting you need to turn on in KB settings > Subscriptions. Refer to Set up public subscriptions for more detailed instructions.
• Comments: If you want public readers to be able to submit comments on your public knowledge base, make sure Only allow logged in readers and authors to leave comments is unchecked in KB settings > Comments. Refer to Set who can submit and view comments for more information on this setting.

Public knowledge base security setup considerations

Since public knowledge bases can be found by anyone (or any bot) on the internet, you'll want to consider the features you're using and the spam protection or other directives you want to provide to encourage or prevent certain uses. Review these settings and discuss them with your security team:

• Protect your contact form from spam: Public knowledge bases are the most at risk for spam, and the contact form is the most likely place you'll see spam. In Customize > Contact form, check the box to Use spam protection on ticket submissions to help prevent contact form spam. Refer to Set up contact form to send emails to one or more addresses for more information on this setting.
• Choose a spam protection format: Make sure your knowledge base is well-protected for the features you're using. Refer to Spam protection for more information.
• Create a custom robots.txt file: Set your robots.txt file in KB settings > Domain to determine which AI agents or training models (or other services) can and can't access your knowledge base. Refer to Customize your robots.txt for more detailed instructions.

Public knowledge base optimizations

Lastly, make sure your knowledge base is optimized for the types of search/AI optimization you care about. Review these options in KB settings > Domain:

• SEO settings: For optimum SEO, check all three boxes (Generate a publicly available sitemap, Ensure that page titles do not exceed 55 characters, and 301 redirect URLs ending with a trailing slash to non trailing slash). Refer to Generate your sitemap and Domain settings for more information on these settings.
• Custom llms.txt: For optimum AEO/GEO, create a custom llms.txt file that AI tools can access and create a process to maintain or update it. Refer to Create your llms.txt for more detailed instructions and guidance.