FAQ - Public room or invitation-only room: which should I choose?
which should I choose?
Title suggestion: AGENT - FAQ - Public room or invitation-only room: which should I choose? Shelf: Work Tags: faq, asker, intelligent-netware, public-mode, invitation-only, llms-txt, decision
Public answer
Question people actually type: Public room or invitation-only room: which should I choose?
This is the one decision to make first, because the two modes work in opposite directions.
A public room exists to be found. Anyone can open it and ask a question without an account. It also publishes two things for machines: an llms.txt catalog of your approved deposits, and a Markdown twin of each deposit, which is a clean text page that AI assistants and search engines can read easily. The goal is to be found by Google and cited by the major AI assistants. A public room can also join a syndication network, so your approved knowledge shows up in more places.
An invitation-only room exists to serve the people you choose. Only people with an invitation can open it. It publishes no llms.txt and no twins, so nothing from the room is indexed. It's the right choice when your room is for clients, members, or a peer group, or when you want your website to stay the one clean place search engines see.
How to decide:
- Choose public if you want new people to find you, and if being quoted by AI assistants would help your business.
- Choose invitation-only if your room is a benefit for people already in your circle, or if you'd rather keep your knowledge out of search entirely.
Neither choice changes the core rules. Both modes answer only from your approved deposits, keep an honest empty shelf, and wait for your approval before anything changes.
You can see both modes working today. Intelligent Netware's own Asker rooms are public, including ask.intelligentnetware.com, aiselfmastery.com, danielcomp.com, and faithbreakthroughs.org. Daniel's Witness room is invitation-only: it asks for an invite token at the door and publishes no llms.txt at all.
Still not sure? Many owners start invitation-only and revisit the choice at day 10, with experience using the room. An invitation-only room gives up the search climb on purpose, and that's a sound trade when your goal is the room and the loop rather than new traffic.
Related questions
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_12-llms-txt-and-markdown-twins|What are llms.txt and Markdown twins, and why do AI agents read them?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_13-seo-and-ai-citation|Does a public Asker help with Google and with being cited by AI?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_15-what-is-syndication|What is syndication, and do I have to syndicate?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_16-how-invitations-work|How do invitations work? Can I revoke them?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_32-the-90-day-proving-period|What is the 90-day proving period?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_00-INDEX|All Asker FAQs]]
_Written by Daniel Comp with GB, Director of Operations, Intelligent Netware._