What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file at your site's root that points AI tools to your most useful pages. What it does, who reads it, and a sample.
Updated
llms.txt is a proposed standard: a Markdown file at the root of a site (/llms.txt) that gives large language models a short summary of the site and links to its most useful pages. Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI proposed it in September 2024. It is a convention, not a rule crawlers must follow, and it does not control access the way robots.txt does.
What goes in an llms.txt file?
The proposal asks for an H1 with the site name, a short summary in a blockquote, then sections of links with one-line notes:
# Acme Plumbing
> Licensed plumbers in Denver. Repairs, water heaters and drain cleaning.
## Services
- [Water heater replacement](https://acme.example/water-heaters): prices, brands, timing
- [Drain cleaning](https://acme.example/drains): what we fix and what it costs
## Optional
- [About us](https://acme.example/about)Do AI engines read llms.txt?
Support is uneven and mostly undocumented. Google’s guidance on its AI features says you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or markup to appear in them. Some AI tools and coding assistants fetch llms.txt when a user points them at a site. Treat it as a cheap, optional extra rather than a ranking lever: it takes minutes to write and can help the tools that look for it.
How do I make one?
Write it by hand from your main pages, or use the llms.txt generator, then test it with the llms.txt checker. SEO Rank Fixer also builds a starter llms.txt from your site’s pages for you to edit and upload.
Related: GEO, XML sitemap.