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llms.txt

llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file placed at the root of a website that gives AI tools a short, clean summary of the site and links to its most useful pages. It's a community proposal, not an official standard.

Web pages are full of menus, cookie banners, scripts and layout code. An llms.txt file strips all that away and offers AI tools a plain summary: what the site is, and links to the pages that matter most, each with a short description. It lives at https://www.example.com/llms.txt and is written in Markdown.

The idea was proposed in September 2024 by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI. It is not an official web standard, and it isn’t related to robots.txt: it doesn’t allow or block anything.

Example

# Coastline Plumbing

> Licensed plumbing company serving Austin, Round Rock and Pflugerville, Texas.
> Emergency service 24/7. Water heaters, drains, leak detection and repiping.

## Services
- [Water heater repair](https://www.example.com/water-heater-repair/): Same-day repair for tank and tankless units
- [Drain cleaning](https://www.example.com/drain-cleaning/): Clogged drains and sewer line cleaning
- [Slab leak repair](https://www.example.com/slab-leak-repair/): Detection and repair under foundations

## About
- [Service areas](https://www.example.com/service-areas/): Towns and ZIP codes we cover
- [Pricing](https://www.example.com/pricing/): Call-out fees and typical job prices
- [Contact](https://www.example.com/contact/): Phone, hours and booking

The format is an H1 with the site name, a short blockquote summary, then sections of links. An optional companion file, llms-full.txt, can hold the full text of key pages.

Does it work?

Honest answer: the evidence is limited. Google has said it doesn’t use llms.txt for Search or AI Overviews. Some AI companies and many developer documentation sites publish their own llms.txt files, and some AI coding tools read them, but no major AI assistant has confirmed it relies on llms.txt when deciding what to cite in answers.

So treat it as cheap and low-risk, not as a ranking lever. It takes minutes to create, it can help any AI tool that does read it, and it forces a useful exercise: deciding which pages best explain your business.

What matters more

If you’re working on AI visibility, these come first:

  • Letting AI crawlers access your site
  • Having clear, crawlable HTML pages that answer real questions
  • Being mentioned on trusted sites

llms.txt complements these, as part of broader generative engine optimization.

Common mistakes

  • Listing every URL like a sitemap instead of the 10 to 30 most useful pages
  • Writing marketing copy instead of plain descriptions
  • Linking to pages that redirect or no longer exist
  • Expecting it to override robots.txt blocks

How to create one

Use the free LLMs.txt Generator to build a draft from your site. RankThat’s Site Audit flags a missing llms.txt as part of its AI readiness checks, and the WordPress Bridge plugin can publish one as a reviewable fix.

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