What is llms.txt and should your website have one?
Why it exists
Websites are built for human eyes, full of navigation, scripts and design elements. AI systems have to dig through all of that to find the substance. An llms.txt file cuts straight to it: a short description and a curated list of the pages that matter.
What goes in it
- Your name or business name as a heading
- A one-paragraph summary of who you are and what you do
- Links to key pages with a one-line description of each
- Optional sections for guides, articles and contact details
Some sites also publish an llms-full.txt file containing the full text of their key content in one place.
Does it guarantee anything?
No. It's a proposed standard, and AI companies use it to different degrees. But it takes minutes to create, costs nothing, and sits alongside robots.txt and sitemaps as part of making your site machine-friendly. For experts and small businesses, low effort and potential upside make it worth doing.
How to add one
Write the file in a simple markdown format, save it as llms.txt, and upload it to the root of your website. This site has one you can look at as an example.
Frequently asked questions
Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?
No. robots.txt tells crawlers which pages they may access. llms.txt tells AI systems what your site is about and which pages matter most.
Where do I put llms.txt?
In the root folder of your website, so it's reachable at yourdomain.com/llms.txt.
Want this done for you?
I build brands and websites that are optimised for search, answer engines and AI from day one. See the AI Visibility Sprint or book a call.