llms.txt

What is llms.txt?

It is a text file written in Markdown, served at a path such as yourdomain.com/llms.txt, that acts as a curated guide to your site for large language models. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard in September 2024 and is documented at llmstxt.org, which describes it as a proposal rather than an agreed standard.

What goes in an llms.txt file?

The proposal sets out a simple structure, in this order:

• An H1 heading with the name of the site or project. This is the only required part.
• A blockquote with a short summary of what the site is.
• Optional paragraphs with any other key details.
• H2 sections, each containing a list of links to important pages with a short note on each.

Do AI engines actually use llms.txt?

There is no public confirmation that they rely on it. Google says you do not need to create new machine-readable files or AI text files to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. OpenAI’s crawler documentation explains visibility in ChatGPT search through robots.txt and OAI-SearchBot, not llms.txt.

Some developer tools and documentation sites publish one so coding assistants can read their docs more easily, which is where it has seen most use. Treat it as a low-cost experiment, not a ranking factor.

How do you add llms.txt to a site?

1. 1Pick the 10 to 30 pages that best explain what you do and answer common questions.
2. 2Write the file with an H1, a one-paragraph summary and H2 sections of links.
3. 3Save it as llms.txt at the root of your site.
4. 4Optionally, publish clean Markdown versions of key pages, which the proposal suggests serving at the same URL with .md added.
5. 5Keep it updated when important pages change.