What Is llms.txt? What It Does and How to Create One

Key takeaways

llms.txt is a proposal from September 2024, not an official web standard.
It is a Markdown file at yoursite.com/llms.txt with your site name, a short summary and lists of key links.
Google says you do not need special AI text files to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
It takes under an hour to create. Publish it if you like, but spend most of your effort on crawlable, clear content.

Clients ask me about llms.txt as part of AI search optimization work. The honest answer is shorter than most articles suggest, so here it is in plain words.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a Markdown file placed at the root of a website, for example example.com/llms.txt, that tells large language models what the site is and where its most useful content lives. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard on September 3, 2024, as a way to give AI tools a clean summary instead of making them parse full HTML pages.

The proposal lives at llmstxt.org, which describes itself as a proposal to standardize the file and says it is open for community input. The idea is aimed mainly at the moment an AI tool is answering a question and needs context quickly, for example when a developer asks a coding assistant about a software library's documentation.

What goes inside an llms.txt file?

The format is simple Markdown. An H1 with the name of the site or project is the only required part. Then, usually, a blockquote with a short summary, a few lines of extra detail, and sections with H2 headings that list links, each with a short note. A section called Optional holds links an AI tool can skip.

# Example Plumbing Co.

> Licensed plumbing company in Austin, Texas. Emergency repairs, water heaters and drain cleaning.

## Services
- [Emergency plumbing](https://example.com/emergency/): 24/7 repairs in Austin
- [Water heaters](https://example.com/water-heaters/): repair and installation

## Optional
- [Blog](https://example.com/blog/): maintenance tips

The proposal also suggests offering clean Markdown versions of important pages at the same URL with .md added. That part is optional.

What llms.txt is not

File	What it is for	Who reads it today
robots.txt	Tells crawlers which URLs they may request	Search engine and many AI crawlers, as a documented standard
XML sitemap	Lists the URLs you want search engines to find	Google, Bing and other search engines
llms.txt	A Markdown summary and link map for language models	No major AI company has publicly confirmed using it

llms.txt does not block or allow anything. If you want to control which AI crawlers can access your site, that is the job of robots.txt, which Google explains in its introduction to robots.txt and lists its own tokens in Google's common crawlers. I cover that in my robots.txt guide. And it does not replace an XML sitemap.

Does Google use llms.txt?

There is no sign that it does. Google's documentation on AI features says you do not need to create new machine readable files, AI text files or markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. In April 2025, Google's John Mueller said that, as far as he knew, none of the AI services had said they use llms.txt.

The first statement is in Google's guide to AI features and your website. The second was reported by Search Engine Journal in an article on Mueller's Reddit comment, where he also compared the file to the old keywords meta tag: a site describing itself, which a system can check by just reading the site. That was a personal comment in a forum, not official documentation, and things can change; but nothing official from Google says otherwise.

Does llms.txt help SEO?

Not for Google rankings, as far as public information shows. It is not a ranking factor and Google says no special AI files are needed for its AI features. Its possible value is elsewhere: an AI agent or developer tool that reads it gets a tidy map of your site. Treat it as a low-cost extra, not a strategy.

How do you create an llms.txt file?

Write a short Markdown file with your site name as H1, a one or two sentence summary, a few key facts and lists of your most important pages with a note each. Save it as llms.txt, upload it to the root of your domain and open it in a browser to confirm it loads. Keep it consistent with your site.

Write an H1 with your business or site name.
Add a one or two sentence summary in a blockquote: what you do, for whom, where.
Add a few plain facts an assistant might need: service area, hours, how to contact you.
Under H2 headings, list your most important pages with a short note each: services, pricing, contact, key guides.
Keep it short and true. Every fact must match what your pages say.
Save it as plain text named llms.txt and upload it to the root of your domain.
Open yoursite.com/llms.txt in a browser to confirm it loads.
Update it when you add or remove key pages, or generate it automatically from your site.

This site publishes one at jjseocolombia.com/llms.txt, generated automatically on every build from the same data as the pages, so it never goes out of date. Several CMS plugins and site builders can also generate one.

Can llms.txt hurt your site?

Not by itself. It is a static text file that search engines treat like any other file. The only real risks are publishing facts that contradict your pages, such as old prices or services, and spending time on it that should go to fixing content or crawl problems that actually affect how Google and AI tools see your site.

What matters more than llms.txt for AI visibility

Crawler access

Make sure search and AI crawlers you want are not blocked by robots.txt or a firewall.

Clear answers

Pages that answer real questions directly, near the top.

Indexable pages

If Google cannot index a page, its AI features cannot use it.

Consistent facts

Same name, address, services and prices everywhere.

Reputation

Reviews and mentions on other sites that AI tools can find.

Measurement

Track where you appear in AI answers instead of guessing.

The full picture is in my AI visibility guide and, step by step, in how to show up in ChatGPT and AI Overviews. As an SEO consultant, I can check what AI tools see on your site in a free diagnosis: book it here.

Frequently asked questions

Is llms.txt the same as llm.txt?

No. The proposal uses the plural name llms.txt, at the root of the domain.

Do I need a developer to add llms.txt?

No. It is a text file you can upload through your hosting panel or FTP, or through a plugin on many CMSs.

What is llms-full.txt?

Some sites publish a second, longer file with the full text of their docs. It is a common convention, not a requirement.

Should llms.txt list every page?

No. List the pages that matter most. A sitemap is the place for every URL.

Will ChatGPT read my llms.txt?

No AI company has publicly confirmed using it in its answers, so do not count on it.

About the author

Juan José Giraldo is an SEO consultant in Medellín, Colombia, with 5+ years of experience. He works on technical and local SEO for 600+ US car dealerships at Reunion Marketing, an Inc. 5000 agency, and supervises the SEO of 18 US online stores with more than 3 million products at Prontomowers. Read more · LinkedIn.

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What is llms.txt? An honest guide to the file everyone is asking about.