llms.txt is a plain-text file at the root of your site that gives AI models a short, curated guide to your content. No search engine requires one, and Google says Google Search ignores it. We publish one on all three of our own sites anyway, because it takes minutes and costs nothing. It is not a way to allow or block anything.
What Is llms.txt, and Do You Need One?
A short, honest answer on the file that points AI models at your best pages.
The short answer
llms.txt is a Markdown file at your site root that gives AI models a curated map of your content. It is a proposal, not a standard, and it does not allow or block anything. No search engine requires it and Google Search ignores it, but it is cheap to publish if you keep it accurate.
Bottom linePublish llms.txt only if you will keep it accurate, and use robots.txt for any real access rules.
A proposed plain-text Markdown file at /llms.txt that gives language models a short guide to a site and links to its most useful pages.
The idea was proposed in September 2024 by Jeremy Howard. The file lives at /llms.txt and is written in Markdown. Only the title is required: a single top heading with the name of your site or project. After that you can add a short summary in a blockquote, a few notes, and lists of links to your most useful pages, each with a one-line description. A model can read that instead of working out your site from full HTML.
# Example Co
> Example Co makes invoicing software for freelancers.
## Docs
- [Getting started](https://example.com/docs/start): Set up your first invoice
- [API reference](https://example.com/docs/api): Endpoints and authentication
## Optional
- [Changelog](https://example.com/changelog): Release history
By convention, a section called Optional holds secondary links an assistant can skip when it needs a shorter read. In version 2 of the proposal this is a convention only, with no special handling attached, so you can name a lower-priority section whatever suits you.
The proposal was revised in August 2026. The second version allows a file at any subpath, such as /docs/llms.txt, and recommends clean Markdown copies of your pages for the links to point to. If you want to build your own, see how to write an llms.txt file. For real-world files and ideas on what to put in yours, see llms.txt examples and what to put in yours.
What it is not
It is not an official web standard. Its authors describe it as a proposal that is open for community input. It is also not a permissions file. It does not tell any crawler what it may or may not read. That job belongs to robots.txt, and what each of these files does is covered in its own post.
Support is uneven. The proposal was written with software documentation in mind, so a coding assistant can find API references. Google is direct about its own search: Google Search does not use llms.txt, so having one neither helps nor harms your visibility or rankings there. That covers Google only, and other tools may read the file. Even so, do not expect llms.txt to lift your rankings or guarantee that an AI answer cites you. For how this fits alongside search and AI visibility, read SEO, AEO and GEO: what is the difference.
Do you need one
Nothing requires one, and your Google rankings do not depend on it. We still publish one on all three of our own sites, because it is cheap and we treat it as part of the foundation: a clear, current guide to our best pages for any tool that does read it. It matters most in a few cases:
- You run documentation or developer content that people feed into AI coding tools.
- You have a large site where a short, hand-picked map is more useful than a crawl.
- You want a low-cost signal and can keep the file accurate.
If you skip it, nothing breaks. If you publish one, keep it in step with your real pages, because a stale map is worse than none.
How to check yours
Open yourdomain.com/llms.txt in a browser. You should see plain text, not a web page. A common mistake is a site that serves its 404 page with a 200 status, which looks like a file but is not one.
The quick way is to check your llms.txt by running your domain through the free tool. It confirms the file exists, is not empty, is plain text, and starts with the title heading the format expects.
Related pages
- Glossary: llms.txt
- Free tool: llms.txt checker
- Write your own file: How to write an llms.txt file, with template
- Real examples: llms.txt examples and what to put in yours
- How it sits beside your other files: robots.txt, sitemap.xml and llms.txt: what each file does
- The wider picture: SEO, AEO and GEO: what is the difference
- GEO
Format
The format starts with a Markdown title, and a short summary and link lists can follow.
What we did: Start the file with a single title heading.
- !AEO
Access control
llms.txt does not block or allow any crawler.
What we did: Use robots.txt for access rules.
What this cannot tell you
This does not cover which specific AI tools read llms.txt today, because support changes and is not publicly documented for most of them.
Rankings and recommendations reflect our own testing and criteria. Pricing and features change often — always confirm current details directly with the provider.
FAQ
No. It is a community proposal that began in September 2024 and is still open for input.
No. It only describes your content. Blocking and allowing is done in robots.txt.
No. Google says Google Search ignores llms.txt files, so having one neither helps nor harms your rankings there.
Open it in a browser to confirm it is plain text, or run the llms.txt checker for a quick pass or fail.
See how your own site scores
Run the same AEO, SEO, and GEO checks this explainer is about — free, rule-based, no signup.
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