llms.txt is a text file in the root of your website that tells AI systems what matters on the site and where it lives. The name deliberately echoes robots.txt, but the job is different: robots.txt controls what a crawler must not touch, llms.txt offers what a language model should preferably read.
What the file is and is not
Technically llms.txt is simple: a Markdown file at your-domain.com/llms.txt. No new format, no programming, just structured text. The idea behind it assumes that your actual HTML pages carry a lot of clutter for a language model — navigation, ads, scripts — and that a tidy map of the important content raises the chance of being cited correctly.
Worth putting in context: llms.txt is a young proposal, not a standard every major provider is guaranteed to read. Treat it as a cheap addition, not a replacement for good, clearly structured pages. The real work of getting AI answers to cite you still happens in the copy itself, as described in getting found in ChatGPT.
What belongs in it
The layout is deliberately simple. At the very top an H1 with the name of the website. Below it a short paragraph summarizing what the site offers and for whom. Then sections with ## headings, each holding a list of links, every link with a short description after it.
# My Company
> Short description: what we offer and for whom.
## Key pages
- [Services](https://…/services): overview of what we do
- [Pricing](https://…/pricing): costs and packages
## Guides
- [Guide XY](https://…/guides/xy): answers question Z
The links should point to your best, self-contained content: the pages that answer a question completely. Not the contact page, not the imprint. A curated selection of ten strong pages is worth more than a complete list of all two hundred.
How to create and place it
You write the file by hand or generate it from your CMS and place it so it is reachable at /llms.txt. On most setups that means putting the file in the public root and opening it once in the browser to confirm it is served as plain text, not wrapped in an HTML shell.
One honest note: Traffalyzer has an llms.txt of its own, and the best test is to open your own file and read it as if you were the model. Does it say exactly what someone would need to know about you to recommend you correctly? If not, what is missing is not the file but the page behind it.
Whether the effort pays off
For a small website, llms.txt is written in half an hour and nearly maintenance-free afterwards. The possible gain is small in volume but high in quality: someone who arrives through an AI answer has often half-decided already. That relationship is what makes AI visibility a lever of its own beside classic search, as described among the four levers in increasing website traffic.
Frequently asked questions
What is llms.txt?
A Markdown file in a website's root (/llms.txt) that offers AI systems a tidy map of the most important content. It complements robots.txt but does not replace it: robots.txt controls access, llms.txt recommends content.
How do I create an llms.txt?
Write a Markdown file with an H1 as the site name, a short description paragraph and ## sections with lists of links to your best pages. Then place it so it is reachable at your-domain.com/llms.txt as plain text.
Do ChatGPT and Google read llms.txt?
llms.txt is a young proposal, not a guaranteed standard. Not every provider reads it reliably. Treat it as a cheap addition; real AI visibility comes from clearly structured, self-contained pages.