llms.txt is a plain text file at the root of your website, at yoursite.com/llms.txt. It gives AI assistants a short, clean summary of who you are and links to your most important pages, written in Markdown. Think of it as a curated table of contents for language models. robots.txt tells crawlers where they may go, and a sitemap lists every URL. llms.txt tells an AI what matters.
It takes about 20 minutes to write one by hand. Below is the format, a free template you can copy, our own file as a real example, and an honest look at what it does and does not do.
What llms.txt is, and what it is not
The format was proposed in September 2024 by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI as a way to give language models a compact, readable version of a site. Web pages are full of navigation, scripts and cookie banners. An LLM reading them through a search tool or an agent wastes most of its context on clutter. A Markdown summary fixes that.
| File | Purpose | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| robots.txt | Which paths crawlers may or may not visit | Search and AI crawlers |
| sitemap.xml | A full list of URLs to index | Search engines |
| llms.txt | A short, curated summary with links to key pages | AI assistants, agents and tools that fetch it |
| llms-full.txt | Optional: the full text of key pages in one file | Agents and coding tools |
What it is not:
- Not an access control file. You cannot block or allow AI training with llms.txt. That is still done in robots.txt, with user agents such as GPTBot, Google-Extended or ClaudeBot.
- Not a ranking factor. Google representatives have said Google Search does not use it, and no major AI provider has said it uses llms.txt to choose what to cite.
- Not a replacement for good pages. If the pages it links to are thin or not crawlable, the file does not help.
So why bother? It is cheap, and it is read in practice by AI coding tools, agents and some assistants when they fetch a site directly. It also forces you to write the one-paragraph description of your business that every AI answer is trying to reconstruct from your site.
The llms.txt format
The proposal defines a simple Markdown structure, in this order:
- An H1 with the name of the site or company. This is the only required part.
- A blockquote with a one or two sentence summary.
- Optional paragraphs with key facts: what you do, for whom, where, and anything an AI should not get wrong.
- H2 sections with link lists. Each line is
- [Page name](URL): short note. - An optional section called "Optional" for links that can be skipped when context is short.
Free llms.txt template
Copy this, replace the brackets, and save it as llms.txt:
# [Company name]
> [One sentence: what you do, for whom, and where.]
[Two to four sentences with the facts an AI should get right: main services or products, markets and languages, founding year or size if relevant, and what makes you different.]
## Services
- [Service one](https://example.com/service-one/): [What it is and who it is for.]
- [Service two](https://example.com/service-two/): [What it is and who it is for.]
## Products and pricing
- [Pricing](https://example.com/pricing/): [Plans, starting price, free trial if any.]
## Proof
- [Case study](https://example.com/case-studies/client/): [Client, what was built, the result.]
- [Reviews](https://example.com/reviews/): [Where reviews live.]
## Contact
- Email: [email]
- Address: [city, country]
## Optional
- [Blog](https://example.com/blog/): [Main topics.]
- [About](https://example.com/about/): [Team and history.]
A real example: our own llms.txt
We publish one for this site. Here is the start of it, shortened:
# Somos Media
> AI-first growth partner. Web development, SEO and AI automation
> for modern businesses worldwide.
## Core Services
- [Web development](https://somosmedia.co/en/web-development): Modern,
fast, mobile-friendly, SEO-optimized websites and online stores.
- [SEO](https://somosmedia.co/en/seo): Keyword research, technical SEO,
link building and content.
- [International SEO](https://somosmedia.co/en/international-seo/):
Keyword research per market, hreflang and localized content.
## Vistobi (AI SEO and marketing tool by Somos Media)
Vistobi is an AI SEO and marketing tool for small businesses, online
stores, agencies and freelancers. ...
You can read the whole file at somosmedia.co/llms.txt. Two things we learned while maintaining it:
- It goes out of date quietly. When we added French pages and new services, the file still described the old site until we updated it. Put it on the same checklist as your sitemap.
- Facts matter more than slogans. The useful lines are prices, languages, integrations and what the product does and does not do. That is what AI answers get wrong most often.
How to create and publish your llms.txt
- List your 10 to 30 most important pages. Services, pricing, case studies, contact, and the guides that answer your buyers' main questions.
- Write the summary. One sentence for the blockquote, then a short paragraph of facts. Use the same wording as your homepage and Google Business Profile.
- Add one line per page with a note that says what the page answers.
- Save it as plain text named llms.txt and upload it to the root of your domain, next to robots.txt.
- WordPress: upload it to the site root by FTP or your host's file manager. Several SEO plugins can also generate one.
- Shopify, Wix and other hosted builders: support varies. Some offer an app or setting, otherwise use a redirect or app proxy to a hosted file.
- Custom sites and JavaScript apps: put it in the public or static folder so it is served as a file, not as an app route.
- Check it. Open yoursite.com/llms.txt in a browser. It should load as plain text with a 200 status, not your 404 page or homepage.
- Update it whenever you add a service, change prices or launch a new language.
llms.txt generators: worth using?
Generators crawl your site and turn page titles and descriptions into an llms.txt. They are a fast first draft, but check three things before publishing:
- They list too much. A generator often includes every blog post and tag page. Cut the list to what matters.
- They copy your meta descriptions. If those are written for clicks, rewrite them as plain facts.
- They do not know your business. The summary paragraph, the thing AI most needs, is usually generic. Write it yourself.
Does llms.txt improve AI visibility?
On its own, probably not much. What moves AI answers is the same work described in our guides on how to rank in ChatGPT and GEO vs SEO: crawlable pages, clear answers, and a brand that other sites mention. llms.txt is a small, low-cost addition on top.
The only way to know whether anything you change is working is to ask AI assistants the same buyer questions over time. The Vistobi AI visibility checker does that on ChatGPT and Gemini, and shows which sources the answers use. The free plan runs a 5-question check once a month.
Key takeaways
- llms.txt is a Markdown summary of your site for AI assistants, at yoursite.com/llms.txt.
- It is not an access control file and not a confirmed ranking or citation factor.
- It takes about 20 minutes to write by hand: H1, a one-sentence summary, key facts, then linked pages with short notes.
- Keep it short, factual and current. Update it when your services, prices or languages change.
- Measure AI visibility separately, with the same questions over time.