What Is llms.txt and How to Create One (With Examples)

llms.txt is a plain-text file you place at your site root (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that tells large language models what your site is and where your most important content lives. Think of it as a curated map for AI, the way robots.txt is a rulebook for crawlers and sitemap.xml is an index for search engines. In our scans, 54% of sites do not have one yet, so adding it is an easy, early advantage.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is an emerging standard for an AI-readable summary of your website. It is written in simple Markdown: a short description of what you do, followed by curated links to your key pages with one-line explanations. When an AI model or agent visits, it can read this single file to understand your site quickly instead of crawling everything and guessing.

Why it matters

AI engines have limited attention and imperfect parsing. An llms.txt hands them a clean, authoritative summary in your own words, which improves how accurately they describe and cite you. Because adoption is still low, it is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-effort moves in AI search readiness today.

What goes in an llms.txt

A good llms.txt has a clear structure:

• An H1 with your site or brand name.
• A one-paragraph summary of what you offer, in a blockquote.
• Sections (## headings) grouping your key pages: products, docs, tools, about.
• Under each section, links in the form: a title, the URL, and a short description of what the page is.

Keep it focused on your best, most useful pages. It is a curation, not a full sitemap.

How to create one

1. List your most important pages: homepage, core products or services, documentation, and top tools or resources.
2. Write a one-line description for each, in plain language.
3. Add a short summary of what your site does at the top.
4. Save it as a Markdown-style text file and publish it at yoursite.com/llms.txt.
5. Verify it loads and that the links resolve.

The fastest path is to let the free AI-Fix Generator draft an llms.txt from your real pages, then publish it. You can also scan your site with the SEO Agent to confirm it is detected.

llms.txt vs robots.txt vs sitemap.xml

robots.txt

Rules: which crawlers may access which paths. Controls AI-crawler access.

sitemap.xml

Index: a machine-readable list of all your URLs for discovery.

llms.txt

Meaning: a curated, human-written summary of what matters, for language models.

They complement each other. For the full picture, see what AI search readiness is and the glossary.

FAQ

Where do I put llms.txt?

At your site root, reachable at yoursite.com/llms.txt, the same place as robots.txt.

Is llms.txt an official standard?

It is an emerging, community-driven convention that AI tools are increasingly recognizing. It is low-risk to add and easy to update.

Do I still need robots.txt and a sitemap?

Yes. llms.txt does not replace them. Allow AI crawlers in robots.txt and keep a valid sitemap; add llms.txt on top.