What is llms.txt, and does my site need one?
All guidesUpdated 6 steps
TL;DR
llms.txt is a Markdown file at the root of your site that gives AI tools a short summary of who you are and links to your most useful pages. It is a proposed convention from llmstxt.org, not a standard, and nothing guarantees that any engine reads it. It is cheap to write and low risk, so have one, but do not rely on it.
Web pages are full of navigation, scripts and layout that a language model has to wade through. llms.txt puts a plain, curated summary in one predictable place: yoursite.com/llms.txt.
It is not robots.txt. It does not allow or block anything. It only offers a map, and a tool that never asks for the file never sees it.
Step by step
- Step 1
Write the H1 and the one-line summary
Start the file with a single H1: your site or product name. Follow it with a blockquote, a line starting with >, that says in one sentence what you do and for whom. The H1 is the only part the proposal requires; the summary is what makes the file useful.
- Step 2
Add a short details paragraph
Below the summary, add a few plain sentences a model would need to describe you correctly: what the product does, who it is not for, and any terms you use in a specific way. Keep every claim factual. Anything you write here may be repeated back to someone.
- Step 3
List your key pages under H2 sections
Group links under H2 headings such as Docs, Pricing or Guides. Each item is a Markdown link with an absolute URL, optionally followed by a colon and a short note on what the page covers. Link the pages that answer real questions, not every URL in your sitemap.
- Step 4
Put nice-to-have links under Optional
The proposal reserves an H2 called Optional for links a tool can skip when it needs a shorter context. Use it for background pages, changelogs and older material.
- Step 5
Publish it at the root and keep it current
Serve the file at /llms.txt as plain text. Check that every link resolves, and update the file when you add or retire key pages. A map that points at dead pages is worse than no map.
- Step 6
Validate it, then get back to your pages
Check the file for a missing H1, a missing summary, relative links and empty sections. RankingTop's free llms.txt generator builds the file in this format and runs those checks. Then spend your time on the pages themselves, because those are what an engine quotes.
Questions people ask next
Does ChatGPT read llms.txt?
OpenAI has not published that ChatGPT uses llms.txt. A crawler fetching the file, which you may see in your logs, does not show that the file changes any answer. Write it as optional context, not as a lever.
Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?
No. robots.txt tells crawlers what they may fetch, and reputable crawlers follow it. llms.txt only offers a summary and links, and it cannot allow or block anything. To let AI crawlers in or keep them out, edit robots.txt.
Can llms.txt hurt my site?
Not in any documented way. It is a public file, so put nothing in it you would not put on your homepage. The real risk is treating it as a substitute for clear pages.
Where should the file live?
At the root of your domain, at /llms.txt, served as plain text. The proposal also suggests offering clean Markdown versions of key pages at the same URL with .md added. That part is optional.