llms.txt: what it is and how to make one
A simple text file that hands AI a curated map of your site. Promising, low-cost, but not yet an official standard. Here is the honest picture.
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Check your AI visibility →What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a proposed standard: a markdown file placed at the root of your domain, at /llms.txt, that gives AI systems a clean, curated map of your most important pages and what they contain. Think of it as a table of contents written for language models instead of humans, so they can find your best content fast.
The idea, published at llmstxt.org, is to reduce guesswork. Instead of crawling everything, a model can read one file that points to what matters.
Does llms.txt actually work yet?
Honestly, adoption is early and unproven. No major AI engine has publicly confirmed that llms.txt changes how it cites you, so treat it as a low-cost bet, not a guaranteed ranking factor. It costs little to add and cannot hurt, but do not expect it to replace crawlability, answer-first content or authority.
We publish our own llms.txt because we recommend it and want to practice what we preach, while being clear about its current limits.
How to make an llms.txt file
Create a plain markdown file named llms.txt at your domain root. Start with an H1 of your site name, a short blockquote summary, then grouped links to your key pages with a one-line description each. Keep it curated, not exhaustive, and serve it as text/plain so any client can read it.
# Your brand
> One sentence on what you do.
## Key pages
- [Home](https://example.com/): what visitors can do here.
- [Pricing](https://example.com/pricing): plans and costs.See your AI-visibility score
Run a free scan and see how visible your site is to ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI, as one of four subscores.
Check your AI visibility →