TL;DR — llms.txt is a small markdown file at your site root that tells AI crawlers what you do, in your own words. Ten minutes to ship. Measurable improvements in brand descriptions, citation rates, and hallucination reduction.
What llms.txt is
llms.txt is a plain markdown file you serve at https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt. It gives AI crawlers a curated, human-authored summary of your site — what you do, what matters, and where the canonical resources live.
Think of it as the executive summary an AI reads before diving into your site.
Why it matters
LLMs do not always crawl your entire site. When they do, they lose signal in your marketing copy. llms.txt is a shortcut: a machine-readable, no-fluff summary you control.
Early data from our platform shows sites with a well-formed llms.txt get:
- More accurate brand descriptions in ChatGPT
- Higher citation rates in Perplexity for canonical topics
- Fewer hallucinations about pricing, features, and availability
The minimum viable llms.txt
# YourBrand
> One-sentence positioning that a customer would use.
YourBrand helps [audience] do [job] by [mechanism].
## Core pages
- [Product](/product): What it does, in plain language.
- [Pricing](/pricing): Plans, limits, and how billing works.
- [Docs](/docs): Technical reference for developers.
- [Blog](/blog): Fresh writing on [topic].
## Optional
- [Changelog](/changelog): What shipped this month.
- [Security](/security): Data handling and compliance.
That's it. Six sections. Ten minutes. Ship it today.
Advanced patterns
- Include quotable stats. "Used by 3,200 teams." "97% uptime." LLMs will lift these.
- Name your competitors. A short "Alternatives" section — "YourBrand vs X, Y, Z" — helps LLMs place you in the right consideration set.
- Version your llms.txt with a date at the top. Some crawlers respect it as a freshness signal.
What not to do
- Do not stuff keywords. Modern crawlers detect and demote it.
- Do not paste your entire site. The point is the summary, not the archive.
- Do not include marketing hyperbole. "The world's most innovative platform for…" gets ignored.
Distribution
Once llms.txt is live, don't just wait. Announce it:
- Add it to your
robots.txtas a comment reference - Include a link in your OpenAPI or Postman collection if you have one
- Reference it from your
/aboutpage
Small file. Real leverage.
Frequently asked questions
What is llms.txt?
A plain markdown file served at /llms.txt that gives AI crawlers a human-authored summary of your site — what you do, what matters, and where the canonical resources live.
Is llms.txt an official standard?
It's a community-proposed convention (llmstxt.org) that major AI companies have signaled support for. Not a W3C standard yet, but rapidly adopted.
Where do I put llms.txt?
At the root of your domain: https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt. Same location convention as robots.txt.
How long should llms.txt be?
Short. Under 500 lines. It's an executive summary, not a sitemap. Link out to your canonical pages instead of duplicating them.
Does llms.txt hurt my SEO?
No. It's ignored by traditional search crawlers and only consumed by AI-aware crawlers that respect it.
Key takeaways
- Ship a 10-minute
llms.txttoday — the ROI is immediate. - Include quotable stats and a short alternatives/competitor section.
- Version it with a date; some crawlers respect it as a freshness signal.
- Do not stuff keywords or paste your entire site.
