Guide · Technical
What is llms.txt, and does it help?
llms.txt is a Markdown file at the root of a website that summarises the site for large language models, with links to its key pages. It is a proposed convention, not a standard. Google says no special AI files are needed to appear in its AI features, so treat llms.txt as cheap housekeeping, not a ranking lever.
Updated · By the Cited team
What llms.txt is
The llms.txt proposal, published at llmstxt.org, suggests that websites add a file at /llms.txt written in Markdown. It opens with the site’s name and a one-paragraph summary, then lists the pages a language model should read, each with a short note. Some sites also publish /llms-full.txt, with the full text of those pages in one file.
The idea is simple: HTML pages carry menus, scripts and layout that a model has to strip away, while a short Markdown file gives it the essentials in one read.
What goes in an llms.txt file
- A title: the name of the site or company, as a level-one heading.
- A summary: one blockquote paragraph that says what the company is and does.
- Key facts: optional detail such as what you sell, where, and for whom.
- Sections of links: the pages that matter, each with a one-line description.
Does llms.txt help AI visibility?
There is no public evidence that it does, and the platforms say they don’t need it. Google’s documentation for AI Overviews and AI Mode is explicit: “You don’t need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features.” Google’s John Mueller has also been openly skeptical; Search Engine Journal reported in June 2026 that he called it speculative and said it can’t help models tell websites apart.
No major AI engine has said it uses llms.txt to decide what to cite. Engines that answer from the live web, such as ChatGPT search and Google’s AI features, find pages through their normal crawlers and indexes. What gets you into their answers is the same as ever: being crawlable, answering the question clearly, and being mentioned by the sites they trust. Our AI SEO and GEO guide covers those steps.
| Signal | Used by AI engines? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| robots.txt | Yes: it controls which crawlers may read your site | Allow the search crawlers you want, such as OAI-SearchBot |
| sitemap.xml | Yes: it helps search engines find pages | List every page with a true last-modified date |
| Indexing and snippet eligibility | Yes: Google requires both for AI Overviews links | Fix crawl and index problems first |
| llms.txt | No confirmed use | Optional: add it if it is easy to keep accurate |
Should you add one anyway?
If it costs you an hour, yes. It does no harm, some tools and AI agents fetch it when they visit a site, and writing it forces a useful exercise: summarising what you do in one paragraph and choosing the pages that matter. Generate it from the same source as your pages so it never drifts out of date.
Cited serves both files, built from the same copy as the site itself: see cited.io/llms.txt. But we don’t expect them to win answers. That job belongs to content and sources, which our guide to GEO explains.
What to do instead, or as well
- Check your robots.txt and firewall let AI search crawlers in. Our ChatGPT SEO guide lists the OpenAI agents that matter.
- Write answer-first pages for the questions your buyers ask.
- Earn mentions on the review sites, lists and forums engines cite.
- Measure what engines actually say, prompt by prompt, rather than guessing. See how to measure AI visibility.
Questions
Is llms.txt a standard?
No. It is a proposed convention published at llmstxt.org. No standards body has adopted it, and no major AI engine has confirmed using it to choose what to cite.
Does Google use llms.txt?
Google’s documentation says you don’t need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files or markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Pages need to be indexed and eligible for a snippet, as for normal search.
Where does the llms.txt file go?
At the root of your domain, so it loads at yourdomain.com/llms.txt, written in Markdown. The proposal also allows one under a section, such as /docs/llms.txt. Some sites add an llms-full.txt with the full text of the pages it lists.
Can llms.txt hurt my SEO?
Not on its own. It is a plain file that search engines treat like any other. The only risk is one that disagrees with your pages, so build it from the same source as your site.