llms.txt Explained: What the File Does and Doesn’t Do

What the file is

llms.txt was published as a proposal in 2024. In plain text it contains the name, a short summary and a list of important pages with descriptions. It is meant as a signpost for language models that need to understand a website quickly.

Structure

A heading with the name of the project
A summary in one or two sentences
Sections with links and short descriptions

What is proven?

There is no official standard, and the major providers have not confirmed that they read the file. If you create one, don’t expect miracles. Good content, clear structure and structured data remain more important.

Example: what a small llms.txt can look like

The file is written in Markdown. For a joinery with two services it could look like this:

# Example Joinery > Joinery in Fellbach for made-to-measure fitted wardrobes and kitchens. ## Services - [Fitted wardrobes](https://beispiel.de/schraenke.html): Made-to-measure planning and installation - [Kitchens](https://beispiel.de/kuechen.html): Planning, manufacture, fitting ## Company - [About us](https://beispiel.de/ueber-uns.html): Team, history, contact

Every line should say something that is actually on the linked page. Marketing superlatives have no place in this file, because it is there to help a language model understand quickly what the site is about, not to persuade it.

Myth versus fact

Myth: Without llms.txt, AI systems won’t find you. Fact: AI assistants with web search work with ordinary pages, indexes and crawlers. The file is not a prerequisite.
Myth: The file replaces robots.txt. Fact: It does not control access. If you want to allow or block crawlers, you still need robots.txt.
Myth: The file improves your Google ranking. Fact: A ranking effect has not been demonstrated, and the file is not a basis of traditional search.

Common mistakes

The file is not in the root directory but in a subfolder, and cannot be reached at /llms.txt.
Links lead to pages that have since been redirected or deleted.
The description contradicts what is on the website, for example opening hours or services.
The file is created once and never touched again, even though the offering changes.

Keeping it up to date

Tie the check of the file to an occasion that comes up anyway, such as a price change, a relaunch or a new service. That keeps the effort small and the file current. An outdated overview is worse than none, because it sends machines and people down the wrong track.

Which pages belong in it?

Include only pages that an outsider needs in order to understand your offering: service pages, the page with the company’s key facts, important guides and the contact page. The legal notice, privacy policy and technical subpages add little here. As a rule of thumb, ten to twenty entries are enough. A short list is easier to read than a complete table of contents, and easier to keep up to date.

What may become of the file

Some providers of developer tools already read the file when users explicitly include it in a request, for example with documentation. For business websites this is still rare. So you create the file mainly because the effort is small and it helps you to set out your offering clearly in a few lines. Review this assessment again in a year, as the situation may change.

Is it worth the effort?

The file can be created in a short time and does no harm. It also serves as your own short summary of what you offer. Ours can be found at /llms.txt. For the bigger picture, see GEO and AI visibility.