What is an llms.txt file?

It is a Markdown text file published at /llms.txt on a site that introduces the site to language models: a title, a short summary and lists of links to the most important pages with one line of explanation. Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI proposed it in September 2024.

Does llms.txt help SEO?

Not classic SEO: Google has said it does not use it. It does no harm and costs little, but indexing and presence in AI answers depend on other things: bot access, quotable content, mentions of the brand on other sites.

Does ChatGPT read llms.txt?

OpenAI has not said it uses it for ChatGPT search. An assistant may read it if asked to open that file, or if an agent looks for it on its own, as several developer tools do with technical documentation.

What is the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?

robots.txt is a standard that tells bots which parts of the site they may visit, and engine bots respect it. llms.txt is a proposal that describes the site and points to the pages to read: it has no power to block anything.

What is the difference between llms.txt and llms-full.txt?

llms.txt is an index with links to the pages. llms-full.txt puts the full text of those pages into one file, so an agent can read everything without opening each link. The second makes sense mostly for documentation and APIs.

How do you create llms.txt on WordPress or Shopify?

You can write it by hand and upload it to the site root, or use a plugin or app that generates it from published pages. Either way, read it through: an automatically generated list tends to include too many pages and vague descriptions.

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Guide · llms.txt

What is llms.txt and what is it for

llms.txt is a Markdown text file at the root of a site that says in a few lines what the site is about and which pages to read to understand it. It is a 2024 proposal aimed at language models: it blocks and allows nothing, and Google has said it does not use it for Search.

TL;DR

llms.txt is an index of the site written for machines: a title, a summary and lists of links to the pages that matter, each with one line of explanation. It is cheap to make and does no harm, but it is not a lever for showing up on ChatGPT or Google: indexing, bot access and quotable content are. Where it really helps is technical documentation read by agents and coding assistants.

What an llms.txt file contains

The proposal sets a simple Markdown format, in this order.

H1 title

The name of the site or project. It is the only required element.

Blockquote summary

A block starting with the greater-than sign that explains in two or three sentences what the site is about.

Free notes

Optional paragraphs with the context needed to read the rest correctly.

H2 sections with link lists

Each section groups links to the important pages, one per line, with a short description after a colon.

Optional section

The section with this name holds the links that can be skipped when space is short.

An llms.txt example

A minimal file for a company site. GeoSuite's own is public at trygeosuite.it/llms.txt.

# Company name

> What the company does, for whom and where, in two sentences.

## Products
- [Main product](https://www.example.com/product): what it is for and who it is for
- [Pricing](https://www.example.com/pricing): current plans and costs

## Guides
- [Getting started](https://www.example.com/guide): the first steps

## Optional
- [About us](https://www.example.com/about)

What it does and what it does not

The four most common mix-ups.

It is not robots.txt

robots.txt tells bots where they may go, llms.txt blocks and allows nothing. If a bot is blocked in robots.txt, llms.txt does not let it through.

It is not a sitemap

A sitemap lists every page to index, llms.txt picks a few and explains what they are for.

It does not rank you on Google

Google has said publicly that it does not use llms.txt. No major AI engine has confirmed reading it to pick the sources of its answers.

llms-full.txt is something else

It is a variant that puts the full text of the pages into a single file. It is mostly useful for technical documentation, which an agent can read in one go.

How to create an llms.txt file

Half an hour of work, if the right pages already exist.

1. Pick the pages
A few: the ones that explain who you are, what you sell, how it works and what it costs. An index with everything in it helps nobody.
2. Write one line for each
After the link, one sentence that says what is on the page and which question it answers.
3. Publish it at the root
The file is served as plain text at /llms.txt on the main domain, reachable without a login.
4. Keep it current
When you add or remove an important page, update the file too: a broken link in an index is worse than no index.

Frequently asked questions

What is an llms.txt file?: It is a Markdown text file published at /llms.txt on a site that introduces the site to language models: a title, a short summary and lists of links to the most important pages with one line of explanation. Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI proposed it in September 2024.
Does llms.txt help SEO?: Not classic SEO: Google has said it does not use it. It does no harm and costs little, but indexing and presence in AI answers depend on other things: bot access, quotable content, mentions of the brand on other sites.
Does ChatGPT read llms.txt?: OpenAI has not said it uses it for ChatGPT search. An assistant may read it if asked to open that file, or if an agent looks for it on its own, as several developer tools do with technical documentation.
What is the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?: robots.txt is a standard that tells bots which parts of the site they may visit, and engine bots respect it. llms.txt is a proposal that describes the site and points to the pages to read: it has no power to block anything.
What is the difference between llms.txt and llms-full.txt?: llms.txt is an index with links to the pages. llms-full.txt puts the full text of those pages into one file, so an agent can read everything without opening each link. The second makes sense mostly for documentation and APIs.
How do you create llms.txt on WordPress or Shopify?: You can write it by hand and upload it to the site root, or use a plugin or app that generates it from published pages. Either way, read it through: an automatically generated list tends to include too many pages and vague descriptions.