llms.txt is a short Markdown file that gives AI tools a summary of your site. Here's what it does, what Google says about it, and how to add one on Next.js or WordPress.
In This Article
An llms.txt file is a short Markdown file at the root of your website (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that gives AI tools a plain summary of your business and links to your most useful pages. It's a proposed convention, not a requirement, and it sits alongside the rest of your generative engine optimization (GEO) work rather than replacing any of it.
If someone has told you that you need llms.txt to show up in ChatGPT or Google's AI answers, this guide explains what the file really does, who reads it today and whether it's worth half an hour of your time.
The short version
- llms.txt is a plain-text summary of your site, written in Markdown, for AI agents and large language models (LLMs).
- It's a proposal from 2024, not a web standard. No search engine requires it.
- Google says you don't need "AI text files" to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
- It may help AI agents that fetch your site find the right pages faster, and Chrome's Lighthouse now checks for it.
- For a service business, it's a small, low-risk task. Do it after the basics, not instead of them.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a text file that tells AI tools, in a few lines, who you are and where your best information lives. Think of it as a short tour guide for software instead of people.
The idea comes from a proposal by Jeremy Howard, first published in September 2024 and updated to a second version in August 2026 (llmstxt.org). The proposal's reasoning is simple. Web pages are built for people, with menus, pop-ups and scripts wrapped around the actual information. An AI tool that reads your page has to dig the useful parts back out. A clean summary with direct links saves it that work.
The file uses Markdown, the same lightweight formatting many writing apps use. That makes it readable by people, by AI models and by simple programs.
Who actually reads llms.txt today?
According to the proposal, it is read by AI agents that look things up on demand while helping a user, most heavily coding tools reading software documentation. Google hasn't listed it as a ranking signal for Search.
Here's what the primary sources say as of October 2026:
- The proposal itself says the files are "used most heavily for software documentation, where coding agents follow them to find API references and tutorials." It also says the format works for "a business outlining its structure and policies."
- AI companies publish their own. OpenAI, Anthropic and Google's Gemini team each publish an llms.txt file for their developer documentation. That shows they find the format useful for their docs. It doesn't say their chat or search products use your file to decide what to show.
- Chrome's Lighthouse added an llms.txt check to its Agentic Browsing audits. Chrome's Lighthouse documentation says that without the file, "agents may spend more time crawling the site to understand its high-level structure and primary content" (Chrome for Developers).
Does llms.txt help with SEO or AI search rankings?
Google says it isn't needed, and nothing from Google says it helps you rank. Google's guide to AI features states: "You don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features" (Google Search Central).
The same page says "there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary." In other words, the work that helps you in AI answers is the same work that helps you in regular search: useful pages, clear text, accurate structured data and an up-to-date Business Profile.
Even Chrome's own audit treats the file as optional. If your site has no llms.txt and returns a normal "not found" response, Lighthouse marks the check "Not Applicable" rather than failing it. It only flags a problem when your server errors out while fetching the file.
So be wary of anyone who sells llms.txt as a way to get cited by ChatGPT or ranked in AI Overviews. Nobody can promise that, with or without the file.
What should a service business put in its llms.txt file?
Keep it short, accurate and focused on what an AI tool would need to answer a question about you correctly. The spec only requires one thing, an H1 heading with your business name, but a useful file usually has these parts in this order:
- H1: your business name.
- Summary: a one- or two-sentence blockquote that says what you do and where.
- Notes: a few plain sentences or bullets, such as your service area, hours and how people contact you.
- Link sections: H2 headings with bulleted links to your key pages, each with a short note.
- Optional section: secondary links an AI tool can skip when it's short on space.
Here's an example for a made-up business. Every name, number and URL in it is a placeholder, not a real company:
# Example Plumbing Co.
> Licensed residential plumbing repair and water heater service in Example City, NV.
- Service area: Example City and nearby towns listed on our service area page
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 7 am to 5 pm
- Phone: (555) 010-0000
## Services
- [Water heater repair](https://www.example.com/water-heater-repair): repair and replacement for tank and tankless units
- [Drain cleaning](https://www.example.com/drain-cleaning): kitchen, bathroom and main line clogs
## Company
- [About us](https://www.example.com/about): team, licensing and history
- [Contact](https://www.example.com/contact): booking form and phone
## Optional
- [Blog](https://www.example.com/blog): homeowner guides
Only include facts that already appear on your site and that you can back up. If your website says one thing and llms.txt says another, you've given AI tools two answers to choose between.
The version 2 proposal also suggests offering clean Markdown copies of key pages (for example, page.md next to page.html). That's helpful for documentation sites. For most service businesses, linking to your normal pages is enough.
How do you publish llms.txt on Next.js or WordPress?
Create the file, put it at your site's root so it loads at yoursite.com/llms.txt, then check that it opens as plain text. How you get it there depends on your platform.
On a Next.js site
Next.js serves anything in the project's public folder from the root of your domain. The Next.js docs give the example that public/avatars/me.png loads at /avatars/me.png (Next.js documentation). Save your file as public/llms.txt, deploy, and it should load at /llms.txt.
On a WordPress site
You have two common routes. You can upload a plain llms.txt file to your site's root folder through your host's file manager or SFTP. Or, if you use Yoast SEO, its llms.txt feature can generate the file for you once you turn it on.
Yoast's documentation says its file lists your most recently updated content and main categories, updates weekly, and won't overwrite an llms.txt file that's already on your server (Yoast developer documentation). Pick one route, not both.
Check that it works
Open yoursite.com/llms.txt in a browser. You should see your text, not an error page or your homepage. If your site redirects between www and non-www, make sure the file loads on the version your site actually uses. You can also run a Lighthouse report in Chrome's developer tools to see the Agentic Browsing checks.
How does llms.txt fit with robots.txt, sitemaps and schema?
Each file does a different job, and llms.txt doesn't replace any of them.
| File | What it's for | Who it's mainly for |
|---|---|---|
| robots.txt | Which parts of your site automated tools may access | Search engine and other crawlers |
| sitemap.xml | A full list of the pages you want found | Search engines |
| Schema markup | Labels facts on each page (business name, address, FAQs) | Search engines and other machines reading the page |
| llms.txt | A short, curated guide to your most useful pages | AI agents and LLMs |
The proposal makes the robots.txt difference clear: robots.txt sets what access is acceptable, while llms.txt is read "when an agent needs information about a topic while assisting a user." That means llms.txt can't block anything. If you want to control AI crawlers, that happens in robots.txt.
If you're tidying up these files anyway, our technical SEO guide covers robots.txt, sitemaps and schema in more depth.
Is llms.txt worth it for a small business?
Yes, as a quick extra, once your foundations are in place. It takes little time, costs nothing to host and does no harm when it's accurate.
It shouldn't come first, though. If your Google Business Profile is out of date, your service pages are thin or your site is hard for anyone to use, fix those before you write a file for AI tools. Our guide to getting your website ready for AI search and AI agents walks through those basics, and what GEO is and how it works explains the bigger picture.
Once it's live, treat llms.txt like your Business Profile. When you add a service, change hours or move a page, update the file too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need llms.txt to show up in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews?▾
Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?▾
Can llms.txt stop AI companies from using my content?▾
How often should I update my llms.txt file?▾
Not sure where llms.txt fits in your plan?
llms.txt is one small piece of being easy for AI tools to understand, which is what our AI SEO services are built around. If you'd like to know which pieces matter most for your business, book a free 20-minute call. Stephen shows you where you rank against your three closest competitors. No pitch.
Sources
- The /llms.txt file, v2, llmstxt.org (Jeremy Howard; published September 3, 2024, modified August 10, 2026)
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central
- llms.txt audit, Chrome for Developers (Lighthouse Agentic Browsing)
- public folder, Next.js documentation
- llms.txt functional specification, Yoast developer documentation
- AI company llms.txt files: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini API
Stephen Gardner is the founder of HuskyTail Digital Marketing and a 20+ year veteran of SEO and digital marketing. He specializes in AI-powered local SEO for Las Vegas businesses, helping them dominate Google Maps and organic search without the fluff.
