What is llms.txt, and do you need it?

Jeremy Howard proposed llms.txt on September 3, 2024 at llmstxt.org. The file lives at yourdomain.com/llms.txt. It has a title, a one-line summary, and lists of links to your most important pages, each with a short note. The idea is to give an AI tool a short, curated guide so it doesn't have to dig through the whole site.^[1]

It does a different job from the files you may already have. robots.txt says what crawlers may access. sitemap.xml lists your pages for search engines. llms.txt is a short reading list written for AI tools.

A small invented example:

# Example Co
> Example Co is a family-run bakery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, selling wedding cakes and wholesale bread.

## Key pages
- [Wedding cakes](https://example.com/wedding-cakes): Designs, flavours and how to order
- [Wholesale](https://example.com/wholesale): Bread for cafes and restaurants
- [Contact](https://example.com/contact): Address, hours and phone

Not the engines you are hoping will recommend you, as far as anyone has confirmed.

• Google's AI optimization guide (updated July 10, 2026) lists llms.txt files among the things you can ignore for Google Search: "Google Search itself doesn't use them." It adds that it's fine to create one for other services, and that doing so "will neither harm nor help" your visibility or rankings in Google Search.^[2]
• Google's John Mueller wrote on Bluesky on June 17, 2025: "FWIW no AI system currently uses llms.txt." That was one person's statement at one date, and things can change.^[3]
• Some companies publish one for their developer documentation, for example Anthropic^[4] and OpenAI^[5]. A company publishing one for its own docs tells you the idea exists, not that assistants read it when deciding which businesses to recommend.

We asked ChatGPT (search on) "What is llms.txt and do I need it?" on Sept 30, 2026 (one run). It said usually no, and cited only llmstxt.org.

Make one if it takes you ten minutes and you are happy to treat it as housekeeping. Don't pay anyone to "optimize" it, and don't expect traffic or recommendations from it. If someone sells llms.txt as a ranking tactic, ask them for evidence.

Citefast (citefast.io) publishes one at citefast.io/llms.txt. We keep it as a courtesy to any tool that reads it, not as something we count on.

1. List your 10 to 20 most important pages: what you do, your main services or products, about, contact.
2. Write one sentence about your business and a short note for each link, in plain words.
3. Save it as llms.txt in your site's root and open yourdomain.com/llms.txt to check it loads as plain text.

Or use our free llms.txt generator. It reads your real sitemap, and you don't need an account.

Pages an AI crawler can read, a clear statement of what you do, facts that are consistent everywhere, and real mentions on other sites. Google's guide says unique, useful content is what is likely to matter most in the long run.^[2] We cover the practical steps in How do I get my small business recommended by ChatGPT?