What is llms.txt, and does your business need one?
A plain-English explanation of llms.txt: what the file is, who proposed it, which AI tools use it, what to put in one, and whether it is worth your time.
Read →Glossary
What is llms.txt?
Also called: LLMs.txt, llms-full.txt.
llms.txt is an idea proposed in 2024 for a simple file, placed at yoursite.co.uk/llms.txt, written in a lightweight format called Markdown. It gives large language models, the technology behind AI chatbots, a tidy summary of what the site is and where the important information lives.
It is a convention some sites have adopted, not an official standard. Google has said it does not use llms.txt for search rankings, and it is not clear how much any AI company relies on it.
It is cheap to add and harmless, but treat it as a small extra, not a strategy. Clear pages, accurate business details and structured data matter far more.
Why it matters for your business
You may be told you ‘need’ an llms.txt file to appear in AI search. You do not, and nobody should charge you much for one. It can be a nice touch on a well-built site, but if the rest of the website is unclear, this file will not fix it.
Example. A café's llms.txt lists its name, location, opening hours and links to its menu, private hire and contact pages, all in a few lines of plain text.
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