What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a Markdown-formatted text file placed at yourdomain.com/llms.txt that summarises your site for large language models. Instead of making an AI infer who you are from scattered pages, you hand it a single, authoritative source of truth: your positioning, key facts, offers and the URLs that matter most.
Why llms.txt matters for AEO
AI answer engines describe brands in their own words. An llms.txt lets you steer that narrative: it is machine-readable, unambiguous and read literally. When a model assembles an answer about your category, a clean llms.txt makes you easier to summarise correctly — and a stale one spreads wrong facts, so keep it current.
What to put in your llms.txt
Keep it factual and scannable. A strong structure:
- An H1 with your name or brand.
- A one-paragraph blockquote summary of who you are and what you do.
- Key facts — role, location, expertise, languages, proof.
- How to work with you — offers, with clear pricing.
- Pages — the canonical URLs that matter.
# Your Name
> One sharp paragraph: who you are, what you do, who you help.
## Key facts
- Role: ...
- Expertise: ...
- Languages: ...
## Pages
- Home: https://example.com/
- Pricing: https://example.com/pricing.txtllms.txt vs robots.txt vs sitemap
| File | Audience | Job |
|---|---|---|
| robots.txt | Crawlers | What they may crawl |
| sitemap.xml | Search engines | What pages exist |
| llms.txt | AI models | Who you are & what matters |
How to publish it
Save it as plain text at your site root, keep it under a few hundred lines, and add a machine-readable pricing.txt too so AI agents can parse your offer. Update it whenever your facts change. Then make sure your content is structured to get cited and your schema is in place — llms.txt is one layer of a full AEO system.
Frequently asked questions
Is llms.txt an official standard?
llms.txt is an emerging, community-driven convention (see llmstxt.org), not a mandated standard. It costs nothing to add and gives AI engines a clean source of truth, so it is low-risk and high-upside.
Do AI engines actually read llms.txt?
Adoption is growing and the file is trivially parseable by any model. Even where an engine does not fetch it directly, a clean, accurate llms.txt reinforces consistent facts about your brand across the web.
Where do I put the llms.txt file?
At your domain root, reachable at yourdomain.com/llms.txt, served as plain text. Keep one canonical version and update it whenever your offer, pricing or key pages change.