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llms.txt

llms.txt is a proposed plain-text file at the root of a website (/llms.txt) that gives AI models a short Markdown summary of the site and links to its most useful pages. It is a community proposal from September 2024, not a web standard, and Google Search says it ignores the file, so treat it as a cheap courtesy to AI readers rather than a ranking lever.

Who proposed it, and when

Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI published the proposal on llmstxt.org on 3 September 2024. The page describes itself as a proposal to standardise on an /llms.txt file that helps AI agents use a website, and it was last revised on 10 August 2026.

What the file contains

A heading with the name of the site, which is the only required part. Then a short summary in a blockquote with the key facts a reader needs, any plain paragraphs or lists of detail, and sections under H2 headings that list links in the form [name](url), each optionally followed by a colon and a note. A section called “Optional” holds secondary links that a reader short of space can skip.

The file goes at the root of your domain, so it loads at yourbusiness.com/llms.txt, served as plain text. The current proposal also allows a file at a sub-path, covering the pages under it.

Do AI engines read it?

Google says no for Search. Its AI optimisation guide, last updated on 10 July 2026, says you do not need machine-readable files or AI text files to appear in Google Search or its AI features, and that an llms.txt file will neither harm nor help your visibility there, “as Google Search ignores them.”

As of 29 October 2026 we found no public statement from OpenAI or Anthropic that their assistants read other sites’ llms.txt files when answering. Both publish llms.txt files for their own developer documentation, which is a different use: helping coding tools read their docs.

llms-full.txt

Some publishers also serve /llms-full.txt, the same summary followed by the full text of the pages it links. It is a convention, not part of the proposal, and it is useful when your key pages are long or need JavaScript to read.

What to put in yours

Start with your business name as the heading and one sentence that says what you do, for whom and where. Then list the five to ten pages a customer or an assistant needs most, such as what you sell, your prices, your locations, how to contact you and answers to common questions, each with a short note. Leave out pages behind a login and anything that changes every day.

Should you publish one?

If it takes you ten minutes, yes: it costs little, and an accurate one gives any AI reader a clean summary of who you are, what you sell and where to find it. Keep it current, because a stale file is worse than none, and never use it as a substitute for clear pages, crawler access and structured data, which do matter.

How AEOHIT helps

You can write one in a minute with the free generator. AEOHIT plans write it from your real site and keep it current as your pages change; our own is at aeohit.com/llms.txt, with a full version at aeohit.com/llms-full.txt.

Sources

  1. llmstxt.org: the /llms.txt file (Jeremy Howard, published 3 September 2024, modified 10 August 2026)
  2. Answer.AI: the original announcement (3 September 2024)
  3. Google Search Central: AI optimization guide (last updated 10 July 2026)

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llms.txt: common questions

Do ChatGPT or Google read llms.txt?

Google says Google Search ignores it. OpenAI has not said publicly that ChatGPT reads other sites’ files when answering, as of 29 October 2026. It costs little to publish, but it should not be the only thing you do.

Where does the file go?

At the root of your domain, so it loads at yourbusiness.com/llms.txt, served as plain text.

Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?

No. robots.txt tells crawlers which pages they may fetch; llms.txt is a summary for reading. A crawler blocked by robots.txt will not read your pages, whatever your llms.txt says.

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