What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a proposed convention - a markdown file at the root of your site (like robots.txt) that gives AI coding assistants a clean map of your technical documentation. It was designed for limited context windows, not as an AI search ranking signal. Read what the evidence actually shows before treating it as an SEO requirement.
If you run dev docs or a public API, see our how-to guide for structure, automation, and the companion /llms-full.txt file. For crawl access and AI visibility on marketing sites, start with our AI crawler accessibility checklist.
Go further
An llms.txt is one small part of AI visibility. To see how ready your whole page is for AI search - can ChatGPT and Perplexity read it, are your business profiles linked - run a free AI visibility check, or a full waitlist signup. New to the terms? The glossary explains them in plain English.
From the blog
All postsDo You Need an llms.txt File? What the Evidence Actually Shows
llms.txt is often sold as essential for AI search visibility. Here is what the file actually is, what has been tested, and where it genuinely earns a place on a website.
Read moreHow (and Whether) to Write an llms.txt File
llms.txt won't get you cited in ChatGPT. But for developer documentation and public APIs, it's a cheap, useful file. Here's who should bother, and exactly how to build one properly.
Read morellms.txt: What It Is, Why It Exists, and How to Write One
A plain-language guide to llms.txt - the proposed file that gives AI assistants a curated map of your site's key content, and how to put one together.
Read more