What llms.txt is, and whether your site needs one

llms.txt is a plain text file you put at the root of your website, at yourdomain.com/llms.txt. It gives AI tools a short, clean summary of your site and links to your most important pages, written in Markdown so it's easy for a language model to read.

The idea, proposed in 2024, is simple: web pages are full of menus, scripts and cookie banners, and a model trying to understand your site wastes effort getting through all that. A tidy summary helps.

What goes in it

A typical llms.txt has:

• Your business or site name as a heading
• A one-paragraph summary of what you do and who for
• Sections of links to your key pages, each with a one-line description

You can see ours at theseobrief.com/llms.txt.

What it does, honestly

This is the part most articles skip. llms.txt is a proposed convention, not an official standard, and the major AI companies haven't said their assistants rely on it when answering questions. Some developer tools and documentation sites use it, and some AI crawlers do request it. Whether it changes how often an assistant mentions your business is not something anyone can currently prove.

So treat it like a well-organised business card: useful if someone reads it, harmless if they don't.

Should you add one?

If it takes you ten minutes, yes. There's no downside, and it forces a useful exercise: writing down in plain words what your business does and which pages matter most. That same clarity on your actual pages is what helps with getting mentioned by AI assistants.

What you shouldn't do is spend money or weeks on it, or expect it to fix a site that search engines can't find in the first place.

Keep it current

If you add or remove important pages, update the file. An llms.txt pointing at pages that no longer exist is worse than none.