llms.txt
Definition
llms.txt is a proposed plain-text file, introduced by Jeremy Howard in September 2024, that gives large language models a curated markdown overview of a website's most important pages. It is designed to complement robots.txt and sitemap.xml — pointing models to the content that matters — not to replace them.
Why it matters
It is an emerging convention, not a standard: no major search engine has confirmed using it for rankings or citations. It is cheap to add and signals AI-readiness, but it cannot substitute for crawlable, well-structured content.
Practical example
A documentation site adds /llms.txt listing its core guides with one-line summaries, so a model fetching the site gets a map of the content instead of raw HTML.
Frequently asked questions
Is llms.txt required for AI visibility?+
Does Google use llms.txt?+
Sources
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