llms.txt is a proposed web standard: a Markdown file placed at the root of your domain (yourdomain.com/llms.txt) that gives AI systems a clean, curated map of your most important content. Think of it as a counterpart to robots.txt and sitemap.xml, but written for large language models rather than search crawlers.
Why it exists
When an AI tries to understand your site, it has to wade through navigation, ads, scripts, and boilerplate. llms.txt cuts through that noise by offering a concise, human-readable index of what your site is and which pages matter most — each with a short description.
What goes in it
- An
# H1of your brand name and a one-line>summary ##sections grouping your key links (Docs, Guides, Product)- A short description after each link so the model knows what it is
- An optional
## Optionalsection for lower-priority links
Some sites also publish llms-full.txt, which concatenates the full text of key pages for ingestion in a single fetch.
Practical notes
Adoption by AI systems is still emerging, so treat llms.txt as a low-cost, forward-looking signal rather than a guaranteed ranking lever. It’s quick to publish and can only improve comprehension. For a full walkthrough, see What is llms.txt and how to use it.