Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini are the new way people search online, and helping those LLMs understand your website content and pages without too many complications is what they are programmed for. That’s where llms.txt comes in. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll understand deeply what the llms.txt file is, how it works, how it can help your website drive LLM (AI) clicks and visibility, and step-by-step instructions to add it to your website, whether you are using plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math for WordPress or manual installation.
From Robots.txt to llms.txt: Adapting SEO for AI
For years, site owners have counted on robots.txt and sitemap.xml to guide search engines. Robots.txt shows crawlers which pages they can or can’t visit, while sitemaps list every key URL you want indexed. That setup works well for classic search bots that crawl entire sites on a schedule. AI chatbots are different. They don’t scan your content in advance. When someone asks ChatGPT about your brand, it grabs a small slice of your site on the spot to craft an answer. Because this fetch is so limited, AI Systems can miss big chunks of information (especially on large or fast-changing sites) so their replies may end up incomplete or off-target.
the llms.txt file popped up exactly to fix this pain. introduced late 2024 by Jeremy Howard, llms.txt is kinda a fresh standard that tries to close the gap between old-school SEO rules and what today’s AI models actually need. the idea is super simple: hand any AI a short, cherry-picked guide to your site’s most important stuff in a format it can swallow fast. remember, LLMs have tiny “context windows” (they can’t read your whole site at once) and parsing raw HTML pages packed with menus, ads and scripts just hurts them. so, llms.txt is basically us tweaking our sites for AI systems consumption the same way robots.txt and sitemaps tweaked them for search engines bots.
So, What Is llms.txt?
llms.txt (yep, it stands for “Large Language Models text”) is basically a plain-text file (Markdown-ready) that lives right at your site’s root (think yourdomain.com/llms.txt). its whole job is to show an AI where the good stuff is hiding on your pages. in other words, it’s a hand-picked index of your top content, laid out in a super simple format an LLM can scan in a flash. picture the mall directory by the entrance: one quick look and you know exactly where to go. llms.txt does the same for an AI agent, spotlighting your main sections and must-visit pages. the file typically includes:
- a quick intro right up top: one headline and a short blurb that sums up the whole site.
- neat lists of your can’t-miss URLs, chunked by theme with a one-liner note for each. docs, product faqs, how-tos, blog hits, whatever you want the ai to zero in on.
- plain-text only, no nav bars or ads; whenever you can, link to the markdown versions so the bots can skim with no friction.
Unlike robots.txt, which is about access rules, or sitemaps, which list every page, llms.txt is not for search indexing. It is made for AI systems and chat models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini. These models try to answer questions about your site. Llms.txt does not say what the bot should not do. Instead, it guides the bot to read the clearest parts of your content. In short, llms.txt is a friendly guide. Both humans and machines can read it. It points large language models to the newest and most important parts of your site. end goal Goal: Artificial intelligence optimization (GEO – Generative Engine Optimization).
Is it official that llms.txt Helps Your Website?
as of 2025, the big ai players (openai, anthropic, google, and meta) still ignore llms.txt when they crawl or generate answers.
openai’s gptbot sticks to robots.txt, and google’s ai crawlers use the google-extended user-agent with no nod to llms.txt. anthropic even hosts an llms.txt on its own docs site, but has not said claude actually reads anyone else’s.
you might wonder: if none of the big ai platforms officially back llms.txt, why bother adding it? the truth is, llms.txt is still speculative. right now, no ai system has said they use it, reminds google’s john mueller, who compares it to the old meta keywords tag. still, it offers possible benefits and almost no downside to putting it in place.
How to create an llms.txt file (manual method)
llms.txt is still fresh on the scene, but putting one together is easy. you do not need special software; any plain-text editor works. save the file as .txt and write it in markdown so everything stays neat. follow these steps:
Title and summary
start with a single #, then the name of your site or project. right below, add a short blurb inside a blockquote. for example:
My Website Name
This is a short description of what my site is about and its key offerings.the title and short summary tell the ai, at a glance, what your site is about.
Organize content by sections
use ## subheadings to group your best material. typical labels are docs, blog, products, faqs, tutorials, or any category that suits your site. each section then lists the pages that belong there so the ai can navigate topics quickly.
list important urls with notes
under each ## header, add bullet points (-). each bullet links to a page and includes a brief note after a colon. for example:
Docs
API Guide: Overview of all API methods and how to use them.
Getting Started: Quick setup tutorial for new users.Final Takes:
include “optional” or less-critical links (if needed)
the llms.txt spec lets you add an “optional” section (use an ## optional heading) for links that are helpful but not essential. if an ai’s context window is too small, it can skip these without losing the core info.
keep it updated
treat llms.txt like a living doc. whenever you publish a big new guide, product page, or key article, update the file. trim or swap out anything outdated. a stale llms.txt can steer an ai the wrong way, so regular maintenance matters. if you automate llms.txt this upkeep is handled for you, details on that soon.
save and upload to root
save the file as llms.txt and place it in your site’s root directory, right alongside robots.txt. once it is live, check that https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt loads correctly. there is no official validator yet, but you can open the file in a browser or markdown viewer to be sure the layout is clear.
that is it. your llms.txt now acts as a signpost for any ai agent that decides to read it. below is a mini example of a simple llms.txt structure:
MySite Docs Hub
A collection of guides and references for MySite’s platform.
Guides
Getting Started: Quick setup instructions for new users.
API Reference: Endpoints, parameters, and examples for the MySite API.
Policies
Terms of Service: Legal terms for using MySite.
Privacy Policy: How we handle user data and privacy.
Optional
Changelog: A chronological list of updates and changes to the platform.Using WordPress Plugins to Generate llms.txt (Automated Method)
keeping an llms.txt up to date by hand can get tedious, especially on a large site that sees frequent changes. if your site runs on wordpress, you are in luck: several seo plugins now offer llms.txt support out of the box. two of the most popular are yoast seo and rank math seo. these plugins can create the file for you and refresh it automatically, so you do not need to edit it every week. below is a quick look at how to enable and configure llms.txt with each tool.
Adding llms.txt with Yoast SEO
yoast seo (one of the most popular wp seo plugins) added llms.txt support in 2025, and you get it in the free version. by default the feature is opt in, so you need to switch it on manually because not everyone will want it running. turning it on takes just a few clicks: in your wordpress dashboard go to yoast seo → settings → site features, scroll to the “apis” section, and toggle the llms.txt feature. remember to click save changes. once enabled yoast automatically creates an llms.txt file for your site.
note
what does yoast drop into your llms.txt? it grabs a blend of site data and builds the file on the fly. yoast pulls your newest posts, your xml sitemap links, plus basics like site name and description. the goal is to spotlight fresh, high-value content for any ai reader. a wordpress cron job then refreshes the file each week, keeping it current with almost zero effort from you.
Adding llms.txt with Rank Math SEO
rank math seo is another popular wordpress plugin that now supports llms.txt. in rank math, especially the pro version, llms.txt appears as a module you can switch on. here is how to set it up:
- enable the module
in your wordpress admin go to rank math seo → dashboard. you will see a list of modules. find “llms txt” and toggle it on. if it is missing, update to the latest rank math release and confirm you are running rank math pro if required. this feature arrived in mid 2025. - configure the content
after the module is active, click its settings icon or go to rank math seo → general settings → edit llms.txt. the file starts empty until you decide what to include. rank math lets you choose:
by default, rank math lists each selected page with its title, url, and meta description or excerpt. anything marked “noindex” is skipped.- which post types to include (posts, pages, products)
- which taxonomies to include (categories, tags, etc.)
- how many items to list (the default is up to 100 links)
- save and preview
rank math handles the markdown for you, building a clean list where each title links to the page and the meta description acts as the snippet. the file is automatically served at yourdomain.com/llms.txt, so no manual upload is needed.
