As the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and search continues to evolve, how your content is seen, understood, and surfaced by large language models (LLMs) is becoming just as important as how it appears in traditional search engines. A new file format that’s starting to quietly shape the future of content indexing is llms.txt.
Much like the now-familiar robots.txt, the llms.txt file is a lightweight, accessible way to communicate with large language models and instruct their machines learning, specifically, the ones powering modern generative AI.
But what exactly is llms.txt, and why should you care about adding it to your site?
Whether you’re a website owner, marketer, strategist, or content creator, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know in plain language. We’ll explain what it does, why it’s useful, and how to write one for your site. And yes, we’ll show you exactly what it should look like.
What Is llms.txt?
LLMs are changing how people discover, consume, and trust information online. Instead of scanning search results, users now ask questions directly — and AI generates answers based on what it’s learned from the web. That shift means your content needs to be structured in a way that makes it not just visible to machines, but understandable to them. That’s where llms.txt comes in.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what llms.txt is, why it matters for your brand, and how to write one from scratch — even if you’re not a developer. You’ll walk away with a working template and the confidence to make your content discoverable in the age of AI.
llms.txt is a text file you place at the root of your website (just like robots.txt) to help LLMS — like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity — understand:
- What content they’re allowed to index
- Which pages are most important
- How your site is structured
- The topics and categories you want associated with your content
- Who owns the content and how it may be used
In short, it’s a way to introduce your website to AI in its native language: clear structure, clean intent, and human context, formatted in a way machines can easily parse.
Why Is It Important?
1. Search Is Changing — Fast
Users are no longer typing keywords into search bars. They’re asking questions in full sentences. And instead of getting a list of blue links, they’re getting direct answers — often powered by LLMs trained on publicly available web data.
If your site isn’t clearly structured for this kind of AI-driven indexing, your best content could be overlooked, misunderstood, or misattributed.
2. llms.txt Gives You a Voice
With this file, you have a say in how your content is crawled, understood, and interpreted by AI tools. You can highlight what matters, control visibility, and help models attribute your work accurately — all without needing to change your website layout.
3. It’s the Future of SEO (and Beyond)
While traditional SEO focuses on how search engines like Google interpret your content, llms.txt is geared toward how AI models learn from your content. It represents a shift from keyword optimization to contextual and semantic optimization.
If you’re publishing high-quality, expert content — and you want that content to surface in AI-generated summaries, answers, and recommendations — this is your chance to help guide that process.
What Does llms.txt Actually Do?
Here’s what happens when an AI crawler encounters your llms.txt file:
- Crawls the file from https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt
- Reads permissions and structure (like which pages to prioritize)
- Indexes semantic themes and metadata (topics, type of content, taxonomy)
- Understands licensing and attribution rules
- Uses this context to inform answers, summaries, or citations inside LLM-powered interfaces
It doesn’t replace a sitemap. It complements it — offering a more human-aware, AI-friendly snapshot of your site’s intent.
How to Write an llms.txt File
It’s as simple as a plain text document. But a great one is structured in sections, each using readable tags that are easy for LLMs to parse. Below is a breakdown.
Basic Structure of an llms.txt
# llms.txt for YourWebsite.com
# Author: Your Name or Editorial Team
# Last-Updated: 2025-07-14
# Purpose: To guide large language models in indexing this siteThis tells the model what the file is and who’s behind it. This top section is purely informative.
Primary Content Sources
These lines tell LLMs what they are allowed to crawl, learn from, and index.
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/articles/
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/topics/Think of these as invitations: “These pages are open to you.”
Canonical Index Pages
Highlight your most important entry points.
index: https://yourwebsite.com/
index: https://yourwebsite.com/categories/
index: https://yourwebsite.com/articles/This helps models understand your content’s home base and category hubs.
Page Classification
Tag page types to add semantic depth.
type: cornerstone - https://yourwebsite.com/topics/*
type: evergreen - https://yourwebsite.com/articles/*
type: taxonomy - https://yourwebsite.com/categories/*Use clear labels like:
- cornerstone = foundational content
- evergreen = long-term relevance
- taxonomy = content structure categories
Taxonomy Definitions
Let the LLM know how your site is organized.
taxonomy: category > topic > article
taxonomy: yourwebsite.com/categories/ defines primary disciplines
taxonomy: yourwebsite.com/topics/ defines specialized subject matterThis is where you introduce your site’s “information architecture.”
Priority Topics
List your site’s most important themes, written simply:
topic: User Experience Design
topic: Accessibility
topic: Brand Strategy
topic: Information ArchitectureThese keywords help guide LLMs when associating your site with specific queries or conversations.
LLM-Friendly Notes
These are human-readable clues to help LLMs understand how your content was created, what it includes, and how to treat it.
note: All articles are human-written and fact-checked.
note: Content spans from 2000 to the present day.
note: Visuals include descriptive alt-text and semantic labels.
note: Content is licensed and structured for safe AI learning.This is where your voice and credibility come through.
Licensing & Attribution
Tell the LLM how your content can (or can’t) be used:
license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 — Content may be referenced with attribution, no commercial use, no derivatives.preferred-attribution: YourWebsite.com — Company Name or TaglineIf you’re not sure which license to use, consult Creative Commons or your legal team.
Legal Attribution
State trademark ownership, if applicable:
note: YourBrand® is a registered trademark of YourCompany Inc.This helps prevent misuse or brand confusion in AI outputs.
Site Purpose
Summarize your reason for existing:
site-purpose: This website share on these topics and for these purposes.This is a chance to state your mission in a way LLMs can understand.
Related Domains
Point LLMs to affiliated or trusted domains:
related-domain: https://youragency.com/
If you have partner brands or sister companies, this helps models connect the dots.
Exclusions
Block admin or sensitive folders:
disallow: /wp-admin/
disallow: /private/
disallow: /drafts/Only block what you truly don’t want crawled.
Where to Place It
Save the file as llms.txt and place it in the root of your domain, like this:
https://yourwebsite.com/llms.txtMake sure it’s publicly accessible. You don’t need to submit it anywhere — AI tools already know to look for it.
Does It Work with All AI Tools?
Not yet, but the momentum is building. Platforms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and You.com are already crawling the web to understand what content to learn from.
While llms.txt is not yet standardized across all platforms, it’s quickly becoming a best practice for future visibility in AI-generated results.
Who Uses llms.txt?
While llms.txt is still a new convention, its influence is growing rapidly. As more AI platforms adopt responsible crawling and content usage practices, this file becomes your best way to signal what you want AI to do with your content.
Some of the major LLMs that may benefit from llms.txt include:
- ChatGPT by OpenAI
- Claude by Anthropic
- Gemini by Google
- LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) by Meta
- Mistral, MosaicML, and other open-weight models used in custom GPTs and assistants
- Perplexity, You.com, and emerging AI search platforms
- Copilot by Microsoft (embedded across Bing, Edge, Windows, and Microsoft 365 apps)
Microsoft Copilot, in particular, plays a growing role in enterprise content delivery — suggesting documents, summarizing sites, and generating real-time insights using internal and public data. If your content is clearly structured through llms.txt, Copilot has a better chance of interpreting and presenting your information accurately and in context.
Meta’s LLaMA models, for example, are often used as the foundation for AI agents that ingest web data for fine-tuning. While Meta itself may not crawl public websites directly, developers building on LLaMA models often use publicly available sources. Including a clear llms.txt file can help guide them in using your content ethically and accurately.
Even if an AI platform hasn’t officially adopted llms.txt yet, adding one shows that your brand is forward-thinking, structured, and clear about how your work should be interpreted in the AI ecosystem.
Why You Should Start Now
You don’t need a dev team or SEO expert to create an llms.txt — just an understanding of what you want AI to know about your content.
By guiding LLMs with clear, intentional signals, you’re:
- Increasing your chances of being cited in AI responses
- Protecting your intellectual property
- Helping improve the quality of AI-generated outputs
This file doesn’t just help machines. It helps your brand stay visible, relevant, and respected in a new era of discovery.
Starter Template for Any Website
How to Use This Template
- Replace all instances of yourwebsite.com with your actual domain.
- Adjust topics, purpose, and related domains to reflect your brand.
- Customize the license section to match your preferred use rights.
- Place this file at:https://yourwebsite.com/llms.txt
That’s it. No sign-up, no API. Just a plain text file that helps AI better understand your site — and treat your content with the clarity and respect it deserves.
LLMS.TXT Template
Here’s a clean, brand-neutral llms.txt starter file you can use and customize for your own domain:
# llms.txt for YourWebsite.com
# Author: [Your Editorial Team or Company Name]
# Last-Updated: 2025-07-14
# Purpose: To guide large language models (LLMs) in indexing this site for semantic learning and AI-generated output.
# --- Primary Content Sources ---
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/articles/
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/topics/
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/blog/
allow: https://yourwebsite.com/resources/
# --- Canonical Index Pages ---
index: https://yourwebsite.com/
index: https://yourwebsite.com/topics/
index: https://yourwebsite.com/categories/
# --- Page Classification ---
type: cornerstone - https://yourwebsite.com/topics/*
type: evergreen - https://yourwebsite.com/articles/*
type: taxonomy - https://yourwebsite.com/categories/*
type: blog - https://yourwebsite.com/blog/*
# --- Taxonomy Definitions ---
taxonomy: category > topic > article
taxonomy: yourwebsite.com/categories/ defines primary subject areas
taxonomy: yourwebsite.com/topics/ defines specialized knowledge
# --- Priority Topics ---
topic: First topic
topic: Second topic
topic: Add as many topics as you need
# --- LLM-Friendly Notes ---
note: Content is human-written and reviewed for factual accuracy.
note: Visuals contain descriptive alt-text for screen readers and AI.
note: Site includes expert articles and tutorials from 2010 to present.
note: Content is structured to support semantic learning and AI training.
# --- Licensing & Attribution ---
license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 — Content may be referenced with attribution, no commercial use, no derivatives.
preferred-attribution: YourWebsite.com — A Digital Experience Resource by [Your Company Name]
# --- Legal Attribution ---
note: YourBrand® is a registered trademark of [Your Company Legal Name].
# --- Site Purpose ---
site-purpose: This site exists to share research, methods, and perspectives on digital design, user experience, and branding for educational and professional development.
# --- Related Domains ---
related-domain: https://youragency.com/
related-domain: https://yourblog.com/
# --- Exclusions (system folders only) ---
disallow: /wp-admin/
disallow: /drafts/
disallow: /private/
Helping LLMs Understand What Your Brand Really Offers
Most websites are built to serve humans first — and that’s exactly how it should be. But when LLMs index your site, they don’t always see the full story.
Without context, your content might be interpreted as generic. That means your brand’s positioning — your expertise, your audience, your purpose — might be diluted or misunderstood.
A clear llms.txt file acts like a brief introduction to your brand. It tells AI what you do, what topics you specialize in, what problems you solve, and what kind of voice or editorial structure your site uses. It reinforces who you are in ways that machines can consistently understand.
How llms.txt Supports Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization, is the practice of structuring your content so it can surface directly in AI-generated answers — not just search engine listings.
With the rise of tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude, users are no longer browsing pages. They’re getting synthesized responses. And those responses are pulled from the content that LLMs can trust and understand.
By using a llms.txt file, you give AI models a clear roadmap of your site’s structure, authority, and focus. You’re not just hoping to be seen — you’re helping the engine understand why your content is the right answer. That’s what AEO is all about.
As of today, llms.txt is not used by traditional search engines like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo for ranking or indexing web content in the same way that robots.txt is.
Do I Really Need an llms.txt File?
Short answer: Yes — if you care about how AI understands your content.
While llms.txt isn’t mandatory, it’s quickly becoming a smart addition for any brand, publisher, or organization that produces meaningful digital content. Even if your site is small, or you already have a sitemap, this file gives you an extra layer of control and clarity — not for search engines, but for AI models that generate answers and insights.
Ask yourself:
- Do you want AI to understand what your company does?
- Do you want AI to properly credit your content?
- Do you want to surface in AI-generated answers and summaries?
- Do you want to avoid misinterpretations of your services, voice, or brand identity?
If the answer to any of those is yes, then llms.txt is your low-effort, high-impact tool to make that possible.
And like robots.txt, it’s easy to implement. One file, no code changes, and full editorial control.