What llms.txt actually is
Structurally, llms.txt is a Markdown file with a specific loose convention: an H1 with your business name, a blockquote summarising what you do, then H2-headed sections linking to your key pages with a one-line description each. It sits at the root of your domain, the same location as robots.txt, and is meant to be a quick-reference map of your site for any AI tool that chooses to read it — condensed and structured, rather than requiring the tool to crawl and interpret your full site.
Is it an official standard?
No — llms.txt is a proposed convention, not a ratified web standard, and there's no confirmation that any specific AI engine reliably reads or prioritises it. That's worth being honest about. The case for implementing it anyway: it costs a few hours to write, carries zero downside, and if AI engines do increasingly adopt it as a convention, having it in place early costs nothing extra. It's a low-cost hedge, not a guaranteed lever.
What to include
- A clear one-paragraph summary of what your business does, who it serves, and your core differentiator — written plainly, not in marketing language.
- Your key data and tools — if you publish original data (benchmark reports, calculators, checkers), link them prominently and describe why they're citable ("real cost-per-lead ranges from managed accounts," not just "our pricing page").
- Your core service and industry pages, each with a one-line description specific enough to be useful — not generic boilerplate.
- Contact information and your legal entity name, matching your other NAP data exactly.
- Keep it current. A stale llms.txt pointing to dead pages or old data is worse than none — treat it as a living file, not a one-time deploy.
What to leave out
Resist the temptation to dump your entire sitemap into it — the point is a curated, high-signal summary, not an exhaustive index (that's what sitemap.xml is for). A bloated llms.txt with fifty low-value links is less useful to an AI tool than a tight, well-described set of your twenty highest-value pages.
What we do differently
We maintain a live, curated llms.txt describing our services, industries and citable data assets — kept current as new pages are published, not set once and forgotten. It's one piece of the broader practice covered in our AI Overviews guide and clinic GEO checklist.
What to do about it
- Write a clear, plain-language summary of your business as the opening blockquote.
- List your highest-value pages with specific, useful one-line descriptions.
- Prioritise original, citable data over generic service pages.
- Review and update it whenever you publish something genuinely new — don't let it go stale.