ShipcheckWhat is llms.txt? Format, example, and whether you need one
llms.txt explained: where it came from, the exact Markdown format, a real example, who reads it today, and an honest take on what it does and does not do for AI search.
Short answer
llms.txt is a Markdown file at the root of a website (/llms.txt) that gives AI assistants a short summary of the site and a curated list of links to its most useful pages. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard in September 2024. It is not an official standard and major AI search engines have not said they use it for ranking, but it is cheap to add and helps agents and developer tools that do read it.
Generate one from your sitemap with the free llms.txt generator, or see ours at shipcheck.site/llms.txt.
What llms.txt is
llms.txt is a plain Markdown file at /llms.txt that tells AI assistants what your site is and which pages are worth reading. Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI proposed it in September 2024. The idea: HTML pages are full of navigation, scripts, and layout that waste a model's limited context, so give it a clean, curated map instead.
The format
The proposal defines a simple structure, in this order:
- An H1 with the name of the site or project (the only required part).
- A blockquote with a one or two sentence summary.
- Optional paragraphs or lists with key details.
- H2 sections containing lists of links in the form
- [Title](url): short description. - An optional section titled
## Optionalfor links an assistant can skip when it is short on space.
An example
# Acme Analytics > Privacy-friendly web analytics for small businesses. No cookies, > GDPR compliant, from $9/month. Acme is a hosted analytics tool. It counts visits, sources, and conversions without cookies or personal data. ## Docs - [Quick start](https://acme.example/docs/start): Add the script in 2 minutes - [Events](https://acme.example/docs/events): Track signups and purchases - [API](https://acme.example/docs/api): Export your data as JSON or CSV ## Product - [Pricing](https://acme.example/pricing): Plans from $9/month, 30-day trial - [Compare](https://acme.example/vs/google-analytics): Acme vs Google Analytics ## Optional - [Changelog](https://acme.example/changelog): Release notes
Who reads it today
- Coding assistants and agents read it when a developer points them at a site or when a tool looks for it, which is why documentation platforms adopted it first.
- AI search engines have not said they use it to choose sources. Google has said it does not use it for Search. Citations still come from pages the engines crawl and index.
- People sometimes paste a site's llms.txt into a chat to give an assistant quick, accurate context.
Should you add one?
Yes, if it takes you less than an hour. It costs nothing, cannot hurt, and gives any tool that reads it an accurate summary in your own words. Just do not expect it to replace the work that actually drives AI citations: letting AI search crawlers in, serving content in HTML, and writing clear, answer-first pages. That is covered in how to get cited by AI search.
Tips for a good file:
- Lead with facts people ask about: what it is, who it is for, price, and limits.
- Link to canonical, server-rendered pages, not app routes behind a login.
- Keep descriptions to one line each and update the file when pages change.
- Serve it as
text/plainortext/markdownwith a 200 status.
Questions
Where do I put llms.txt?
At the root of your site, so it loads at https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt, served as plain text. Some documentation sites also publish it under a docs path, but the root is what tools look for first.
Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?
No. robots.txt tells crawlers what they may fetch. llms.txt is a reading guide: a summary of your site and links to the pages worth reading. It does not allow or block anything.
What is llms-full.txt?
A common companion file that puts the full text of your key pages, or a detailed summary, into one Markdown file, so an assistant can load everything in a single request. It is a convention adopted by documentation platforms, not part of the original proposal.
Does Google use llms.txt?
Google has said it does not use llms.txt for Search or AI Overviews. Google ranks and cites pages it crawls and indexes, so robots.txt, server-rendered content, and normal SEO matter far more.
How long should llms.txt be?
Short. A one-line summary, a few sentences of key facts, and 10 to 50 links with one-line descriptions is typical. Put long content in llms-full.txt or on the linked pages.
Tools for this guide
llms.txt generator
Build an llms.txt file from your sitemap so AI tools that read llms.txt get a clean map of your site.
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