Marketing glossary: What is llms.txt?
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 its most important pages.
What is llms.txt?
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 its most important pages. It was proposed in 2024 by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI and is documented at llmstxt.org. Google Search does not use it, but some AI tools and agents read it as a quick map.
Why does llms.txt matter?
AI tools work within limited context and struggle with navigation menus, scripts and ads. A clean Markdown summary with links to your best pages makes it easier for an assistant or agent to understand what you do. It is cheap to add, but it does not control crawling and is not a ranking factor.
How to create an llms.txt file
- 1
Step 1
Write the summary
Start with an H1 with your name and a one-paragraph blockquote saying what you do.
- 2
Step 2
List key pages
Add H2 sections with Markdown links to your most important pages, each with a short description.
- 3
Step 3
Keep it current
Update it when pages change, and optionally publish llms-full.txt with the full text.
What does an llms.txt file look like in practice?
# Marketing Studio by UshbaTech, followed by a one-line summary and sections such as Product, Pricing, Comparisons and Help, each linking to the right pages.
llms.txt: frequently asked questions
Still have questions? Talk to a human
Does llms.txt block AI crawlers?
No. Crawling is controlled by robots.txt, not llms.txt. An llms.txt file only offers AI tools a short summary of your site and links to its most important pages. To allow or block specific AI crawlers such as GPTBot or ClaudeBot, add rules for their user agents in robots.txt.
Does Google use llms.txt?
Google has said its search systems do not use llms.txt, so the file does not affect Google rankings or AI Overviews. Some AI tools, assistants and coding agents do read it as a quick map of a site, and it costs very little to create and keep current.
Can I generate an llms.txt file for free?
Yes. Marketing Studio's free llms.txt generator builds the file from a few fields, a list of URLs or a pasted sitemap, and validates the format in your browser. Upload the result to your site's root as /llms.txt, then check it with the SEO & AI-SEO audit.
