What Is llms.txt? How to Create One (and Whether It Actually Helps)

Short answer: llms.txt is a plain-text Markdown file at your website's root that summarises your business and links to your best pages for AI systems. It is a proposal rather than a standard and nobody guarantees it will be used, but it takes ten minutes to publish and forces you to describe your business clearly, which helps everywhere else.

What does an llms.txt file look like?

1. 1.A title: your business or site name as a level-one heading.
2. 2.A summary: a short quoted paragraph saying what you do, for whom and where.
3. 3.Sections of links: Markdown links to your key pages, each with a one-line description.

How do you write a good one?

• Lead with facts, not slogans: what you offer, who it is for and where you work.
• Use descriptive link titles. 'Emergency plumbing call-outs in Leeds' beats 'Services'.
• List only pages that are accurate and up to date: services, pricing, about, contact, your best guides and case studies.
• Keep it short and update it when you launch something important.

What will it do for your visibility?

Do not expect a ranking jump. The real gains in AI search come from content that opens with a direct answer, structured data, trust signals and not blocking AI crawlers. llms.txt is a helpful extra that makes your best pages easy to find.