llms.txt is a simple Markdown file placed at the root of your website (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that gives AI assistants a curated, easy-to-read map of your most important content, so they can understand and cite your site accurately.

Where do I put llms.txt?

At the root of your domain, reachable at https://yoursite.com/llms.txt — the same place robots.txt lives.

Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?

No. robots.txt tells crawlers what they may or may not access. llms.txt does the opposite job: it highlights and explains your best content so AI models can use it well. They complement each other.

Home › Blog › What is llms.txt?

GEO Basics · 2026

What is llms.txt? (and how to create one)

Search is shifting from ten blue links to AI-generated answers. llms.txt is a small file that helps those AI engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews — actually understand your site and cite it correctly. Here's the plain-English version.

The 30-second answer

llms.txt is a plain Markdown file at the root of your site (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that gives large language models a clean, curated map of your most important pages and what they're about. Think of it as a friendly README written for AI rather than for developers.

Why it exists

When an AI assistant answers a question, it has to skim your pages fast — through menus, popups, scripts and clutter — and guess what matters. That guessing leads to your content being summarized wrong, attributed to someone else, or skipped entirely. llms.txt removes the guesswork: you hand the model a tidy list of your key URLs with a sentence of context each, so it can represent you accurately. As AI answers eat more of search, that representation is your visibility. This is the core idea behind Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

What goes in the file

The format is deliberately simple — a title, a short summary, then grouped links:

# Your Company
> One-sentence description of what you do.

## Docs
- [Getting started](https://yoursite.com/docs/start): how to set up in 5 minutes.
- [API reference](https://yoursite.com/docs/api): full endpoint list.

## Product
- [Pricing](https://yoursite.com/pricing): plans and what's included.

That's it. Plain Markdown, human-readable, no special syntax to memorize.

Don't want to write it by hand?

Use the free llms.txt Generator →

Where to put it

Upload it to your site's root so it's reachable at https://yoursite.com/llms.txt — the same place robots.txt and sitemap.xml live. No signup, no plugin required.

llms.txt vs robots.txt vs sitemap.xml

robots.txt — tells crawlers what they may not access. (Need to allow or block AI crawlers specifically? Use our AI robots.txt generator.)
sitemap.xml — lists every URL for search-engine completeness.
llms.txt — highlights your best, most important content with context, written for AI to understand quickly.

They're complementary — a complete GEO setup uses all three, plus schema markup so machines understand your entities.

Does it actually work?

Honest answer: llms.txt is an emerging, voluntary standard — not every AI engine formally consumes it yet, and adoption is still growing. But it costs nothing, takes two minutes, and aligns your site with where search is clearly heading. It's a low-effort, no-downside bet on AI visibility — and it nudges you to organize your best content clearly, which helps human and machine readers alike.

Generate yours in 2 minutes — free, no signup.

Create my llms.txt →

FAQ

What is llms.txt?

A Markdown file at your site root that gives AI assistants a curated map of your key content so they understand and cite you accurately.

Where does it go?

At yoursite.com/llms.txt — the root, same as robots.txt.

Is it the same as robots.txt?

No — robots.txt restricts crawlers; llms.txt highlights and explains your best content for AI. They work together.

Free educational guide. llms.txt is an emerging standard; AI engines' support varies and evolves.