What an llms.txt file is
llms.txt is a proposal from llmstxt.org: a Markdown file at /llms.txt that gives AI tools a short, clean map of a site. It starts with an H1 title and a one-line summary in a blockquote, then H2 sections that list links in the form - [name](url): note.
No search engine documents using it. For its AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google says you don't need to create new machine readable files or AI text files. Treat llms.txt as a cheap, low-risk extra for assistants and tools that choose to read it, not as a ranking factor.
What to put in it
- The pages someone would need to understand what you do: your best guides, product or service pages, pricing, documentation
- One short note per link that says what's on the page, not marketing copy
- An Optional section for links that can be skipped when space is tight, such as the about page or older posts
- Not tag pages, search results, feeds or URLs with tracking parameters
Formats the link boxes accept
One link per line. A bare URL works (the title is taken from the address). So does Title | URL | note, and so does a Markdown list item you copied from another llms.txt.
After you publish it
Upload the file so it opens at https://yourdomain/llms.txt as plain text. Then run the AI crawler checker: it reads the file, checks the same structure rules and tells you whether AI crawlers can reach your pages at all, which matters far more than the file itself.