# llms.txt

> What is llms.txt, what it does, how to structure it and whether it is worth adding to your website so ChatGPT and other AI tools understand it better.

URL: https://gradual.pro/en/glossary/llms-txt

Updated: 2026-09-29

**llms.txt**: llms.txt is a Markdown file placed at the root of a website (/llms.txt) that gives language models a summary of the site and a list of links to its most important content. Jeremy Howard proposed it in 2024.

llms.txt is a plain-text file in Markdown format, published at `yourdomain.com/llms.txt`. Its job is to give language models a clean, condensed version of your site: who you are, what you offer and where the important information lives. Jeremy Howard, co-founder of Answer.AI and fast.ai, proposed it in September 2024, and many technical documentation sites and companies working on AI search visibility have adopted it.

## Why does llms.txt exist?

A modern web page is built for people: menus, cookie banners, scripts, ads and layout. To a language model, all of that is noise. Models also work with a limited context window and cannot read a whole site at once.

llms.txt offers a shortcut: a single structured plain-text file that explains the site and links to the pages worth reading. It is like handing someone an index instead of leaving them lost in the library.

## What does an llms.txt file look like?

The proposal defines a simple Markdown structure:

1. A `#` title with the name of the site or company.
2. A short summary in a blockquote (`>`), with the essentials.
3. Optional paragraphs with more context.
4. `##` sections that group lists of links, each with a short description.
5. An optional section called "Optional" for secondary links a model can skip when space runs short.

A minimal example for a clinic:

```markdown
# Example Dental Clinic

> Dental clinic in Austin specializing in implants and clear aligners. Free first visit.

## Services
- [Dental implants](https://example.com/implants): price, process and timeline
- [Clear aligners](https://example.com/aligners): types and financing

## Practical information
- [Hours and location](https://example.com/contact)
```

Many sites also publish `llms-full.txt`, with the full text of the key pages in one file.

## What does a business use llms.txt for?

For a business, llms.txt is a small piece of a [GEO](/en/glossary/geo) strategy, the work of getting assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini to find and cite you. It helps you:

- **Control the summary**: you decide how your company is described and which services appear first.
- **Point to the good pages**: guides, pricing, FAQs and service pages, instead of legal pages or tag archives.
- **Make life easier for agents and tools** that read websites to answer users, such as coding assistants or AI browsers.

## Example: a B2B software company

Picture a company that sells management software for auto repair shops. Its site has 300 pages across blog, documentation, pricing and use cases. When someone asks an AI assistant "which shop management software supports online booking?", the company wants the assistant to find the right page and not an old blog post.

The company publishes an llms.txt with a product summary, links to pricing, features and supplier integration docs, and puts the blog in the optional section. It also generates an llms-full.txt with the complete documentation. It keeps both updated automatically whenever it publishes a new page.

## Is it worth creating?

Yes, with realistic expectations. Creating and maintaining the file costs little, especially if your CMS generates it automatically. But it does not replace what weighs most: a crawlable site, AI crawlers not blocked in `robots.txt` and every page answering one specific question clearly.

You can check whether your site has llms.txt, along with other technical points, with our [AI visibility checker](/en/tools/ai-visibility-checker). If you want to work on it in depth, it is part of our [generative engine optimization](/en/services/generative-engine-optimization) service.

## FAQ

### Does llms.txt improve rankings in ChatGPT or Google?

There is no guarantee. It is an open proposal, and not every AI search engine confirms that it reads the file. It costs little to create and helps tools that do use it, but content and site structure still carry the weight.

### What is the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?

robots.txt tells crawlers what they may and may not visit. llms.txt grants no permissions: it summarizes the site and points to the pages that matter so a language model can understand it quickly.

### What is llms-full.txt?

It is a common variant that includes the full content of the main pages in a single Markdown file, instead of only links. It is useful for technical documentation and sites with a lot of reference content.