llms.txt: what it is, whether it helps, and how to write one
By the CiteFinder team · November 2, 2026 · 5 min read
llms.txt is a plain Markdown file at the root of your site (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that summarizes who you are and links your most important pages, written for AI models rather than people. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI in September 2024 and is published at llmstxt.org.
Does llms.txt help you show up in AI answers?
Honestly: not on its own, and not provably. None of the major AI search engines has said it uses llms.txt to choose what to cite. It's cheap insurance, not a ranking lever: it takes 20 minutes, it gives any model or agent that does read it an accurate description of you, and it forces you to write a clear one-paragraph summary of your business, which helps everywhere else.
Our own site has a complete llms.txt and passed every other readiness check, and AI still named us in 0 of 172 answers in our first scan. What other sites say about you matters far more (see the data). Do llms.txt, then spend your time there.
The format
- An H1 with your name.
- A blockquote with a one-to-three sentence summary: what you do, for whom.
- Optional paragraphs or bullet lists with key facts (prices, locations, what you don't do).
- H2 sections with lists of links:
- [Page name](url): one-line description.
A copy-ready example
This is a shortened version of CiteFinder's own file:
# CiteFinder > CiteFinder checks whether AI assistants mention and cite a brand > when buyers ask them for recommendations, and gives an action plan > to get named more often. It covers 7 AI engines on every plan. ## What it does - Asks 25 real buyer questions per brand across 7 AI engines - Shows which competitors AI recommends instead, and which sources it cites ## Pricing - Starter: $49/month, 1 brand - Pro: $129/month, 3 brands ## Pages - [Free scan](https://citefinder.xyz/): run a free AI visibility scan - [Pricing](https://citefinder.xyz/pricing)
You can see the full file at citefinder.xyz/llms.txt.
Tips
- Write facts, not slogans. “Payroll for US businesses with 1 to 100 employees, from $49/month” beats “the future of payroll”.
- Link the pages that answer buyer questions: pricing, comparisons, use cases, FAQ.
- Serve it as plain text, with a 200 status. If your firewall blocks bots, make sure it doesn't block this file.
- Keep it current: prices and product names in llms.txt go stale quietly.
- Don't forget the basics it doesn't replace: allow AI crawlers in robots.txt and render your copy in the HTML.
CiteFinder's site readiness check tests for llms.txt along with crawler access, schema and readable text.
Questions
What is llms.txt?
A Markdown file at a website's root (/llms.txt) that summarizes what the business does and links its key pages, written for AI models. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI in September 2024.
Does ChatGPT use llms.txt?
No major AI search engine, including ChatGPT, has said it uses llms.txt to choose what to cite. It's a low-cost addition that gives any model reading it an accurate summary, but it isn't a proven ranking factor.
Where do I put llms.txt?
At the root of your domain, so it loads at https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt as plain text with a 200 status.
What's the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?
robots.txt tells crawlers what they may and may not fetch. llms.txt doesn't grant or block anything; it's a summary and a map of your most useful pages for AI models.
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