What is llms.txt?
Updated By Akkrev
llms.txt is a plain-text Markdown file at a website's root that summarises the site and links its key pages for AI assistants and agents.
llms.txt is a simple file placed at the root of a website (for example example.com/llms.txt) that gives AI systems a short, Markdown summary of the site: what it is, and links to the pages that matter most. It was proposed in 2024 as a lightweight guide for language models, and version 2 was released in August 2026.
How it differs from robots.txt
robots.txt tells crawlers what they may and may not fetch. llms.txt tells AI what’s worth reading and how to understand it.
Does it help?
It is an optional guide that a compatible agent can read. Publishing one does not establish that a particular assistant uses it or that your site will receive more citations. Google says its AI search features need no special AI text file or additional schema.
See the llms.txt proposal and Google’s guidance for AI search features.
For booking, it doesn’t replace a working booking engine: an agent can know all about a hotel and still fail to book it.
Why it matters for AI visibility
Use it to offer a concise map of your key facts. Prioritise useful pages, crawl access, internal links and structured data that matches the visible content. An llms.txt file does not replace that work.