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What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a text file on your website that gives AI crawlers a structured overview of your most important content. A short explainer plus an implementation example.

What exactly is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a plain-text file in Markdown format that sits at the root of your website, at /llms.txt. It gives AI crawlers and agents (from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and other large language models) a structured overview of your most important pages at a glance: who you are, what you do, and where your core pages live.

The spec comes from Answer.AI (Jeremy Howard) and was first proposed in 2024 at llmstxt.org. By August 2026, version 2 of the spec is widely adopted: alongside the compact /llms.txt, there's now also a fuller variant, /llms-full.txt, containing the full content in plain text for models that need more context before citing.

Why is it needed?

AI models crawl differently than Google. An LLM agent that wants to quickly gather context about your business doesn't have time to search your entire site, render every page and parse the navigation. llms.txt answers that directly: a short, readable summary without HTML noise, pop-ups or cookie banners.

For your business that means faster and cheaper inclusion in AI answers, with less risk that a model cites an outdated or incomplete page. It's not a Google ranking factor, but it is a practical tool for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).

How do you implement an llms.txt?

Structure the file like a short table of contents: an H1 with your brand name, an H2 with your positioning in one sentence, and below that sections with markdown links to your most important pages — services, core pages, blog, contact. Add your NAP details (name, address, phone) so AI models recognise you as a concrete, local entity.

  1. Open a new text file and write an H1 with your business name.
  2. Add an H2 with your positioning in one sentence max.
  3. Put your NAP details (name, address, phone, registration number) in a short block.
  4. Group links by category: Services, Core pages, Blog, Contact.
  5. Publish the file at /llms.txt with content-type text/plain.
  6. Optionally publish a full content dump at /llms-full.txt.

Difference from sitemap.xml

sitemap.xml is for search engine crawlers like Googlebot: a machine-readable list of every URL with metadata (lastmod, priority) so Google knows what to crawl and when. llms.txt is for AI models: not a full list, but a manually curated, prioritised selection of the content most valuable to read — written to be understood by a language model rather than a crawler that walks every URL.

The two files complement each other. sitemap.xml gets you indexed in Google; llms.txt lets an AI model quickly and correctly cite who you are.

Example: our own llms.txt

At organiqgrow.nl/llms.txt you'll find our own file as a concrete example: company details, an overview of all our services with indicative pricing, every city page, industry page and the full blog list by category. Feel free to use it as a reference for your own implementation.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Need a quick answer?

Is llms.txt required for SEO?

No. llms.txt is not an official Google ranking factor and not a required standard. It's a voluntary best practice for GEO (visibility in AI answers), not for classic search results. The downside of implementing it is close to zero: it takes 30 to 60 minutes and has no negative impact on your existing SEO.

Do ChatGPT and Perplexity actually read my llms.txt?

Some AI crawlers and agents actively read the file when present, others don't do so consistently yet. No provider has fully and officially confirmed llms.txt support as a fixed part of their crawl or retrieval process. Treat it as a promising preparation, not a guarantee.

What's the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?

robots.txt is a permission system: it tells crawlers which paths they may or may not crawl. llms.txt is an invitation: it points to the content you actually want to highlight. In practice you need both, they do different things.

Should I also create an llms-full.txt?

Not required, but worth doing if your site has a lot of content that doesn't compress well into a summary. llms-full.txt is a plain-text dump of your most important pages, so a model with a large context window can cite more deeply without having to crawl your site.

How often should I update llms.txt?

Update it whenever something structural changes: a new core page, changed services, a pricing change. For most SMEs, a quarterly check is sufficient.

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