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llms.txt.

A signpost file for AI crawlers.

llms.txt is a simple text file in the root directory of your website that shows AI systems, in a structured way, what content exists and what is especially relevant – conceptually comparable to robots.txt.

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Which organic linseed oil do you recommend?
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A good option isyour-brand.co.uk – 4.8★, shipping within 24 h.
Product-Schema ✓

What AI crawlers read first

What this means for you

llms.txt in practice.

The point: AI crawlers don't have to fight their way through navigation, scripts and marketing text, but get the core information served up directly. Together with clean structured data, that significantly increases the chance of being cited in AI answers.

Amer, founder of Onfidence
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Structure and content of the file.

llms.txt is a simple Markdown file that sits in the root directory under your domain. It starts with the name of the website, followed by a short description and a structured list of the most important content, with links and one explanatory sentence each.

The purpose is efficiency: instead of working through navigation, scripts and marketing text, an AI system immediately gets a curated overview – comparable to a table of contents written specifically for machines.

For a shop, what belongs there is: product categories, the most important product pages, shipping and returns terms, contact options and – if available – guide and FAQ content.

What you should keep in mind.

01
Place it in the root directory

Accessible at your-domain.co.uk/llms.txt.

02
Short and curated

Not the whole sitemap, but the pages that really matter.

03
One sentence per link

Tells the machine what to expect there.

04
Aktuell halten

Dead links harm trust in the source.

05
Complementary, not a replacement

Structured data on the pages remains just as important.

Common mistakes.

!

Copying the entire sitemap into it. That's precisely not the purpose – curation is the value.

!

Create it once and forget it. An outdated file leads AI systems nowhere.

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Relying on llms.txt alone. Without structured data on the pages, the effect stays limited.

Frequently asked questions about llms.txt.

Is llms.txt an official standard?
It's an emerging, not yet formally standardised proposal – the effort is low and the potential benefit-to-risk ratio is good.
Does llms.txt replace robots.txt?
No. robots.txt governs access, llms.txt offers orientation and content.
Who reads the file?
AI search systems and crawlers that support the proposal. Its adoption is growing.
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