llms.txt, explained
Jeremy Howard published the proposal at llmstxt.org and updated it in August 2026. The file starts with the site’s name and a one line summary, then lists links with short notes. AI tools are meant to read it when they need to learn about a site, then follow only the links they need.
The newest version says the file can sit at the root or under a path, such as a docs folder, to cover just that part of the site. Google’s guide says Google Search ignores llms.txt, so it neither helps nor hurts your Google rankings. Other tools may still read it.
Does Google use llms.txt?
No. Google says you do not need AI text files like llms.txt to appear in Google Search or its AI features, because Google Search does not use them. It also says it is fine to keep one for other services that do.
What goes in an llms.txt file?
The proposal asks for a title line, a short summary, and then lists of links, each with an optional note. An Optional section can hold links a tool may skip. This site has its own file at /llms.txt.
Questions
What is llms.txt used for?
It gives AI tools a short, clean guide to a website: a summary plus links to the pages that matter most, so a tool can find what it needs without reading every page.
Does llms.txt help my Google ranking?
No. Google says Google Search ignores llms.txt, so the file will neither help nor harm your visibility or rankings in Google.
Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?
No. robots.txt tells crawlers which pages they may visit. llms.txt is a guide that points AI tools to useful pages when they need information.
Where we use this term
Sources
- The /llms.txt file, v2. llmstxt.org (Jeremy Howard). .
- Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search. Google Search Central. .
Definition checked against these sources and our own pages on .