llms.txt: what it is and how to write one
Think of llms.txt as a sitemap for readers that are language models: one page, plain Markdown, the site’s purpose and its most useful links.
The short answer
llms.txt is a plain Markdown file served at https://your-site/llms.txt. It starts with the site name as a heading, a one-line summary as a blockquote, and then sections of links with a short description each. Answer bots that look for it get a clean map of the site instead of guessing from navigation.
The format
# Acme Bikes
> Mountain, gravel and city bikes, sized and shipped from Portland.
## Guides
- [Mountain bike sizes](https://acmebikes.example/guides/sizes): how to pick a frame size
- [Tubeless setup](https://acmebikes.example/guides/tubeless): step by step, 20 minutes
## Products
- [Trail 29](https://acmebikes.example/bikes/trail-29): hardtail, 12-speedRules of thumb:
- One
#heading with the site name, then one>line that says what the site is for. ##sections by kind of page (Guides, Products, Company). Keep the sections a visitor would recognise.- Each link with a colon and a short description. The description is the part a model reads first.
- Absolute URLs. Plain text. No HTML.
How to publish it
Any static file at the site root works. On WordPress, the MonoRanks connector publishes it for you from a draft made of your own pages; on other platforms, add the file to the web root or a route that serves it as text/plain.
What not to put in it
Marketing copy, keyword lists, or every page on the site. A model that reads a 400-line llms.txt learns nothing; one that reads 25 well-described links knows where to look.
MonoRanks detects whether a site has one, drafts it from the site’s own sections and publishes it through the connector. See GEO readiness.
Sources
Common questions
Do assistants actually read llms.txt?
Some answer bots fetch it when it exists; adoption is uneven. It costs nothing to publish and it is a good exercise in saying what your site is for.
Is it the same as robots.txt?
No. robots.txt says who may crawl. llms.txt says what is worth reading.
How long should it be?
Short. A summary and the ten to thirty pages you would show a new visitor.
About one email a month
What changed in search and AI answers, from what we see in audits. No card, no pitch, one click to leave.