What Is an llms.txt File — and Why You Need It in 2025

What is llms.txt ?

llms.txt is a small, plain-text file placed at the root of your site (e.g., yourdomain.com/llms.txt ). It was proposed by Jeremy Howard to help LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, etc.) quickly find and understand your most authoritative content at inference time—more like a human-curated “AI sitemap” than a crawling directive. See also Answer.ai and Search Engine Land.

 # llms.txt — Your Brand
## Overview
- https://www.example.com/  : Home — what you do, who you serve.
- https://www.example.com/contact : Contact / book a consult.
- https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml : XML sitemap.
## Services
- https://www.example.com/local-seo/ : Local SEO for Springfield, Nixa, Ozark, Branson.
- https://www.example.com/seo-website-design/ : SEO-focused website design.
## Blog
- https://www.example.com/blog/ai-search/ : How to show up in AI search.
- https://www.example.com/blog/topical-authority/ : Build topical authority.
## External References
- https://www.bbb.org/yourprofile
- https://www.yelp.com/biz/yourbrand 

Why it matters in 2025 (with stats)

People increasingly consult AI assistants alongside (or instead of) search engines. Pew Research finds that about one-third of U.S. adults have used an AI chatbot. Consumer Reports found that 35% of recent chatbot users used a chatbot instead of a search engine. And an Adobe survey reports that 77% of U.S. ChatGPT users treat it as a search engine(with ~24% starting there first).

What to include in llms.txt

• Core pages: Home, About, Contact, Services, Locations, /sitemap.xml .
• Service pages with one-line, keyword-rich blurbs (e.g., “Local SEO in Springfield, MO”).
• High-value blogs/resources you want AI to quote or summarize.
• External references(Google Business Profile, BBB, Yelp, Clutch) to reinforce credibility.
• Keep it short and clean: headings + bullets work best for LLM parsing.

GEO: Generative Engine Optimization

A new layer of SEO is emerging: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). It’s about optimizing your brand’s visibility inside AI-generated answers. llms.txt is a low-effort way to steer LLMs toward your priority content, alongside structured content and backlinks. See the GEO research paper for deeper context.

Implementation checklist

1. Create /llms.txt at your domain root.
2. List Core Pages + Services + Blog posts with short, descriptive blurbs.
3. Add External References(Google Maps, BBB, Yelp, industry directories).
4. Link your /sitemap.xml for full URL coverage.
5. Update it when you publish new priority content.

FAQ