llms.txt is a Markdown file that is meant to help AI systems and agents use a website. Jeremy Howard proposed it on 3 September 2024 at llmstxt.org. Under the proposal, only an H1 heading with the site’s name is required.
It is followed by a summary as a blockquote, optional further explanation, and sections with H2 headings and lists of links. Links under the heading Optional may be skipped by a system that has little room.
Example
# De Spaak Bike Shop
> Bike shop in Zwolle for sales, repair and servicing of e-bikes.
## Services
- [Repairs](https://www.example.com/repairs): workshop and how we work
- [E-bikes](https://www.example.com/e-bikes): brands and advice
## Optional
- [About us](https://www.example.com/about)What does Google say?
Google writes in its guide to generative AI features that you do not need new machine-readable files or AI text files to appear in Google Search, and that Google Search itself does not use such files. According to Google, creating one for other services is fine.
Common mistake
Expecting llms.txt to make you more visible in AI answers. Whether a particular platform reads the file has to be stated in that platform’s own documentation. What matters more is that AI crawlers may fetch your pages and that the content is in the HTML as text. See AI crawler.