How to write llms.txt — the standard file for AI search
What llms.txt is, why to publish it now, and a copy-paste example for a small business site. The one-page file that helps AI search read your key pages correctly.
- llms.txt
- AI search
- GEO
Bottom line: llms.txt is a one-page Markdown file you drop at your site root to help AI search engines and LLMs quickly grasp which pages matter and in what order to read them. It is not an official standard yet, but it takes ten minutes to write and costs nothing, so there is no reason to wait. A copy-paste example for a small business site is below.
What llms.txt is
llms.txt is an informal convention proposed in 2024: a Markdown file placed at your site root (https://example.com/llms.txt). Where robots.txt tells crawlers "don't go here," llms.txt does the opposite — it says "read this first, in this order." HTML pages bury the real content under ads, navigation, and scripts, which makes it hard for an LLM to extract the substance. llms.txt is a clean, human-curated list of links, so the core context lands directly.
Why publish it now
- Citation odds: when ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude summarize your site, they aren't guessing which page is the authoritative source.
- Entity clarity: stating your business name, services, and contact in one place tells AI exactly what your business does.
- Zero cost, zero risk: it's purely additive — it doesn't touch your existing SEO or structured data. Even if it never becomes a standard, you lose nothing.
Copy-paste example for a small business site
Paste the block below into a text editor, swap in your own business details, save it as llms.txt, and upload it to your site's top-level (root) folder.
# Sunlight Hair Salon
> A solo hair studio in Hapjeong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Cut, perm, and color by appointment.
## Key pages
- [Booking](https://example.com/booking): hours, how to book, cancellation policy
- [Menu & prices](https://example.com/menu): cut / perm / color price list
- [Directions](https://example.com/location): address, parking, walk from the subway
## About
- [About the stylist](https://example.com/about): 12 years' experience, Japanese layered cuts
## Contact
- Phone: +82-2-000-0000
- KakaoTalk channel: @sunlighthair
- Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00-20:00 (closed Mon)The rules are simple: a # business name at the top, a > one-line summary under it, then ## sections listing your most important links in Markdown link format. It doesn't need to be fancy — just accurate.
One caveat
llms.txt is not an enforced spec the way robots.txt is, and not every AI reads it yet. So the file alone does not guarantee visibility. It works when the underlying pages already carry structured data (JSON-LD), conclusion-first copy, and FAQ blocks. llms.txt is the map you lay on top of all that.
Next steps
If you don't have time to build the file yourself, GEO:lab Auto generates a structured-data, meta, and FAQ code pack from a single URL. For which signals actually drive AI citations, see 7 Perplexity citation patterns, and for how this differs from SEO and AEO, see GEO vs SEO vs AEO.
Frequently asked questions
- How is llms.txt different from robots.txt?
- robots.txt is a blocking convention that tells crawlers where not to go, while llms.txt is a Markdown file that points LLMs to the key pages to read first. Their purposes are opposite.
- Does publishing llms.txt guarantee AI-search visibility?
- No. It's still an informal convention, so not every AI reads it. It works alongside structured data, conclusion-first copy, and FAQs on the underlying pages. llms.txt is the map you lay on top.
- Where should llms.txt be placed?
- At your site's top-level root, reachable at https://yourdomain/llms.txt — the same location as robots.txt.