What is llms.txt?
Do you need it?

The file, plainly

The file sits at a predictable address, such as example.com/llms.txt. It summarizes the site and links to useful pages in a simple text format.

Keep it factual: who the business is, what it offers, where it serves, and which pages explain the work. Update it when those facts change. Leave out invented claims and instructions that conflict with visible content.

How it fits with robots.txt and schema

Keep the roles of these files distinct:

• robots.txt manages crawling. It gives instructions to crawlers that follow its rules. It is not an access-security mechanism, and a blocked URL can still appear in Google Search.
• Schema markup explains pages. Structured data inside each page tells engines precisely what that page is: a business, a menu, an FAQ, an article, with machine-readable fields.
• llms.txt explains the whole. It is the site-level summary: the map and the briefing, curated by the business, in one predictable place.

The practical priority is the website itself: accessible pages, clear information, and useful content. An optional summary should reflect those pages, not replace them. Structured data is a separate tool, explained in what schema markup does.

What it does and does not do

Google says llms.txt does not affect visibility or rankings in Google Search. Maintaining one is optional for systems that use it. It does not guarantee a citation or an accurate answer. Google Search does not use it for visibility or rankings.

Start with the pages customers need. Make them crawlable and useful, then keep the business facts consistent. Read our SEO and AI search guide for the broader approach. Guide: SEO and AI search.

We practice this on our own site

WTM Studio publishes an llms.txt summary and an ai.txt file. They accompany the public website. They do not replace robots.txt or control whether a search engine includes a page. wtmstudio.agency/llms.txt /ai.txt.