llms.txt
llms.txt is a proposed standard for a Markdown file, usually placed at a website's root as /llms.txt, that gives AI agents a short, curated overview of the site and links to its most useful content.
Also called: llms.txt file
Why it matters
Web pages are built for browsers, with navigation, scripts and layout that make them hard for language models to read within a limited context window. An llms.txt file offers a clean summary instead. Under the proposal, it starts with an H1 naming the site, followed by an optional blockquote summary, optional detail sections and H2 sections listing links, each with a short note.
The proposal also suggests offering clean Markdown versions of useful pages, for example by adding .md to the page URL. llms.txt is different from robots.txt, which tells crawlers what they may access, and from a sitemap, which lists every page for search engines. It is a proposal, so support varies between AI tools and it is not a ranking factor in its own right.
Example
A software company adds an llms.txt file to its documentation site. The file names the product, gives a two-sentence summary in a blockquote, then lists links under H2 headings such as Docs, API reference and Pricing, each with a one-line note. An Optional section links to the changelog, which agents can skip when they need less context.
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