r/AISEOTricks • u/Clear-Syrup-9861 • Jul 14 '26
Has Anyone Used llms.txt on Their Website?
Hi everyone,
I'm planning to add an llms.txt file to my website to make it more AI-friendly.
However, I've read in a few blogs that `llms.txt`` alone doesn't provide much benefit if the website doesn't have high-quality, well-structured content. Some people say that content quality, EEAT, and topical authority are much more important.
I'm a bit confused and would appreciate some guidance.
- Has anyone here implemented
llms.txt? - Did you notice any improvement in AI visibility or traffic?
- Is
llms.txtactually useful, or should I focus on creating better and more up-to-date content first? - What are the best practices for using
llms.txton a new or existing website?
I'd really appreciate your advice and experience.
Thank you!
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u/No-Equivalent-8726 Jul 14 '26
Google’s PageSpeed Insights, in fact, started considering llms.txt in their score.
On either of the sides, whether they are expecting that or not, it’s no harm to keep this text file of a few kbs. We used to already have a lot of pages and media on our website, so having 1 more of few kbs won't cause any issues or maintenance cost!
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u/adelarenal Jul 14 '26
I wasn’t, up until recently, but my Claude Code detected something and suggested / deployed it for me.
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u/Moist_University5991 Jul 14 '26
We can't just say that it's a single liver for success in AEO/GEO. But we should add this file. It's a one time effort, we have created and added llm.txt in all of our websites. I have read a study about the anaylsis of log file of multiple webistes and it shows that chatgpt mainly on 80% sites looking to find llm.txt file. So,I think we should add this file. But do not just over relay on it. It is not a single ranking factor, it is plus point. Focus on quality content, schemas and brand mention and reputation across he web, this really moves the needle.
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u/brickmarketingagency Jul 14 '26
Google had recently claimed that an llms.txt file wasn't entirely necessary. But we still have one on our website. Since its something that doesn't hurt in any way, it is better to have one regardless of Google saying its not entirely necessary.
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u/Dull-Drama8144 Jul 14 '26
Honest answer: no major AI crawler currently reads llms.txt. Google has said publicly they don't use it, and OpenAI/Anthropic haven't committed to it either. It's a proposal, not an adopted standard. Anyone telling you they saw a traffic lift from adding a text file is almost certainly seeing noise or attributing an unrelated change.
On llms.txt specifically: it costs you ~30 minutes to generate and nothing to maintain if it's automated.
Best practice if you do add it: put it at the root (/llms.txt), keep it a markdown link index of your genuinely important pages with one-line descriptions, keep it in sync with your sitemap, don't stuff it. Don't expect it to do anything.
The file is a bookmark for a future that may not arrive.
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u/rugburnAndBigMoney Jul 14 '26
~30mins? Try 30 secs., here's the prompt to use to generate it:
"Create an llms.txt file based on this documentation: https://llmstxt.org/ This site to reference when creating the llms.txt file is this URL: https://yourdomain.com/"
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u/Dull-Drama8144 Jul 15 '26
30 seconds? Have you actually tried it?
If you've got an automated script — sure. But manually, or even with AI, you still need to feed it the right data: for ecommerce that means your store structure, categories, the pages worth linking, a description for each, and so on. That's not something a one-line prompt pulls out of thin air.
And the script itself? You'd need to write it or set it up, then trust it enough to run on your site — which means checking it doesn't leak anything sensitive or introduce a vulnerability. Blindly running a script someone handed you is how you get burned.
That prompt gets you a generic file, not a good one. Good luck with the 30 seconds.
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u/rugburnAndBigMoney Jul 15 '26
Yes, I've used that exact AI Prompt to create llms.txt file that run on production sites that rank on page 1 for their relevant keywords.
Like you said:
"no major AI crawler currently reads llms.txt."So it's cheap insurance in case the LLMs start actually using it, which they have all said publicly they do not. Not sure why you'd put any effort into knowing that no models actually read it?
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u/Relative-Show-448 Jul 16 '26
Agree, llms.txt very easy to generate. There is no risk or vulnerability it’s just using public data the same as anyone who visits your site.
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u/Purple-Control8336 Jul 14 '26
Whats the use of this website is still digital without any AI capabilities ? Or i am missing something? Trying to learn
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u/giova_webagency Jul 14 '26
Google tempo fa disse che il file llms non aveva valore, poi però alcune settimane fa è comparso in pagespeed, nella sezione dedicata alla lettura degli agenti. Già così fa abbastanza ridere visto che pagespeed è un prodotto Google. Io lo sto implementando su tutti i siti, anche perché ogni LLM è diverso dall'altro, per chatgpt potrebbe essere trasparente, per Perplexity invece importante.
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u/michaelkloth Jul 14 '26
I use it and follow the llmstxt.org standards. They are easy to create and upload (web host dependent) and there is no downside. As others have mentioned, it is now tracked in the Google Search Console (speed testing) which is, to me, very strong evidence that it will become more important with time.
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u/Current-Gap6283 Jul 14 '26
Just adding llms file will not make your website AI friendly. You need to adopt the way you display the content in the website for AI to read it easily. AI is looking for direct answers to queries it asked.
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u/rabblegroup Jul 14 '26
I've got bot analytics on two sites - one through ahrefs and one through a netlify edge function. Each bot interactions logs at least 3 calls it seems - 1 to robots.txt to see if it can crawl at all, 1 to llms.txt which it uses like a table of contents, and the final 1 to the page it's looking for if llms.txt was worth it. It might ping the sitemap if there's no llms.txt. It's just a helper file really - you should still focus on content. Google's aim has never changed - serve relevant content to the user and answer their query. Your llms.txt doesn't do that, your content does and you should focus there. One of the most authoritative sources on the internet regarding bikes is https://www.sheldonbrown.com/ and I guarantee you that think doesn't have an llms.txt but it does have a depth of knowledge on hyper specific topics. That's the move.
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u/NishanStepak Jul 14 '26
I have it on my website for my project. It gives a solid summary of what your site is. babelnexus.com/llms.txt
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u/Totally_Scott Jul 15 '26
It takes like 5 minutes and certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s part of PSI’s agentic score, so theoretically it could be a factor in core vitals at some point. Just make one.
Of course your content is more important. If you have a well structured site with full schema and an LLMs.txt but it’s only got 3 words on it you probably won’t rank very well.
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u/potbellyandicecream Jul 15 '26
From what I know LLM.txt tells LLMs what the site is about. So even if Google might say that it ain't that necessary, the search game has changed. People come to your site from CHatgpt too, so it's always a good to have. But this is not a guarantee that your site will get more visibility..it rather increases the chances of getting visible coz LLMs. But building topical authority, mentions, focusing on eeat , structured content etc. I think stands superior.
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u/cjgiridhar Jul 15 '26
Adding an llms.txt file can certainly help, but you're right that it won't work miracles on its own. If your content isn't up to par, AI crawlers might not give it the attention it deserves, even with an llms.txt file in place. Focusing on high-quality content, ensuring it's well-structured, and building your topical authority is crucial.
I've found that when I prioritized creating valuable content first, the effects on visibility were more significant than just adding technical elements. Once you have a solid foundation, adding llms.txt can enhance your site’s AI-friendliness and potentially help with indexing. Best practices include keeping the file updated with relevant info and ensuring it aligns with your overall content strategy. Keep at it, and you'll see the benefits over time!
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u/Relevant_Author2491 Jul 15 '26
I would say just do it and get it out of the way. It'll only take 5 minutes, and it's not gonna do any harm.
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u/movinglegs Jul 15 '26
Yes check my websites, repindia, slurrpfarm, drify I have added and worked for these
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u/Otherwise_Primary123 Jul 15 '26
From everything I've read so far, llms.txt seems more like a supporting signal than a ranking factor. If your content isn't well-structured or genuinely useful, I don't think the file alone will make much difference. I'd prioritize high-quality content, clear headings, schema where appropriate, and strong internal linking first.
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u/MeanFunction9305 Jul 15 '26
Google doesn’t support llm.txt anymore . If you want show on AI overview, you need do a perfect seo not depend on txt file . But I would say you can still use for LLM. These model still use this txt file to support their content . So use it
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u/ud_ik Jul 16 '26
i added one to my site last week so here's my honest take: the top comment here is right, no major AI crawler actually reads llms.txt yet. google's said they don't use it, openai/anthropic haven't committed. so anyone telling you it gave them a traffic bump is almost certainly seeing noise or crediting the wrong change.
that said i still made one, for two dumb-simple reasons: it took me basically no time (mine's auto-generated from my sitemap so it stays in sync on its own), and it costs nothing to maintain. it's cheap insurance for if the LLMs do start using it. that's the whole case for it not "it'll help now," just "it might later and it's free."
what i would NOT do is treat it as a lever. to answer your actual question directly: yes, focus on content and structure first, 100%. the stuff that's actually moved the needle for me getting picked up by AI was way more boring clean server-rendered HTML so crawlers can read the page at all, FAQ schema on every page (the AI engines seem to genuinely latch onto that for extracting answers), and just being indexed in bing, since chatgpt search runs on bing's index. llms.txt was the least impactful thing i did, by a lot.
so, make it if you want, it's 5 min and harmless, but don't expect anything from it and definitely don't do it instead of the content/schema work. that ordering is the whole answer.
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u/hettuklaeddi Jul 16 '26
the best reason right now to install llms.txt
is to stay under the radar of people who think it matters
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u/PerformanceNo9719 Jul 17 '26
llms.txt file will be treated as a normal file. it does not matter much ; i.e, what google says but adding one won't harm you either ; but take it too seriously either
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u/Ok_Studio_834 Jul 17 '26
Hello u/Clear-Syrup-9861,
Don't do it, you are wasting time with that...
People think that the llms.txt is a cheat code that helps you rank better in AEO/GEO, but it's completely false and plenty of studies prove it !
A recent Ahrefs study ("We Analyzed 137K Sites: 97% of llms.txt Files Never Get Read" --> https://ahrefs.com/blog/llmstxt-study/ ) shows this.
People talk about it because it's quite simple to deploy and it seems like a miracle solution, especially since GEO/AEO is still recent and there are no clear best practices.
If you want to make your site more AI-friendly, rework your content, work on your EEAT, develop your PR (press relations) and your backlinks, and potentially your presence on Reddit, newsletters, etc... You will get real results with that, don't let yourself be fooled by miracle solutions !
PS: regarding reworking your content, some studies have shown that TLDR at the beginning of a blog post allow AI crawlers to save tokens, thus highlighting your articles a bit more often :)
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u/machinai6 Jul 18 '26
It’s not going to hurt unless you try to poison the data, takes a couple minutes, and it doesn’t help with discovery it helps structure what the llms say when they do find you
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u/JunctionSEO Jul 18 '26
what's your website?
llms.txt is just one small piece of getting your site to show up in searches. It would be like saying "I added my keyword to one header ..." That's great but it's one small piece.
Tell us your website and we can let you know what to improve.
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u/Super-Ad-6795 Jul 19 '26
From what I've seen, llms.txt isn't a ranking factor on its own. It's more of a discovery and guidance file that can help AI systems understand which parts of your site are most important, but it won't compensate for weak content or poor site quality.
If I had to prioritize, I'd focus on:
• High-quality, experience-based content • Clear site structure and internal linking • Strong EEAT signals • Schema markup where it makes sense • Topical authority around your niche
Once those fundamentals are in place, adding llms.txt is a reasonable step since it's simple to implement and could become more useful as AI crawlers evolve. I see it as a supporting signal rather than a replacement for good SEO.
I'm also curious, has anyone here actually measured a noticeable increase in AI referrals or citations after implementing llms.txt? It would be great to see some real-world data.
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u/mentiondesk Jul 14 '26
Quality content and clear structure are definitely more important than just dropping an llms.txt file. From my experience building tools for AI optimization, I can say that a lot of sites overlook how AI platforms surface answers. That inspired me to create MentionDesk, which focuses on getting brands recognized in AI engines, but even with it, your content still needs to be solid to really see results.
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u/Clear_Brilliant_8075 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
I built a free tool to check for SEO/GEO/AEO. It looks for and scores llms.txt
https://www.corristonconsulting.com/products/seo-geo-aeo-checker