llms.txt

llms.txt is a proposed file you place on your site to tell AI models how to read it, and Google Search ignores it.

The idea borrows from robots.txt, which search crawlers genuinely follow.

Google's guide to its AI features says Google Search doesn't use llms.txt or other AI text files, and that you can ignore creating them.

Ahrefs looked at the 137,210 domains in its web analytics product during May 2026 and found 97% of the llms.txt files among them received no requests at all.

It's included here because it gets sold as an AI search service, and knowing the answer saves you paying for it.

What this means for you

If someone quotes you for adding llms.txt to your site, that's a useful signal about the rest of the quote. Visibility in AI search comes from pages worth quoting, which is where I put the work.

This one sits under AI search.

Related terms

AI Mode

AI Mode is Google's fully conversational search, where the whole results page is an AI answer you can ask follow-up questions of.

Answer engine citation

An answer engine citation is ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity or Copilot quoting your site as a source in an answer.

Schema markup (structured data)

Schema markup is hidden code on a page that states plainly what the page is about, in a format search engines read directly.

Want to know how this looks on your account?

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