What Is llms.txt and Does It Work?

Originally published on depra.ai on 15 September 2026.

llms.txt is a plain-text proposal: a file at the root of your website that points AI tools to your most important pages. We looked at whether it actually does anything. The short version: 53% of the sites cited in our India shopping study have some kind of llms.txt, but none of the major engines shows evidence that it influences which sites they cite, and Google says outright that it ignores the file.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a markdown file served at yourdomain.com/llms.txt. It holds the site name, a short summary and a curated list of page links. Jeremy Howard published the proposal on 3 September 2024, and version 2 followed on 10 August 2026. The only required element is a markdown heading. Optional parts include a summary, lists of links, and an "Optional" section for AI tools that are short on space.

Does llms.txt work?

Here is what the main platforms say, and what we saw.

• Google: its AI optimisation guidance says Google Search ignores these files, and that they neither help nor harm visibility.
• OpenAI and Perplexity: both point site owners to robots.txt for crawler access, and neither mentions llms.txt.
• Chrome Lighthouse: it includes llms.txt audits, but they do not score rankings.
• Depra's data: adoption among the 10 most-cited sites was mixed. YouTube (100 citations) has no file, and the most-cited sites did not line up with having one.

What we found in the Indian shopping study

We analysed 480 AI shopping answers (ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity) from India. They cited 247 websites, and we also checked 50 major brand sites.

Category	Sites	Custom-written	Shopify default	Generated	No file
Cited websites	247	40 (16.2%)	89	3	90
Brand sites	50	7 (14%)	31	0	10

Overall, 53% of cited sites and 76% of brand sites have a file. But most of those files are Shopify defaults with very little brand-specific information in them.

The 10 most-cited websites

Website	Citations	llms.txt status
reddit.com	106	Could not check
youtube.com	100	No file
nykaa.com	93	Could not check
flipkart.com	79	Could not check
amazon.in	79	Could not check
instagram.com	67	No file
smytten.com	52	Written for the site
ndtvshopping.com	49	Could not check
hindustantimes.com	48	Written for the site
myntra.com	47	No file

llms.txt vs robots.txt

	robots.txt	llms.txt
Status	Web standard (RFC 9309)	Proposal (2024 / 2026)
Function	Allows or blocks crawlers by path	Suggests priority pages
Enforcement	Search crawlers honour it	No confirmed enforcement
AI impact	Blocking crawlers prevents indexing	No confirmed effect on citations

How to write an llms.txt

1. Pick the pages. 5 to 20 URLs covering collections, guides, shipping, returns and contact.
2. Format it. Start with a # heading (your brand name), add a summary after >, and group links under ## headings.
3. Publish it. Put it at the domain root as plain text, and check it by visiting the URL directly.
4. Mind your platform. Shopify needs templates/llms.txt.liquid in the theme. WordPress plugins such as Rank Math can generate the file. Custom sites need a static file in the public folder.
5. Maintain it. Update the file when pages move or collections are renamed.

Example file

# Example Skin

> Sunscreens and serums made
> for Indian weather.

## Shop

- [SPF](https://example.com/spf)
- [Serum](https://example.com/serum)

## Help

- [FAQ](https://example.com/faq)
- [Returns](https://example.com/ret)

## Optional

- [Blog](https://example.com/blog)

Should you add one?

It is optional, and the benefit for AI visibility is unproven. If you have limited time, do these first:

1. Allow search crawlers in robots.txt (OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Googlebot).
2. Publish content that answers buying questions: comparisons, guides and product pages.
3. Get mentioned on sites AI already cites: Reddit, YouTube, news sites and marketplaces.
4. Measure over weeks, because AI answers fluctuate.

Depra AI tracks how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews mention your brand, in English and Hinglish, so you can see whether any of this moves your numbers.

FAQ

What is llms.txt?
A plain-text markdown file at yoursite.com/llms.txt with a site summary and curated links. Jeremy Howard proposed it on 3 September 2024, and version 2 was released on 10 August 2026. No major AI search engine confirms that it uses the file for citation decisions.

Does Google use llms.txt?
No. Google Search ignores llms.txt, and Google says such files have no effect on rankings or visibility. Chrome Lighthouse audits the file separately but does not score rankings.

Does llms.txt help SEO?
There is no demonstrated effect on rankings or citations, and Google explicitly denies any impact. OpenAI and Perplexity recommend robots.txt instead. Treat it as optional, and put crawler access and quality content first.

Where do I put llms.txt?
At the domain root, as plain text: https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt. On Shopify, add templates/llms.txt.liquid to the theme. On WordPress, use an SEO plugin such as Rank Math to generate it.

Depra AI is AI visibility tracking software for brands in India, monitoring ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews mentions in English and Hinglish from ₹1,999 a month. Based in India, working worldwide.