What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a simple Markdown file at a domain's root (e.g. agentsie.at/llms.txt) that gives language models a curated map of the most important content: who the brand is, what services, cases, articles and definitions exist - each with a link and short description.
Its purpose isn't indexing like sitemap.xml, but human- and machine-readable condensation. The file is deliberately Markdown, tailored to language models rather than crawler XML.
Important context: despite its popularity in the SEO community, there is so far no solid evidence that llms.txt increases citation frequency in ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews - Google representatives (incl. John Mueller) currently call it ineffective for citations. Worth having as a cheap, harmless extra, not a priority.
Why does llms.txt matter?
llms.txt is cheap to ship and carries no downside - but it's not a ranking or citation lever. For AI visibility, invest in citable content, schema markup and brand mentions rather than this file.
llms.txt in practice
- 01agentsie.at/llms.txt lists services, cases, blog and glossary as annotated links - a clean overview, nothing more.
- 02Unlike sitemap.xml (crawler XML for indexing), llms.txt is human-readable Markdown.
- 03Studies across hundreds of thousands of domains (incl. SE Ranking) find no measurable citation effect from llms.txt so far.
From the journal
- AI Visibility Check: What 20 Checks Reveal About Your WebsiteChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews are becoming the first port of call for more and more people - but whether your website shows up there is decided at very concrete, testable points. Our free AI visibility check tests 20 of them. Here is what the four categories mean and why they decide your visibility.
- GEO not SEO: how your brand shows up in ChatGPT and PerplexityMore and more people research in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI instead of classic search. If you are not named as a source there, you are invisible to a growing audience - no matter how well your website ranks. GEO is the discipline that changes this: becoming visible in the AI answer, not just the search result. Here is how it works.
