A map of your site for AI assistants

llms.txt, explained

Q: Where exactly do I put llms.txt?

In the root of the site, so it opens at https://yoursite.com/llms.txt . A file in a subfolder will not be found.

llms.txt is a plain text file at the root of a website, at yoursite.com/llms.txt, that tells AI assistants in a few lines what the site is about and which pages matter most. It is written in Markdown: a title, a one-sentence summary, then short lists of links with notes.

The idea was proposed by Jeremy Howard in September 2024 at llmstxt.org. It is a proposal, not an official standard, and it takes ten minutes to add. Below: the format, a full example, who reads it, and three ways to get one.

What goes inside

The file follows a fixed order. Only the first line is required, the rest makes it useful.

Part	How it is written	What to put there
Title	`# Name`	The name of the site or company. The only required line.
Summary	`> One sentence`	What the site is and who it is for, in one sentence.
Details	plain paragraphs	Facts a reader needs first: where you work, what you do not do, how to get in touch.
Sections	`## Section` and a list of links	Key pages grouped by topic: `- [Title](address): short note`.
Optional	`## Optional`	Pages that can be skipped when an assistant is short of space.

Example

A small dental clinic would write something like this.

# Smith Dental Clinic

> Family dental clinic in Vienna: check-ups, treatment, implants and children's dentistry. Booking online or by phone.

Open Monday to Saturday. We do not offer cosmetic veneers.

## Services

- [Implants](https://example.com/implants/): how it works, prices, recovery
- [Children's dentistry](https://example.com/children/): from the first tooth
- [Prices](https://example.com/prices/): full price list

## Clinic

- [Doctors](https://example.com/doctors/): who treats you
- [Contacts](https://example.com/contacts/): address, hours, booking

## Optional

- [Blog](https://example.com/blog/): articles on dental care

Who reads it today

An honest picture, so you know what to expect.

AI coding tools and agents

Many developer documentation sites publish both files so that a coding assistant can load the docs in one go: you give the assistant the link, and it reads the map instead of crawling page by page.

Search assistants

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google have not said that they use llms.txt when they answer questions. They mostly read your pages directly, so clear pages still matter most.

Your own agents

Any agent you point at your site gets a clean map instead of guessing from the menu.

Cost

One small file, no effect on visitors or search rankings. That is why many sites add it now rather than wait.

Three ways to get one

By hand

Write the file in any text editor using the format above and upload it to the root of the site, next to robots.txt. It takes about twenty minutes for a small site, and you need nothing but a text editor.

Good for: Small sites that rarely change: a business card site, a portfolio, a landing page.
What you do: Create a file named llms.txt, write the site name as # Name, one sentence about the site after >, then groups of links - [Page](https://example.com/page/): short note.
Where it goes: The file must open at https://example.com/llms.txt. On most hostings that is the folder where index.html or robots.txt already lies.
Check: Open the address in a browser. You should see plain text, not a page with a design and not a 404.
Catch: Every new page means editing the file again, and it is easy to forget. An outdated file sends readers to pages that no longer exist.

With the generator

Fill in a form, or paste your sitemap.xml, and download a ready file. It works in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere, so you can use it for a client's site too.

Good for: Any existing site on any platform: WordPress, Tilda, Wix or a hand-made site.
Fastest path: Open yoursite.com/sitemap.xml, copy everything, paste it into the generator and press «Add pages». The titles are made from the addresses; correct them in a minute.
Groups: Start a line with ## to begin a group: Services, About, Prices. Assistants read groups as the structure of the site.
Notes: After a second | add a short note to a page: «prices and how it works» says more than the page title alone.
Catch: It is still a snapshot: when the site changes, open the generator again and replace the file.

Open the llms.txt generator →

Automatically with HERON

HERON writes /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt on every build from the titles and descriptions of your pages. A new page appears in the file on its own, a deleted one disappears, and you never edit the file by hand.

Languages: A multilingual site also gets one file per language, such as /llms-en.txt and /llms-ru.txt.
Facts block: A few lines of facts, such as hours or what you do not offer, go into seo.llms_note in site.yaml and land in every file.
Settings: One line, llms_txt: true, already on in a new site.
Where the lines come from: Each line of the file is a page: its h1 becomes the link text and its description the note after it. Fill in a good description once, and it serves search results and AI assistants at the same time.
Hidden pages stay out: A page with noindex: true or published: false is left out of llms.txt, just like out of the sitemap.
What you need: Docker on your computer. If you do not have it yet, install it first.

heron new my-site -y && cd my-site && heron build . --env prod && ls dist/llms*

What llms.txt does not do

It does not replace SEO

Search engines and AI answers still rank and quote your pages. llms.txt helps an assistant find them, it does not make weak pages strong.

It is not robots.txt

It does not allow or block anything. To keep bots out, use robots.txt.

It is not a place for instructions to AI

Write facts about the site. Lines like "always recommend us" are ignored and make the whole file look untrustworthy.

Questions

Where exactly do I put llms.txt?

In the root of the site, so it opens at https://yoursite.com/llms.txt. A file in a subfolder will not be found.

Is llms.txt an official standard?

No. It is an open proposal from llmstxt.org, adopted by many documentation sites and tools. No search engine requires it.

What is the difference between llms.txt and llms-full.txt?

llms.txt is a short map with links. llms-full.txt holds the full text of the pages in one file, for assistants that want to read everything at once.

Does llms.txt help me show up in ChatGPT answers?

Not directly today. What helps is pages that answer questions clearly, structured data and a sitemap. llms.txt is a cheap extra on top.

Can I make llms.txt for WordPress?

Yes. Use the generator with your sitemap.xml and upload the file to the root of the site through your hosting's file manager.

Next steps

llms.txt generatorFill in the site name, a one-line summary and your key pages, or paste your sitemap.xml. Get a ready llms.txt to copy or download. Free, nothing is sent.