Do you need an llms.txt file?

Not for Google: Google says Search ignores llms.txt, so it neither helps nor hurts there. It can help AI agents and coding tools that read your docs.

llms.txt is a proposal, by Jeremy Howard, first published on September 3, 2024. It puts a short Markdown file at /llms.txt that helps agents use a website, such as a coding agent that fetches a library's docs.

Google's AI optimization guide is direct about it. You don't need new machine-readable files, AI text files, or Markdown to appear in Google Search, including its AI features, because Google Search doesn't use them. Creating one for other services is fine, and it will neither harm nor help your visibility in Google Search.

OpenAI and Anthropic describe their crawlers' controls in terms of robots.txt. Neither crawler page says their crawlers read your llms.txt. OpenAI does publish an llms.txt for its own docs.

Who reads it	What it does for llms.txt	Worth it?
Google Search and AI Overviews	Ignores it, per Google	No
ChatGPT search	OpenAI's crawler page doesn't mention reading it	Not on the record
AI agents and coding tools	The proposal is written for them	Yes, for docs and developer sites

When to add one

You run docs, an API, or a developer tool, and people point AI agents at your site. A short llms.txt that links your key Markdown pages saves the agent from reading menus and scripts.

What matters more

For AI answers, the basics come first: the page is on Google, AI search crawlers can reach it past robots.txt and your firewall, and its text is in the server HTML. Check your file with our free llms.txt validator if you add one.

Questions

Does llms.txt help SEO?

Not on Google. Google says Search ignores llms.txt, so it neither helps nor hurts your rankings.

Is llms.txt a standard?

It is a proposal, published on llmstxt.org by Jeremy Howard in September 2024. Google says Search ignores it, and OpenAI's and Anthropic's crawler pages don't mention it.

How do I check my llms.txt?

Our free llms.txt validator checks a file against the llmstxt.org format, line by line, and can draft a first version from your sitemap.

Related guides

Sources

Checked on October 25, 2026. Prices and features can change after that date.