The llms.txt File: The New robots.txt for the AI Era

In 1994, the robots.txt file was invented to tell search engines what they could index. Thirty years later, a new standard is emerging: the llms.txt file.

What is the llms.txt file?

It is a Markdown-formatted text file placed at the root of your domain (e.g., https://your-website.com/llms.txt). Its purpose: to provide language models with a structured, readable description of your site — your identity, your business, your services, and your contact information.

Where robots.txt tells bots what they can do, llms.txt tells them who you are. It is your business card for LLMs.

A minimal llms.txt example

# My Accounting Firm

> Accounting firm specializing in SMBs, established in 2010 in New York.

## Services
- General accounting and bookkeeping
- Tax filings (corporate, individual, sales tax)
- Business formation advisory
- Statutory audits

## Contact
- Website: https://my-accounting-firm.com
- Phone: (212) 555-0100
- Email: contact@my-accounting-firm.com
- Address: 123 Main Street, New York, NY 10001

Real-world impact on AI visibility

Tests conducted across several hundred websites show that a site with an llms.txt file is 2 to 3 times more likely to be accurately cited by Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, and Mistral Le Chat. That number rises to 4–5x when combined with comprehensive Schema.org data.

Perplexity AI was one of the first engines to natively integrate this standard. Claude (Anthropic) and other models are progressively incorporating the file into their context retrieval process.

How to create one?

The llms.txt file must be customized for your specific business. A generic or empty file is less useful than no file at all. Key information to include: your organization name, a factual description of your business, list of services or products, geographic area of operation, contact details, and links to key pages.

Geoptim automatically generates a personalized llms.txt file from your site analysis — tailored to your industry, your positioning, and optimized to be understood by the leading LLMs on the market.