Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing how people discover and interact with digital content. Instead of searching on Google, users now ask ChatGPT or other AI assistants to summarise, recommend, or explain what a website or app offers. This shift introduces a new challenge: how can you make sure AI models represent your product accurately?
That’s where an llms.txt file comes in. It's an easy and effective way to guide popular AI tools to describe your app or platform the way you want.
What Is an LLMS.txt File?
An llms.txt file is a simple, text-based instruction set you place in the root of your website or app (e.g., yourapp.com/llms.txt).
Think of it as the AI equivalent of a sitemap or robots.txt, but designed specifically for Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others.
Its purpose is to:
- Guide AI crawlers toward your most important pages and content.
- Provide content guidelines so AI understands how you want your product or brand to be described.
- Exclude irrelevant or sensitive areas from being prioritised.
Why Does Your App Need It?
- Control Your Brand Narrative
Without guidance, LLMs might generate vague or inaccurate descriptions of your app. An llms.txt lets you clearly state:
• What your app does.
• Who it is for.
• What makes it unique. - Highlight Key Pages
Instead of letting AI models guess what’s relevant, you can point them to your homepage, product pages, documentation, FAQ, or blog posts that actually explain your value. - Reduce Misrepresentation
By excluding outdated or irrelevant sections, you prevent AI from surfacing the wrong details (like test pages, old blog posts, or admin content). - Future-Proof Discovery
As AI-driven search becomes more mainstream, apps with clear LLMS.txt files will have a competitive advantage in being represented accurately and consistently.
What to Include in LLMS.txt for an App
A good llms.txt usually has two parts:
1. Content Guidelines
Here you provide context, like:
2. Important URLs
List the key pages that should be prioritised:
How to Add One
- Create a plain text file named llms.txt.
- Add your content guidelines and key URLs.
- Upload it to the root of your domain so it’s accessible at https://yourapp.com/llms.txt.
That’s it — now AI crawlers can find it, just like they do with robots.txt.
Final Thoughts
The LLMS.txt file is a small but powerful step to make sure AI assistants talk about your app the way you want them to. By curating what’s important and providing brand-safe guidelines, you improve your app’s visibility and accuracy in the growing AI-driven discovery ecosystem.
For developers and product teams, it’s one of the easiest ways to prepare your app for the future of search and user engagement.
Want to learn more about how to optimise your website or app for popular AI tools and search engines?
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