What Is llms.txt and How Do You Add It? (With Examples)

What does llms.txt do?

Web pages are full of menus, cookie notices, ads and JavaScript. For a language model, separating the real information from that noise is hard. llms.txt makes it easy by presenting the essence of your site in a plain Markdown file.

The structure of an llms.txt file

• A single H1: the site or brand name.
• A one- or two-sentence summary in a blockquote.
• Optional description paragraphs (address, contact, founding year).
• Link lists under H2 headings in the form '- [Page name](URL): short description'.
• Less critical links under an 'Optional' heading.

Adding it step by step

1. Pick your 10–30 most important pages: services, product categories, about, contact, FAQ.
2. Write a one-sentence, factual description for each.
3. Save the file as UTF-8 named llms.txt and upload it to the root.
4. Optionally add llms-full.txt with all content in a single file.
5. Check that robots.txt doesn't block AI crawlers.

Common mistakes

• Filling the file with marketing copy: models prefer factual information.
• Using broken or redirected links.
• Writing it once and never updating it.
• Listing only one language on a multilingual site.

A sample llms.txt file

The structure below is a lean, useful start for a service company. It has a title, a one-sentence summary, key facts and links grouped into sections.

• # Company Name
• > Company Name has provided web design and software services in Istanbul since 2014.
• ## Services: '- [Service name](URL): one-sentence description' for each service page
• ## Company: about, contact, frequently asked questions
• ## Blog: the most-read and most recent guides
• ## Optional: sitemap, RSS and the English version

llms.txt vs robots.txt vs sitemap.xml

robots.txt tells crawlers what they may access; sitemap.xml gives search engines a list of all your pages. llms.txt is a curated, annotated guide written in plain language that tells a model 'read these first to understand our site'. The three complement each other.

llms.txt on multilingual sites

If your site is in several languages, write the main file in the default language and link the other versions under 'Optional'. You can also publish a separate llms.txt per language (e.g. /en/llms.txt); what matters is that links point to the right language.

When do you need llms-full.txt?

llms-full.txt provides the full text of your key pages in one file. For sites with documentation, guides or many service pages it lets models read the content in one go. Because it gets harder to maintain as it grows, generating it automatically is best; Ovipu's own llms-full.txt regenerates whenever content changes.