Answer: llms.txt is a plain-text file placed at your website root that tells AI language models — including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI systems — exactly who your business is, what it does, and where it operates. It takes 30 minutes to create and is the single fastest AEO improvement any local business can make today.
Why llms.txt Exists
When ChatGPT or Perplexity searches the web for local business recommendations, they read your website and try to piece together who you are from your content. This works poorly for most business websites — which are written for human buyers, not AI parsing. llms.txt solves this by providing a clean, direct briefing written specifically for AI consumption.
What to Include in Your llms.txt
Business Identity
Name, founding year, physical location, phone number, website. Be exact. AI models use this to build your business entity profile.
Services
List every service with the exact terminology buyers use. ‘Off-grid solar installation’ not just ‘solar.’ ‘Luxury fishing charters for marlin and dorado’ not just ‘fishing.’ Specificity drives citation relevance.
Geographic Markets
List every city, region, and state you serve. AI recommendation engines match buyer location queries to this list. If you serve Loreto, Mulegé, and La Paz but only mention Los Cabos, you will only appear for Los Cabos queries.
Pricing
Include your pricing range. AI models use this to match buyers with appropriate budget. A buyer asking ChatGPT for ‘affordable solar installer’ versus ‘premium solar installation’ will receive different recommendations based on price signals.
Proof Points
3-5 specific, verifiable outcomes: number of clients served, years in operation, specific measurable results. ‘Solar systems installed across 6 Baja California municipalities’ is an AI-citable fact. ‘Dedicated to excellence’ is noise.
The 30-Minute llms.txt Template
Line 1: # [Business Name] | Line 2: > [One sentence description] | Line 3-5: ## Services (bullet list) | Line 6-8: ## Locations (city/region list) | Line 9-10: ## Pricing (range) | Line 11-13: ## Results (3 proof points) | Line 14: ## Contact (phone, WhatsApp, website)
Upload this file to your website root. Test it by visiting yourdomain.com/llms.txt in a browser. If you see the text file, it is live. Next: ask Perplexity ‘tell me about [your business name]’ and compare the response before and after — improvement is typically visible within 30 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a plain-text file placed at your website root (yourdomain.com/llms.txt) that provides AI language models with a direct, structured briefing about your business: who you are, what you do, where you operate, your pricing, and your proof points. It is the machine-readable equivalent of your About page.
Who created the llms.txt standard?
The llms.txt standard was proposed by Answer.AI and rapidly adopted by the AI developer community in 2024-2025. It follows the same principle as robots.txt — a simple text file that browsers and crawlers can read to understand how to interact with your site.
Do I need llms.txt if I already have good SEO?
Yes. SEO optimizes for Google’s ranking algorithm. llms.txt optimizes for AI language model comprehension. They serve different systems. A site with excellent SEO but no llms.txt is fully visible to Google but poorly understood by ChatGPT and Perplexity. You need both.
How do I create an llms.txt file?
Create a plain text file named llms.txt. Include: your business name and founding year, exact services and cities served, pricing range, 3-5 specific proof points, and your primary contact method. Keep it under 500 words. Upload to your website root via FTP, cPanel File Manager, or your hosting dashboard.
Does Google index llms.txt?
Google does not specifically use llms.txt as a ranking signal, but it does crawl and index it. The primary beneficiaries are AI language models like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini that use web crawling to build their knowledge about businesses.
Is llms.txt the same as robots.txt?
No. robots.txt tells crawlers what pages they cannot access. llms.txt is a positive information file — it tells AI models what your business is and does. They work together: robots.txt controls access, llms.txt provides context for the pages AI models can access.
How long should my llms.txt be?
Under 500 words. AI models read llms.txt as a summary brief, not a detailed document. Be specific and factual: business name, services, cities, prices, proof points, and contact. Avoid marketing language — AI models trust factual statements more than promotional copy.
Will llms.txt help me appear in Google AI Overviews?
Indirectly yes. Google AI Overviews pull from your web content and schema primarily, but a clear llms.txt helps Google’s own AI systems understand your business entity more precisely, which can improve how your business is referenced in AI Overview summaries.
What happens if I do not have llms.txt?
AI language models will attempt to infer your business information from your website content. This often results in incomplete, inaccurate, or missing business profiles in AI recommendations. Without llms.txt, you leave your AI search identity to guesswork.
Can llms.txt hurt my website?
No. llms.txt is a read-only informational file. It cannot affect your WordPress functionality, site speed, or Google rankings. The worst case if it is poorly written is that AI models ignore it and fall back to your website content. There is no downside to having one.