Does llms.txt help your AI visibility?

Short answer: it's cheap to add and unlikely to hurt, but we have seen no evidence that major AI engines use it. Don't expect it to change whether AI recommends you.

What it is

A proposal from 2024: a plain Markdown file at /llms.txt that describes a site and links its most important pages, so an AI model can read one clean file instead of a site's full HTML.

What the evidence says

• No major AI search engine has said it uses the file to choose sources.
• Google says no special file is needed to appear in its AI features; normal search guidelines apply.
• There is no public evidence that AI crawlers rely on it when choosing sources.

What to do instead

1. Let AI crawlers in (check robots.txt and bot protection).
2. Serve your content as HTML that works without JavaScript.
3. Use structured data and complete product information.
4. Publish the pages AI is looking for, in the words your customers use.

If an engine announces support, we'll update this page.