llms.txt: Should You Add One?

llms.txt is a proposed standard from 2024 for telling AI tools how to read your website. It pairs with the broader strategy for showing up in AI search, but the two are independent. It's a plain Markdown file at yoursite.com/llms.txt  that summarizes your most important pages in a clean, easy-to-parse format. The idea is that AI assistants can read this file and understand your website quickly, without parsing every page of HTML.

It's also contested. Here's the honest take.

What it looks like

# Sara's Pottery Studio
> Handmade ceramic mugs, bowls, and planters from a small studio in Portland, Oregon. Established 2014.
## Shop
- [Coffee Mugs](https://saraspottery.com/shop/mugs.html): Handmade stoneware mugs in five glaze options. $32-48.
- [Bowls](https://saraspottery.com/shop/bowls.html): Serving and prep bowls in various sizes. $45-120.
- [Planters](https://saraspottery.com/shop/planters.html): Indoor and outdoor planters. $28-180.
## Studio
- [About Sara](https://saraspottery.com/about.html): Background, training, and studio philosophy.
- [Pottery Classes](https://saraspottery.com/classes.html): Six-week beginner classes, $320 with materials included.
## Contact
- [Visit](https://saraspottery.com/visit.html): Studio hours and address.
- [Email](https://saraspottery.com/contact.html): Contact form and email address.

That's the format. Markdown headings, short descriptions, links to your real pages. AI tools can read this and understand your website in seconds rather than crawling 50 HTML pages.

Who's using it

Companies that have adopted llms.txt include Anthropic, Vercel, Hugging Face, and a growing list of documentation websites. SEO plugins like Yoast and Rank Math have added support, though usually as an opt-in rather than a default.

Who hasn't endorsed it: Google. John Mueller has said major crawlers don't currently prioritize llms.txt over standard HTML. Semrush published research suggesting no measurable correlation between adding llms.txt and improved AI visibility.

The argument for adding one

• It takes 30 minutes for a small website
• If it becomes a standard, you're already in position
• It can't hurt, and it forces you to clarify your website's structure
• Some AI tools may already read it; we just don't know how many

The argument against

• No proven impact yet
• The format is still being debated and may change
• It's another file to keep in sync with your website (stale llms.txt is worse than none)
• Time spent on llms.txt is time not spent on things with proven SEO value

My take

Add one if your website is content-heavy (a documentation website, a blog with a clear structure, a knowledge base) and you can keep it up to date. Skip it if your website is small, changing rarely, or you don't have a clear hierarchy to summarize.

For static.app users specifically: if you're using the API or MCP server to deploy, automating llms.txt generation alongside your sitemap is trivial. Do it. If you're hand-editing files, only commit to llms.txt if you're willing to remember to update it.

How to write one

The proposed format is loose. The convention so far:

1. H1 with your website or company name
2. A blockquote (lines starting with > ) with a short website description
3. H2 headings for the main sections of your website
4. Bulleted lists of links with short descriptions of each page

Keep the descriptions factual, not promotional. AI tools want to know what each page contains, not how great it is.

Where to put it

At the root of your website, named llms.txt . In static.app, the easiest path is the Files section: choose Create a File, name it llms , pick .txt  from the extension dropdown, and paste your Markdown into the built-in code editor. Save. Test that yoursite.com/llms.txt  loads in a browser and shows your file.

Optional: llms-full.txt

Some websites also publish an llms-full.txt  that contains the full content of their pages in one big Markdown file. This is more useful for documentation websites where the AI might want to read everything. For most marketing or business websites, the basic llms.txt  with links is enough.