What is llms.txt and why your website needs one

You have probably heard of robots.txt, the file that tells search engine crawlers what they can and cannot access on your website. There is now an emerging equivalent for AI systems: llms.txt.

What llms.txt does

llms.txt is a plain text file placed at the root of your website (yourdomain.com/llms.txt) that provides a concise, machine-readable summary of what your website and business are about. It is designed specifically for large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity.

Where robots.txt tells crawlers what pages to visit, llms.txt tells AI systems what your business actually does, what services you offer, and where to find key information. It is a shortcut that saves the AI from having to parse your entire website to understand you.

Why it matters for local businesses

When someone asks an AI assistant "who is the best plumber in Swindon?", the AI needs to find and understand information about plumbers in Swindon. If your website makes that easy with structured data and an llms.txt file, you are more likely to be recommended.

Most local business websites have neither. That is both the problem and the opportunity.

What goes in an llms.txt file

A typical llms.txt file for a local business includes:

• Business name and category
• A one-paragraph description
• List of services
• Service areas
• Links to key pages (about, services, contact)
• Contact information

How we help

When you use our free AI visibility scanner, one of the things we check is whether your site has an llms.txt file. Most do not. As part of our AI visibility service, we create and host one for you on swindon.business, along with structured data schemas and FAQ markup.

You do not need to change anything on your existing website. We build everything externally.