🔎 What is llms.txt?

The llms.txt file is a new, proposed web standard that acts like a “robots.txt for AI.”

• robots.txt → tells search engines like Google what they can index.

• llms.txt → tells AI systems (Large Language Models, or LLMs) how they can use your website content.

It’s a simple text file you place in the root of your website (e.g. https://example.com/llms.txt) that sets rules for AI crawlers.

⚙️ How Does It Work?

Just like robots.txt, you can add permissions and restrictions. For example:

This would mean:

• ❌ AI companies can’t use your content for training models.

• ✅ They can summarise your pages.

• ✅ They can reference and index your brand.

• 📌 They must give attribution when using your content.

📈 Why SEO Professionals and Businesses Should Care

For years, SEO has been about ranking in Google. But now, AI-driven answers are changing the search funnel:

• AI assistants are becoming gatekeepers of information.

• Instead of clicking on 10 blue links, users get one summarised answer.

• If your content isn’t credited — your business is invisible.

That means your hard work on SEO landing pages, blogs, and lead magnets could be used to fuel AI answers… without sending traffic back to you.

llms.txt gives you a way to:

✅ Protect your intellectual property from being freely used to train AI.
✅ Control brand visibility by requiring attribution.
✅ Align SEO strategy with the next era of search.

🛡️ Protecting Your SEO Investment

Imagine spending months building out a content strategy — 1000-word optimised pages, schema markup, link-building campaigns. Without controls, AI systems could:

• Lift your content to power their answers.

• Skip attribution.

• Reduce your competitive edge in SERPs.

With llms.txt, you can choose how your content is used. For example, many businesses may block training but allow summarisation and indexing, so their brand still shows up in AI answers.

🔑 Early Adoption = Competitive Advantage

Most websites don’t even know llms.txt exists yet. By adopting it early, you:

• Show clients and users that you take content ownership seriously.

• Future-proof your SEO strategy against the coming AI search era.

• Position your brand as a thought leader in digital marketing trends.

This is the same as the early days of schema markup or AMP — those who implemented first got ahead.

📌 Industry Backing

The momentum is building:

• TechCrunch has called it the “robots.txt for AI” (TechCrunch, 2023).

• arXiv researchers are already analysing its potential impact on responsible AI (arXiv, 2023).

• Even OpenAI and Google DeepMind have acknowledged the need for better publisher controls.

✅ How to Add llms.txt to Your Website

1. Create a plain text file called llms.txt.

2. Add your rules (e.g. Disallow Training, Allow Summarisation).

3. Upload it to the root of your website (same place as robots.txt).

4. Test it: https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt.

5. Keep it updated as AI standards evolve.

🚀 Final Thoughts

SEO is no longer just about ranking in Google. It’s about making sure your brand is visible in AI-powered answers too.

The llms.txt file is a small but powerful step towards controlling how your content is used by AI. As a digital marketing and SEO specialist, I recommend all businesses adopt it now — before AI search becomes the norm.

💡 Want to make adding llms.txt to your website simple?

I’ve built a free WordPress plugin – the LLMS.txt Generator – that lets you create, customise, and upload an llms.txt file directly from your WordPress dashboard. It’s a quick way to protect your content, control how AI models interact with your site, and future-proof your SEO strategy without needing to manually edit server files.

🔗 Further Reading:

• TechCrunch: llms.txt explained

• ArXiv: Responsible AI Data Collection

• Google Developers: robots.txt Guide