---

LLMS.txt: A Quiet Step Toward AI Visibility

If you’ve searched the web lately, you’ve probably noticed something new. Above the blue links, there’s often an AI-generated summary – an answer box, product list, or quick explainer. Models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are reshaping how information is found and framed. For users, it’s efficient. For brands, it may mean a 30% drop in organic traffic.

This shift raises two recurring questions in marketing circles:
How do we show up in these AI summaries – and can we influence how we're described?

The short answer: meaningful content still wins. The better your site resonates with real people, the better your odds with LLMs. But for those looking to offer clearer cues to AI, a new tool is emerging: llms.txt.

What Is LLMS.txt?

llms.txt is a plain text file that lives at the root of your website. It’s similar in spirit to robots.txt, but aimed at language models rather than search engines. Proposed by Answer.ai, it’s been picked up by a few AI players like Anthropic, though it’s not yet widely adopted.

Its purpose is to help LLMs understand your site: what matters, who it's for, how content should be used. In a world where AIs often rely on snapshots or limited retrieval windows, a little clarity goes a long way.

Why It Matters

LLMs don’t work like Google. Many use pre-trained knowledge, some retrieve real-time info, few crawl the entire web frequently. If your site is dense or convoluted, it may be ignored or misunderstood.

That’s where llms.txt comes in. It provides a clear, plain-text roadmap: what content to prioritize, what tone to keep, what not to include. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a gentle nudge toward better representation.

What Can It Do?

While still early, a well-crafted llms.txt might help:

• Highlight essential pages, like pricing or returns
• Exclude noisy elements, like cookie banners or menus
• Convey brand tone and audience, to preserve your positioning
• Declare reuse terms, for fair use or attribution of your writing

Imagine someone asking an AI: What’s your pricing? or What’s your company’s return policy? Instead of guessing or blending snippets, the model could reference exact markdown links you’ve surfaced in your file.

Or if your thought leadership is being summarized without credit, llms.txt could express reuse preferences or attribution requests.

Why It’s Still Experimental

So far, there’s no solid evidence that the major players are reading llms.txt. Anthropic has acknowledged it; GitHub directories are tracking adopters. But OpenAI and Google haven’t embraced it yet.

Still, the cost is low. At (https://martin-moeller.biz/), i started implementing it across the site. And as with much of SEO, early action pays off if the tide turns.

Bottom Line

llms.txt won’t transform your AI presence overnight. But it’s a small, strategic step toward clarity – and potentially a future where AI visibility is something you can shape, not just observe.

Things to focus on for now