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llms.txt Explained: Your AI Sitemap for ChatGPT and Claude

Learn what llms.txt is, why it matters, and how to create one for your website to improve AI visibility.

A

ADvisor Team

December 3, 20256 min read

Just like robots.txt tells search engines how to crawl your site, llms.txt tells AI crawlers about your brand and content. It's a simple but powerful way to improve your visibility in AI-generated answers.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a markdown file placed at the root of your website (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that provides AI crawlers with structured information about your brand. Think of it as your elevator pitch to AI.

The Official Format

```markdown

# Your Brand Name

> Brief description of what you do

About

Detailed information about your company, mission, and values.

Key Pages

  • [Product](/product): Description of your main product
  • [Pricing](/pricing): Your pricing information
  • [Blog](/blog): Industry insights and guides
  • Contact

  • Email: hello@yourbrand.com
  • Support: support@yourbrand.com
  • ```

    Why llms.txt Matters

    1. AI Crawlers Are Real

    Companies like Perplexity, Anthropic, and OpenAI all have web crawlers that index content. Giving them a structured overview helps them understand your site.

    2. Context Over Keywords

    Unlike search engines, AI benefits from understanding context. llms.txt lets you explain your brand in your own words.

    3. First-Mover Advantage

    llms.txt is still emerging. Sites that adopt it now are ahead of competitors who haven't heard of it yet.

    How to Create Your llms.txt

    Option 1: Manual Creation

    Create a markdown file and host it at /llms.txt on your server.

    Option 2: Use ADvisor

    ADvisor can automatically generate an llms.txt file based on your site's content, keywords, and performance data. It's optimized for AI visibility.

    Best Practices

    1. Keep it Current - Update your llms.txt when you add major content

    2. Be Concise - AI doesn't need fluff, it needs facts

    3. Include Key URLs - Direct crawlers to your most important pages

    4. Add Contact Info - Make it easy for AI (and humans) to reach you

    Implementing llms.txt in Next.js

    ```typescript

    // app/llms.txt/route.ts

    export async function GET() {

    const content = `# Your Brand

    > Your tagline here

    About

    Your description...

    `;

    return new Response(content, {

    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/markdown' }

    });

    }

    ```

    The Future of AI SEO

    As AI becomes a primary search interface, structured data formats like llms.txt will become standard. The question isn't whether to adopt it—it's how soon you can get started.

    Generate your llms.txt automatically with ADvisor's Content Generator.

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