GLOSSARY

llms.txt

IN ONE SENTENCE

llms.txt is a proposed root-level file listing site content for large language models.

llms.txt is a proposed root-level file listing site content for large language models.

01

In detail

The evidence does not support treating it as a lever: Ahrefs' study of 137,000 domains found 97% of llms.txt files received zero requests in May 2026, and Google has said it does not use the file and has no plans to. The reasonable position is cheap agent-readiness infrastructure — harmless to publish, but not a visibility lever. The weight belongs on HTML structure, internal linking and semantic markup.

Data behind this page

97%

Share of llms.txt files receiving zero requests (28% of domains publish one)

Source：Ahrefs, 137,000 domains，2026-05

Sources

  1. [1]llms.txt adoption and request volume (137,000 domains)．Ahrefs．2026
  2. [2]Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search．Google Search Central．2026-05-15

Updated 2026-08-10