llms.txt

llms. txt is a proposed plain-text file placed at the root of a website (e. g. /llms. txt) that summarizes the site's purpose, lists its most important canonical URLs, and provides AI crawlers with a compact, structured map of what the site is authoritative on. It is the AI-engine analog to robots.txt and sitemap.xml, designed specifically to help large language models index, ground, and cite the right pages. Why it matters: As ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot increasingly drive discovery, llms.txt is becoming a meaningful AEO and GEO infrastructure layer. A well-crafted llms.txt tells AI engines exactly which pillar guides, services, and authoritative resources to cite when answering questions in the brand's domain — reducing the risk of being misrepresented or omitted. Sites without llms.txt are not penalized, but sites with a clean, accurate llms.txt give themselves a structural advantage in AI citation outcomes. Smart Money Media's own llms.txt is publicly available at /llms.txt, and any site can generate a spec-compliant file in 30 seconds with our free llms.txt generator at /tools/llms-txt-generator.