llms.txt is a plain-text file that gives ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude a curated map of your site. Here is what the format looks like, what to put in it, and how to deploy it in under ten minutes.
Search engine optimization has long relied on robots.txt and sitemap.xml to communicate with crawlers. A new standard is emerging for the AI era: llms.txt. It is a plain-text Markdown file placed at the root of your website that gives AI language models a curated, human-readable map of your site — your brand name, a short description, and a structured list of your most important pages.
This guide explains what llms.txt is, why it matters for AI visibility, what the format looks like, and how to create and deploy one in minutes using the SlugGenius LLMs.txt Generator.
AI language models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are now a primary discovery channel for many topics. When a user asks one of these systems a question, the model draws from content it has crawled and indexed. Without a clear signal about what your site contains and which pages matter most, the model must infer your site structure from raw HTML — a process that is imprecise and often misses your best content entirely.
llms.txt solves this by giving AI crawlers an explicit, structured summary of your site. You control which pages are listed, how they are labelled, and what description accompanies each one. The result is that AI systems are more likely to find, index, and cite your content accurately when answering relevant questions.
The format is intentionally simple: a Markdown file with four element types.
The first line is an H1 heading with your brand name. This is required and must appear exactly once:
# SlugGeniusA single-sentence tagline in blockquote format immediately after the brand name:
> Free SEO and GEO tools for content creators and web builders.One to three short paragraphs describing what your site does, who it is for, and what problems it solves. Keep this concise — two to four sentences is enough. AI systems use this to understand the scope and purpose of your site.
The bulk of the file is organized into sections, each headed by an H2, followed by a list of Markdown links with optional descriptions:
## Tools
- [Slug Generator](https://sluggenius.com/tools/slug-generator): Convert any title into a clean, SEO-friendly URL slug instantly.
- [Schema Generator](https://sluggenius.com/tools/schema-generator): Build valid JSON-LD structured data for rich results.
## Blog
- [What Is GEO?](https://sluggenius.com/blog/what-is-geo): An introduction to Generative Engine Optimization and why it matters.
Each link entry follows the pattern - [Title](URL): one-sentence description. The description is optional, but including it significantly improves how AI systems understand and categorize your pages.
The sections you create depend on your site type. Common section patterns:
Focus on pages that directly answer user questions or demonstrate your expertise. Do not list every page — be selective. A curated list of 20 important pages is more valuable to an AI system than an exhaustive dump of 500 URLs.
These three files serve different purposes and complement each other:
All three should be present on a well-maintained website. They are not redundant — each serves a different audience (traditional crawlers vs AI systems) and a different purpose (access control vs discovery vs understanding).
The SlugGenius LLMs.txt Generator builds your file through a guided form. Pick a quick-start template for your site type (SaaS, Blog, Agency, or E-commerce), fill in your brand details, then either import pages from your sitemap.xml automatically or add sections and pages manually. The Fetch button on each page entry pulls the title and meta description from the live URL so you do not have to type them by hand.
Once your file looks right in the live preview, click Download to save it as llms.txt and upload it to your website’s root directory. It should be accessible at yourdomain.com/llms.txt with no authentication required. AI crawlers including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude discover and read it automatically.
Creating a clear llms.txt is one of the fastest GEO improvements available. It takes under ten minutes and immediately improves how AI systems interpret and represent your site when users ask relevant questions.
No sign-up required — use them instantly in your browser.