How to use an llms.txt generator to help AI agents read your site

An llms.txt generator builds a short Markdown file that sits at yourdomain.com/llms.txt and points AI agents to your most useful pages. According to the llms.txt proposal, the file needs a top-level heading with your site name, then an optional summary and lists of links. A generator saves you writing that format by hand.

AI assistants already read business websites when they answer questions about products and services. The llms.txt proposal describes coding agents that fetch documentation to get an API call right, and chat assistants with search that read pages to answer product questions. Web pages are built for people, so agents spend effort stripping menus, ads and scripts.

An llms.txt file hands those agents a clean summary and a curated list of links instead. This guide covers what goes in the file, how it relates to robots.txt and sitemaps, what Google says about it, and how to publish one with the free AiCodePro llms.txt generator.

Key takeaways

• The llms.txt proposal was published by Jeremy Howard on September 3, 2024, and version 2 was modified on August 10, 2026.
• The only required part of an llms.txt file is a top-level heading with the site or project name, according to the llms.txt proposal.
• Google Search Central says you do not need new machine readable files or AI text files to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
• An llms.txt file works alongside robots.txt and sitemap.xml and replaces neither, according to the llms.txt proposal.
• The AiCodePro llms.txt generator reads your sitemap and pages, then groups your key pages into a file you upload to your site root.

What is an llms.txt file?

An llms.txt file is a Markdown file at the root of a website, or at any path within it, that gives AI agents brief background and links to detailed pages, according to the llms.txt proposal. Agents read the file on demand while helping a user, so the file stays small enough to fit in their context.

The idea came from Answer.AI. The Answer.AI announcement puts the reasoning plainly: site authors know best, and can provide a list of content that an LLM should use. Without that list, a tool has to guess whether to crawl the whole sitemap, add external links or pull in source code.

The llms.txt proposal was first published by Jeremy Howard on September 3, 2024, and its version 2 text was modified on August 10, 2026. According to the llms.txt proposal, thousands of sites publish the file and Chrome's Lighthouse audits sites for one as part of its agentic browsing checks. The proposal also notes that OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini publish llms.txt files for their own developer docs.

Software documentation is where the file sees the heaviest use, but the proposal names other fits too: a business outlining its structure and policies, a personal site answering questions about a CV, or a school sharing course information.

What does an llms.txt generator put in the file?

An llms.txt generator fills in the sections that the llms.txt proposal defines, in a fixed order. The file opens with a top-level heading with the site name and a blockquote summary. Detail paragraphs and link lists follow. According to the proposal, each list item holds a Markdown link and an optional short note.

Only the top-level heading is required. Everything else helps an agent decide which link to open. A typical file built by a generator follows this order:

1. Name the site in a single top-level heading.
2. Summarise what the business does in a one-paragraph blockquote.
3. Add plain paragraphs or lists with context an agent needs, such as service areas or policies.
4. Group links to key pages under second-level headings such as Services, Pricing or Docs.
5. Put secondary links under a heading called Optional.

The Optional section has a specific meaning. According to the llms.txt proposal, it holds secondary information that an agent can skip when it needs a shorter context. A generator that reads your sitemap gives you the raw page list, and your judgement decides which pages belong in the main sections and which go under Optional.

How does llms.txt compare with robots.txt and sitemap.xml?

llms.txt, robots.txt and sitemap.xml do separate jobs, according to the llms.txt proposal. Robots.txt tells automated tools what access a site considers acceptable, a sitemap lists indexable pages for search engines, and llms.txt offers a curated overview that agents read when they need information.

The three files sit side by side at the site root and none replaces another. RFC 9309, the Robots Exclusion Protocol, states that robots.txt rules are not a form of access authorization and that crawlers must parse at least 500 kibibytes of the file. The sitemaps.org protocol caps each sitemap file at 50,000 URLs and 50MB, which is far too much text for an agent to read in one go.

The table sums up the differences, using the llms.txt proposal, RFC 9309 and the sitemaps.org protocol as its sources.

Does Google need an llms.txt file to show your site in AI Overviews?

Google does not need an llms.txt file for AI Overviews or AI Mode, according to Google Search Central. The guide says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet, and that site owners do not need new machine readable files, AI text files or markup to appear in these features.

That guidance comes from the AI features and your website page in Google Search Central. The same page lists the basics that still count: allow crawling in robots.txt, link pages internally, keep important content in text, and make structured data match the visible page.

So an llms.txt file is no shortcut into Google. Its value sits with other readers: coding agents, chat assistants that fetch pages, and browser agents. If you want to know how your brand appears in those answers today, a free AI visibility audit is a sensible first check, and our guide to AI Mode and agentic browsing explains how agents move through a site.

How do you publish a file from an llms.txt generator?

Publishing a file from an llms.txt generator takes four short steps on the AiCodePro tool. You enter your homepage URL and the tool reads your sitemap and pages. You review the grouped output, then upload the file. According to the AiCodePro llms.txt generator page, the finished file belongs at yourdomain.com/llms.txt.

1. Open the free llms.txt generator and enter your homepage address.
2. Let the tool crawl your site on the server, reading the sitemap and pages to collect each key page's title and description.
3. Review the grouped sections, cut pages an agent does not need, and move secondary links under an Optional heading.
4. Copy or download the file and upload it to the root of your domain.

After the upload, open yourdomain.com/llms.txt in a browser and check that it loads as plain text, not as your site's error page. Then read it the way an agent would. Every link should open, every note should say what the page is for, and the summary should name your business and what it sells.

What makes a good llms.txt file?

A good llms.txt file is short, curated and pointed at clean content, according to the llms.txt proposal, which says links should lead to LLM-friendly pages such as Markdown versions. Site owners pick the pages an agent needs most, write one plain note per link and keep detail behind the links.

Write the summary and link notes the way you would brief a new member of your sales team. Name the business, the places you serve and the products you sell, using the same words as your site. Clear, quotable pages help here too, and our guide on writing content that AI assistants quote covers that side of the work.

Keep the file honest. List pages that exist, describe them as they are and leave out pages you would not want an assistant to repeat, such as old offers. Remember that llms.txt sits next to search work and does not replace it, as our comparison of GEO and traditional SEO explains.

Next steps for your llms.txt file

An llms.txt file gives AI agents a curated map of your site, and a generator builds the first version from pages you already have. According to Google Search Central, the file is not needed for AI Overviews. Keep the search basics in place and treat your llms.txt file as a guide for agents and assistants.

Create your file now with the AiCodePro llms.txt generator, then upload it to your site root.