GEO · AEO · AI Search Visibility

What is llms.txt — and why does your business need one?

llms.txt is a machine-readable file that sits at your domain root and tells AI engines exactly who your business is, what it does, and who it serves. Without it, AI systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity are guessing — or ignoring you entirely.

Get your free score — and the files that fix it →

The problem llms.txt solves

When someone asks ChatGPT "find me a plumber in Northampton" or "who does commercial electrical work in Birmingham", the AI doesn't browse the web in real time. It relies on structured identity data it has already indexed — and it prioritises businesses that have made themselves easy to understand.

Most websites are built for human readers. The text is in paragraphs, the navigation is visual, and the key facts about the business are scattered across multiple pages. AI engines struggle with this. They don't read websites the way people do.

llms.txt solves this by giving AI a single, clean, machine-readable summary of your business — right at the root of your domain, right where AI crawlers look first.

Think of it like this: robots.txt tells crawlers what they can and can't access. llms.txt tells AI engines who you are and what you do. One controls access — the other controls understanding.

What goes in an llms.txt file?

A well-structured llms.txt file contains the core facts an AI needs to identify, understand and recommend your business:

What an llms.txt file looks like

# Smith Plumbing Ltd > Emergency and planned plumbing across Northamptonshire ## About Smith Plumbing Ltd provides emergency and planned plumbing services to homeowners, landlords and small businesses across Wellingborough and the surrounding area. Established 2008. Gas Safe registered. Fully insured. 15 years trading. ## Services - Emergency plumbing - Boiler installation and servicing - Bathroom fitting - Leak detection and repair - Central heating ## Areas Served Wellingborough, Northampton, Kettering, Rushden, Corby ## Contact Phone: 07700 000000 Email: info@smithplumbing.co.uk Website: https://smithplumbing.co.uk

Where does llms.txt go?

The file must be accessible at the root of your domain — for example, yourwebsite.co.uk/llms.txt. This is where AI crawlers including GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot look for it. If it's not there, they move on without a clear understanding of who you are.

On WordPress, the file is uploaded to your site root via your hosting file manager. On other platforms, it goes in the public root folder — the same place your robots.txt file lives.

Does llms.txt actually affect AI recommendations?

Yes. AI engines that crawl your site — including GPTBot (ChatGPT) and ClaudeBot — read files at your domain root as part of their indexing process. A well-structured llms.txt gives them a clear, confident signal about your business identity. That directly improves the accuracy and frequency with which you appear in AI-generated answers.

It works alongside your Schema markup and robots.txt AI crawler permissions. All three together form the foundation of AI search visibility. Missing any one of them creates a gap AI engines fill with guesswork — or silence.

How Aenima generates your llms.txt

Aenima's llms.txt generator builds your file from your business details — name, type, town, services, areas, contact information. You fill in the fields once and it generates a correctly structured file ready to install. Every month, if your details have changed, Aenima regenerates it automatically.

On the Pro plan, the Aenima WordPress plugin installs and updates your llms.txt automatically — no downloads, no uploads, nothing to do after initial setup.

Does your site have an llms.txt file?

Check your AI visibility score in 60 seconds. No account needed — just your domain.

Get your free score — and the files that fix it →