llms.txt: SEO Magic, AI Hope or Just Another Text File?

Let’s be honest. You’ve spent years tweaking your blog posts, picking keywords like a squirrel hoarding snacks for a very long winter. You’ve resized images, rewritten intros, and even pretended that updating a meta description counts as “working on your SEO.” And now some AI shows up, ignores your hard work, and grabs a random paragraph like it’s cruising through your site the way I cruise through Sushi Tokyo in Valencia. You know the one you pay 23.90 euros, and then it’s game on. Plates everywhere, no rules, just vibes and tuna rolls.

Honestly, it’s rude. And a bit personal.

Enter llms.txt. Think of it as your digital note to the robots: “Hi there, if you’re going to snack on my site, could you at least read the parts I’m proud of?” It’s like sticking a Post-it on your homepage that says, “This way to the good stuff. Please don’t judge me by my 2017 blog post titled ‘A Rustic Dream.’”

Now, does this actually work? No one really knows. Google says yes. OpenAI shrugged. Claude is probably busy writing poetry. But here’s the thing – it takes two minutes to set up, and if it helps even a little, why not? It’s the digital equivalent of putting out snacks for guests. Maybe they eat them, maybe they don’t. But you still look like a thoughtful host.

Curious? You should be. Because if llms.txt ever becomes the new gold standard, your entire SEO life might come down to one tiny text file. And honestly, wouldn’t that just be peak internet?

Wait, what is llms.txt and why should I care?

Alright, picture this. You’ve got a website full of beautiful work, a blog you’ve actually put time into, and pages that explain what you do and why you’re great at it. Then along comes an AI like ChatGPT or Gemini, hoping to “understand” your site. Sounds promising at first.

The problem is, it doesn’t really know where to look. It lands on your homepage, gets distracted by the cookie popup, then somehow ends up quoting a blog post from 2015 about your old camera gear. Not exactly the impression you were going for.

This is where llms.txt comes in. It’s just a tiny text file you can add to your site that says to the AI, “Here’s what actually matters. Start here.” It’s like handing them a curated list instead of hoping they magically find your best stuff.

You don’t need to understand how AI works. You just need to know that it’s reading the internet, and you can help it read your site properly. Think of it as giving your content a little guidance, so the robots don’t go quoting your outdated blog post about Lightroom presets from ten years ago.

So… does llms.txt actually work?

Short answer: maybe. Long answer: definitely maybe.

Here’s the June 2025 reality check:

• Google (Gemini) gets it. They’re the honour student who already read the syllabus and started colour-coding your content. Respect.
• OpenAI (GPTBot)? Radio silence. Not ignoring you, just pretending they didn’t see it. Very on brand.
• Claude (Anthropic) reads llms.txt like a cat reads a laser pointer. Interested, unpredictable, and occasionally in the wrong direction.
• Everyone else is playing the “what even is llms.txt?” game, but some are catching on.

The truth? It’s not magic. Not yet. But it’s probably going to be the standard AI snack menu. If or when that happens, you’ll want to be the one with the tastiest table.

So no, it won’t double your bookings overnight. But yes, it’s smart to set it up now. Because when the bots finally agree to eat what we actually want them to, you’ll already be serving the good stuff on a silver platter.

Why should you even care?

Because if AI is going to be the new homepage of the internet, you want to make sure it’s not misquoting your worst blog post or using your contact page as a case study in confusion.

You’ve put in the hours. The late nights fiddling with alt text. The quiet pride in a perfectly structured H2. The slightly irrational joy of seeing your internal links form a tidy little web. Do you really want all of that compressed into whatever the robot happens to stumble across first?

Exactly.

llms.txt gives you a tiny bit of control in a digital Wild West. And considering the effort we’ve all already put in, that tiny bit might be the difference between AI recommending your site – or ignoring it like your old Twitter handle.

So what can you actually do about it?

You could hand-code a llms.txt file, figure out where it should live on your server, format everything in markdown, and hope you didn’t break anything.

Or you could just use the plugin I made. It’s free. It’s for WordPress. And it takes about as much effort as ordering a coffee.

Here’s how it works:

• You pick the pages and posts you want the AI to notice
• The plugin generates the llms.txt file and places it in the right spot
• You sip your coffee, smile smugly, and get on with your life

👉 Download the plugin on GitHub

No weird settings. No YAML nightmares. No “wait, why is my homepage returning a 403” moment. Just a few clicks, and you’re giving AI a guided tour of your best content.

Step by Step Tutorial

Final Thoughts

llms.txt isn’t a magic trick. It won’t suddenly flood your inbox with dream clients or convince ChatGPT to write poems about your homepage. But it is one of the simplest things you can do today to help the future version of the internet understand your work.

Will every AI use it tomorrow? Probably not.
Will they start using it soon? Very likely.
Will you be glad you were one of the smart ones who set it up early? Absolutely.

This little file could one day be the difference between AI recommending your services or quoting that dusty old blog post where you called a cloudy engagement session “moody and mysterious.”

So go ahead. Install the plugin. Highlight your best content. Then sit back and enjoy the quiet satisfaction of being just a little bit more prepared than the rest of the internet.