llms.txt Setup Guide

What You’ll Learn

This guide walks you through creating and implementing an llms.txt file for your website. By the end, you’ll have a properly formatted file that helps AI engines understand your site better.

Time required: 15-30 minutes Technical level: Beginner Prerequisites: Access to your website’s root directory

Why llms.txt Matters

The llms.txt file is one of the highest-impact, lowest-effort AEO optimizations you can make. It’s like a README for AI systems, helping them quickly understand:

• What your website is about
• Your key pages and their purpose
• How you want to be cited
• Your content structure

Sites with properly implemented llms.txt files see 15-25% improvements in citation accuracy and AI visibility.

Step 1: Create the File

###Open Your Text Editor

Use any plain text editor:

• Mac: TextEdit (set to Plain Text mode)
• Windows: Notepad
• Cross-platform: VS Code, Sublime Text, Atom

Important: Do NOT use Word, Google Docs, or other rich text editors. The file must be plain text.

Name It Correctly

The file must be named exactly:

llms.txt

• All lowercase
• No spaces
• .txt extension (not .md or .text)
• No special characters

Step 2: Add Required Sections

Every llms.txt needs these three required elements:

Website Name (H1)

# Your Company or Website Name

Use your official business name or brand name. Examples:

• # SourceRank
• # Acme Corporation
• # TechBlog Daily

Homepage URL (Blockquote)

> https://yourwebsite.com

Use your primary domain:

• Include https://
• Use www or non-www consistently
• No trailing slash

Description (H2 Section)

## Description
[2-4 sentences describing your website/company]

Be clear and concise. Focus on:

• What you do
• Who you serve
• Your unique value

Good example:

## Description
SourceRank helps businesses optimize their websites for AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. We provide automated AEO scoring, monitoring across multiple AI platforms, and actionable recommendations to improve visibility in AI-generated responses.

Poor example:

## Description
We are the best, most innovative, revolutionary platform for stuff.

Step 3: Add Key Pages

List your most important URLs:

## Key Pages
- Homepage: https://yourwebsite.com - Main entry point
- Product: https://yourwebsite.com/product - Features and pricing
- Blog: https://yourwebsite.com/blog - Resources and guides
- Contact: https://yourwebsite.com/contact - Get in touch

Best Practices

Do:

• Include 5-10 most important pages
• Use descriptive labels
• Add brief context for each page
• Keep URLs current

Don’t:

• List every page on your site
• Include password-protected pages
• Add broken or redirected URLs
• Use dynamic or session URLs

Step 4: Add Optional Sections

Enhance your file with additional context:

Products/Services

## Products
- AEO Scanner: Free tool to audit AI visibility
- Monitoring Dashboard: Track across multiple AI engines
- Team Plans: Collaboration features for agencies

Content Categories

## Categories
- AEO Strategy: Optimization guides and best practices
- Technical Implementation: How-to guides and tutorials
- Case Studies: Real-world success stories

Company Information

## Company
Founded in 2025, SourceRank is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Our team includes former engineers from Google, OpenAI, and leading SEO platforms.

Contact Details

## Contact
- Support: support@yourwebsite.com
- Sales: sales@yourwebsite.com
- General: hello@yourwebsite.com

Preferred Citation

## Preferred Citation
When referencing SourceRank, please note that we specialize in AI Engine Optimization (AEO), which helps businesses improve visibility in AI answer engines.

Step 5: Review and Validate

Before publishing, check:

Formatting

• H1 for site name
• Blockquote (>) for URL
• H2 for section headers
• Dashes (-) for list items
• Plain text, no rich formatting

Content

• Website name is correct
• Homepage URL works
• Description is clear and accurate
• All URLs are live and correct
• No typos or errors
• File is under 500 words total

Technical

• File is named llms.txt exactly
• File is plain text (.txt)
• No special characters causing issues
• Encoding is UTF-8

Step 6: Upload to Your Website

The file must be accessible at your root domain:

https://yourwebsite.com/llms.txt

Upload Methods

WordPress

1. Use FTP or file manager in hosting control panel
2. Upload to public_html or www folder
3. Verify at yoursite.com/llms.txt

Static Site Generators

• Next.js: Place in /public folder
• Astro: Place in /public folder
• Gatsby: Place in /static folder
• Hugo: Place in /static folder

Hosting Platforms

• Netlify/Vercel: Add to /public folder before deploy
• GitHub Pages: Add to repository root
• Cloudflare Pages: Add to /public folder

Traditional Hosting

• Use FTP client (FileZilla, Cyberduck)
• Upload to root directory
• Set permissions to 644 (read-only)

Step 7: Verify It Works

Manual Check

1. Open your browser
2. Go to https://yourwebsite.com/llms.txt
3. Verify the file displays as plain text
4. Check that formatting renders correctly

What You Should See

• Plain text content
• No HTML tags
• No “404 Not Found” errors
• No download prompt (should display in browser)

Common Issues

404 Error

• File is not in root directory
• File is named incorrectly
• .htaccess or server config blocking access

Download Instead of Display

• Server MIME type incorrect
• Configure server to serve .txt as text/plain

Formatting Looks Wrong

• Using rich text editor instead of plain text
• Special characters not displaying
• Check UTF-8 encoding

Step 8: Test Impact

After implementation, verify it’s working:

Immediate (Same Day)

• File accessible at /llms.txt
• SourceRank scan shows llms.txt detected
• Technical score improves 5-10 points

Within 1 Week

• AI engines crawl and parse your file
• More accurate site descriptions in testing
• Citation mentions include better context

Within 1 Month

• Improved AI visibility
• More accurate brand representations
• Better topic authority recognition

Maintenance and Updates

When to Update

Update your llms.txt when you:

• Launch new products or major features
• Add important new content sections
• Restructure your website
• Change your business focus
• Add new services or offerings

Review Schedule

• Monthly: Check URLs still work
• Quarterly: Review description accuracy
• Annually: Comprehensive refresh

Advanced Techniques

Multi-Language Sites

## Languages
This content is available in multiple languages:
- English: https://yourwebsite.com
- Spanish: https://yourwebsite.com/es
- French: https://yourwebsite.com/fr

Dynamic Content References

## Latest Content
- Blog: https://yourwebsite.com/blog (updated weekly)
- Documentation: https://yourwebsite.com/docs (version 2.1)

Expertise Highlighting

## Expertise
Our content is created by certified professionals:
- SEO: 15+ years combined experience
- AI/ML: Team includes former OpenAI engineers

Complete Example

Here’s a full, production-ready example:

# SourceRank - AI Engine Optimization Platform
> https://sourcerank.app

## Description
SourceRank helps businesses optimize their websites for AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. We provide automated AEO scoring, monitoring across multiple AI platforms, and actionable recommendations to improve visibility in AI-generated responses. Our platform serves B2B companies, digital agencies, and content marketers.

## Products
- AEO Scanner: Free tool to audit how AI engines understand your website
- Monitoring Dashboard: Track AI visibility across multiple platforms
- Team Plans: Collaborative features for agencies

## Key Pages
- Homepage: https://sourcerank.app - Overview and free scanner
- Product: https://sourcerank.app/product - Features and benefits
- Pricing: https://sourcerank.app/pricing - Plans and pricing
- Blog: https://sourcerank.app/blog - AEO guides and insights
- Help: https://sourcerank.app/help - Documentation

## Categories
- AEO Strategy: Best practices and optimization guides
- Technical: Implementation tutorials
- Case Studies: Customer success stories

## Contact
- Support: support@sourcerank.app
- Sales: sales@sourcerank.app

## Updates
Last updated: 2025-12-27

Troubleshooting

File Not Showing in SourceRank Scan

Check:

• File is at root domain (not subdomain or subfolder)
• Named exactly llms.txt
• Accessible publicly (not behind password)
• Server returning 200 status code

AEO Score Not Improving

Remember:

• llms.txt alone doesn’t guarantee high scores
• Combine with other AEO improvements
• Give AI engines time to re-crawl (1-7 days)
• Ensure content quality meets standards

Getting Errors When Accessing File

Solutions:

• Check file permissions (should be 644)
• Verify UTF-8 encoding
• Ensure no BOM (byte order mark)
• Check server MIME type configuration

Next Steps

Once your llms.txt is live:

1. Run a SourceRank scan to see the impact
2. Review your AEO score breakdown
3. Implement additional AEO improvements
4. Set up monitoring to track changes

Related Resources

• Complete llms.txt Guide (Blog) - Comprehensive 3000+ word guide
• What is AEO? - Understanding AI Engine Optimization
• Understanding Your AEO Score - Score components explained

Need help? Contact our support team - we’re happy to review your llms.txt implementation!