Step 1: free technical check
llms.txt checker: test and draft your llms.txt free
This free llms.txt checker tests whether your site publishes a readable llms.txt file and drafts one when it is missing or thin. The same scan reviews crawlability, robots.txt for AI crawlers, sitemap and structured data, without an account.
What to check
An llms.txt file is a Markdown guide to your website for language models. This llms.txt checker tests that file and the crawler signals around it. An llms.txt file helps AI systems find your key pages; it does not make them recommend you. Weekly tracking shows whether they do.
llms.txt availability and content
Check that /llms.txt is accessible as text or Markdown, with more than 200 characters, headings, and at least one absolute URL.
Crawlability and robots.txt
Review whether the page can be fetched and whether crawler rules block access.
Sitemap discovery
Check for a readable XML sitemap that helps crawlers find your content.
Structured data and readable HTML
Review structured data and semantic HTML so the guide points to pages with useful context.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a plain Markdown file at the root of your site, at /llms.txt, that tells language models what your site is and which pages matter most. It was proposed in 2024 as a convention, not a standard that every AI company has committed to read, so treat it as a cheap extra next to robots.txt, a sitemap and server-rendered pages.
A useful llms.txt starts with a # heading with your name, a one-line summary, then short ## sections that link your product, pricing, docs and policy pages with absolute URLs. LLM Scan's check passes a file that is served as text, has more than 200 characters, at least one heading and at least one absolute URL. When it fails, the scan drafts a file with an overview, your core URLs and crawling notes for you to edit.
llms.txt does not control access. robots.txt and your CDN decide which crawlers get in, and an llms.txt cannot make an assistant recommend you. Weekly tracking shows whether it does.
Beyond a robots.txt check
Robots.txt expresses crawler access rules. It does not tell you whether a page has readable content, useful structured data, a discoverable sitemap, or a clear llms.txt guide. LLM Scan checks these signals together and suggests fixes you can review and apply. A good technical score does not guarantee inclusion or citations in AI answers. Learn more in our readiness audit guide.
Then see whether AI actually mentions you
A readable site is the starting point. Paid plans run your buyer questions through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude every week and email a report: how often you are mentioned and in what position, prompts won and lost, share of voice against your competitors, the sources AI cites, your Google rank and AI Overview citations for tracked keywords, and the 3 things to fix next.
llms.txt: questions and answers
- How do I check my llms.txt?
- Enter your domain in the free scan. It fetches /llms.txt and checks that it is served as text, has more than 200 characters, a heading and at least one absolute URL, and drafts a file when it does not.
- Do I need an llms.txt file?
- It is optional. It costs little and helps tools that read it find your key pages, but crawler access in robots.txt, a sitemap and content in the raw HTML matter more for AI search.
- What is the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?
- robots.txt tells crawlers what they may fetch. llms.txt is a guide to your most useful pages for language models. It does not allow or block anything.
- Which companies offer llms.txt tools?
- LLM Scan checks and drafts llms.txt for free, some CMS plugins generate one, and docs platforms such as Mintlify generate one for the docs they host. Whatever writes the file, review it so it lists accurate, important pages.
- Is the llms.txt checker free?
- Yes. It runs as part of the free technical scan and needs no account.