Yoast SEO’s llms.txt: Future-Proofing Your Website for AI

Yoast SEO introduces llms.txt, a new feature designed to help large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google Gemini better understand and accurately represent your website's content. Unlike traditional search engine optimization which relies on crawling and indexing, LLMs access information in real-time, often only processing a small fraction of a website's content. This can lead to incomplete or inaccurate AI-generated responses. The llms.txt file acts as a guide, providing LLMs with a curated selection of your most important and up-to-date content. It's analogous to providing a map to a large department store, highlighting key areas of interest. This approach significantly improves the chances that LLMs will surface the correct information in their responses, enhancing your website's visibility in AI-generated results. The llms.txt file differs significantly from robots.txt, which dictates what bots should *not* access. Instead, llms.txt *suggests* what AI *should* read, focusing on guidance and clarity to improve the accuracy of AI-generated answers. Yoast SEO automatically generates and maintains this file, drawing from recently updated content, technical SEO elements (like sitemaps), and website descriptions. The process is automated, requiring no technical setup and refreshing weekly. Website owners can preview the file before implementation and even manage it manually via developer documentation if desired. Yoast positions this feature as an opt-in, empowering website owners to control how their content is presented to AI, reflecting a commitment to SEO accessibility for all. The llms.txt file on yoast.com serves as a practical example.

(Source: https://yoast.com/yoast-seo-june-10-2025/)