What Is llms.txt, and Should Your Site Have One?
llms.txt is a text file at the root of a website that tells a language model what the site is and which links matter. You should have one if you publish anything you want described accurately. You should not expect it to rank you.
What the file contains
The useful version is short. A title, a one-paragraph description, and a list of links with a clause on each. A longer companion, llms-full.txt, can carry the detail: services, case studies, and the answers you are willing to stand behind.
This site publishes both, generated from the same pages you can read. Start at llms.txt and llms-full.txt. robots.txt allows crawling and points at the sitemap. The file existing is not the same as a ranking factor.
What the file won't do
It does not submit you to Google. It does not override robots.txt. It does not force ChatGPT to recommend you. There is no industry-wide proof that the file is a ranking factor, and this studio will not invent one.
A stale llms.txt is worse than none, because it teaches the model last year’s offer. If you change the phone number on the site and not in the file, you have published a contradiction.
Where it already shows up in the work
Several live projects already serve the file: CBVDA, JAX Epoxy Floors, Collihort, St. Johns County Living, and the current dashworth.com domain. That is implementation, checked by requesting the URL, not a traffic claim.
If a project’s notes did not confirm the file, the case study says so. Absence is not papered over.
A practical standard
Put the file at /llms.txt. Write it in the same voice as the homepage. Link only URLs you want repeated. Include the phone and the place if they are public. Update it when the offer changes. Keep robots.txt honest about which bots may fetch it.
If you want that maintained with the rest of the site, it is part of generative engine optimization.
Questions
Is llms.txt required?
No standard requires it. It is worth having if you want one maintained description of the site for language models. It is not a substitute for titles, schema, or a clear homepage.
Does llms.txt replace sitemap.xml?
No. A sitemap is for search-engine crawlers and lists URLs. llms.txt is a curated briefing. Keep both. They will disagree if you edit only one.
The work stays with Dashworth.
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