llms.txt and getting cited by AI
llms.txt is an emerging standard that guides AI/LLM crawlers to your best content. Combined with crawler-friendly robots rules and dated, sourced facts, it improves your chances of being cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews.
As AI answer engines grow, a new question matters: can AI find, trust and cite your content? Part of the answer is making your site machine-friendly — and llms.txt is one practical tool for that.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a plain-text (Markdown) file at your domain root (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that points AI/LLM crawlers to your most important pages and gives a concise, structured overview of your site — much as a sitemap helps search crawlers.
What to put in it
A short description of your site, links to your key sections and pages with one-line summaries, and — powerfully — a ledger of canonical facts (each figure with its value, as-of date and source) so AI quotes the right numbers.
Let AI crawlers in
Review robots.txt to allow the AI user-agents you want to be cited by (and block any you don't). Being citable requires being crawlable — many sites accidentally block the very bots that drive AI referrals.
Write so AI can quote you
Lead with clear answers, keep facts dated and sourced, use entity schema (Organization, Place, DefinedTerm, Dataset), and maintain a consistent, trustworthy voice. AI engines favour content they can attribute confidently.
Key takeaways
- ✓llms.txt guides AI/LLM crawlers to your best content and canonical facts.
- ✓Allow the AI crawler user-agents you want citations from.
- ✓Provide dated, sourced figures so AI quotes you correctly.
- ✓Answer-first writing + entity schema make you easy to attribute.
llms.txt and Getting Cited by AI (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini) — FAQ
Is llms.txt an official standard?+
It's an emerging, community-driven convention rather than a mandated standard, and not every engine reads it yet. It's low-cost to add and complements the broader practice of making your site machine-friendly.
How do I let ChatGPT or Perplexity cite my site?+
Allow their crawler user-agents in robots.txt, publish crawlable HTML and an llms.txt, keep facts dated and sourced, and build authority. You can't force a citation, but you can make your content the easiest trustworthy source to quote.
Related guides
Sources & data note
These guides explain widely-accepted SEO, AEO and GEO practice as documented by Google Search Central, schema.org and current industry research. Search and AI systems evolve continually — treat specific thresholds (e.g. Core Web Vitals targets) as current guidance and verify against the latest official documentation. Examples are tailored to Nepal's market.