A SISTRIX study of nearly 100,000 pages found that having an llms.txt file made no difference to whether AI tools cited a site. Basic page structure helped a little.
Dominic Coutts
If someone is selling you llms.txt as AI optimisation, save your money. Clear headings and a contents list do more.
What happened
SISTRIX compared 48,527 pages cited by ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews with uncited pages from the same sites, 96,418 pages in total. Sites with an llms.txt file were no more likely to be cited: 11.7% of cited pages came from sites with one, against 14.0% of sites overall.
Pages with a table of contents, article schema, 5 or more subheadings, or an author box with a photo were more likely to be cited.
What it means for you
llms.txt is a file some agencies now sell as a quick way into AI answers. This study found no sign it works. The things that did show up are ordinary good practice. It's correlation rather than proof, and the data comes from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but it points firmly away from shortcuts.
What to do
- Don't pay for an llms.txt file on its own.
- Give longer pages clear subheadings and a short contents list at the top.
- Show who wrote each page, with a name and a photo.
SISTRIX
A loud headline with little behind it. Carry on.
More signals
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