> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.get-ryze.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# llms.txt: what it is and whether it helps

> llms.txt is a proposed markdown file at a site's root that lists its most useful pages for large language models. Adoption by major AI systems is not confirmed.

`llms.txt` is a proposed standard: a markdown file at the root of a site (`/llms.txt`) that lists the pages most useful to a large language model, with short descriptions.

The proposal comes from [llmstxt.org](https://llmstxt.org). It is a community proposal, not a specification from any AI provider.

## What it looks like

```markdown theme={null}
# Example Co

> One-line description of what the company does.

## Docs

- [Quickstart](https://example.com/quickstart): Set up in 10 minutes
- [API reference](https://example.com/api): Every endpoint

## Concepts

- [How billing works](https://example.com/billing): Credits and limits
```

A companion `llms-full.txt` contains the full text of the listed pages rather than links.

## The honest position on whether it helps

**No major AI provider has publicly confirmed that it reads `llms.txt` for retrieval.** Support is asserted more often than it is demonstrated. Treat any claim that it drives citations as unproven.

What can be said:

* **It costs almost nothing.** For a docs site it is usually auto-generated.
* **It cannot hurt**, provided it is accurate and does not expose pages you intended to keep private.
* **It is not a substitute for the actual work.** A well-structured, crawlable, factual page is what gets cited. A file listing badly-structured pages does not make them citable.

Anyone presenting `llms.txt` as the reason for citation gains is claiming more than the evidence supports.

## Does Ryze support it?

If your documentation runs on a platform that generates `llms.txt` automatically — Mintlify does, for example — you already have one, and pages are included as they are published.

For a Shopify storefront, there is no automatic generation. It would need to be added as a static file at your domain root.

## What to do instead, in priority order

1. Make pages **crawlable and server-rendered** — see [why your brand isn't cited](/ai-visibility/not-cited)
2. Make pages **narrow and factual** — one topic each, definition first
3. Add **valid structured data** — see [structured data for AI search](/ai-visibility/structured-data-for-ai)
4. Keep an **accurate XML sitemap**, which *is* consumed by crawlers that demonstrably matter
5. Add `llms.txt` if it is free to do so

Items 1–4 have evidence behind them. Item 5 is cheap insurance.

## Related

* [Structured data for AI search](/ai-visibility/structured-data-for-ai)
* [Generative engine optimization](/concepts/generative-engine-optimization)