How to Create an llms.txt File (With a Store Example)

To create an llms.txt file, write a short Markdown document that starts with your site name as an H1, add a one-line summary and a few H2 sections of links to your most useful public pages, then publish it at yourdomain.com/llms.txt. On Shopify you usually don't need to build one at all: every store already serves a managed llms.txt, and you can override it with a theme template if you have a reason to.

This guide is for e-commerce and Shopify teams who want to do this properly in an afternoon. You'll get the format section by section, a seven-step process, a full example for an online store, the exact Shopify templates and lookup order, options for WordPress and other platforms, and the checks to run after you publish. You'll also see what the newest data says about who actually reads these files, so you can decide how much effort to spend.

What an llms.txt file is (and isn't)

An llms.txt file is a proposed standard, written by Jeremy Howard and published at llmstxt.org, for giving AI tools and agents a curated, Markdown overview of a website. Instead of making an agent crawl and parse every HTML page, you hand it a short summary and a list of the pages that matter, each with a one-line note. The proposal was first published in September 2024 and the current page describes version 2.

Want a head start? Our free llms.txt generator builds a clean starter file from your most important pages, which you can then edit by hand.

It is easy to confuse with the other files at your site root, so here is the short version:

• It is not robots.txt. It doesn't allow or block anything. Crawler access is still controlled by robots.txt, your CDN and your firewall. Our guide to llms.txt vs robots.txt covers the difference in detail.
• It is not a sitemap. A sitemap lists every URL you want indexed. An llms.txt file is a curated reading list with context.
• It is not a ranking factor. Google says Search ignores llms.txt files and that they neither help nor harm your visibility or rankings.
• It is not private. Anyone can open it. Only list pages that are already public.

Do you need one? What the data says

Before you spend time on the file, it helps to know who reads it. Google's guide to generative AI features in Search, updated July 2026, says you don't need to create AI text files, markup or Markdown to appear in Google Search, and that Google Search itself doesn't use them. It also says it's completely fine to create and maintain one for other services.

The best usage data so far comes from Ahrefs. In a June 2026 study of 137,210 domains using Ahrefs Web Analytics, 28% published an llms.txt file, but 97% of those files received no requests at all in May 2026.

Of the roughly 22,000 requests that did arrive, most came from SEO audit tools, general crawlers and tech profiling tools, not AI products. AI-related categories made up 19.5% of requests combined, and the largest of those was AI agents and agentic infrastructure, not the retrieval bots that power AI search answers.

Ahrefs found GPTBot was the most frequent named AI bot, at 4.51% of requests, with Claude-Code close behind among named AI tools. OAI-SearchBot accounted for 0.74%. Keep the sample in mind: these are Ahrefs analytics customers, not the whole web.

So why bother? Three honest reasons. It takes little time to do well. Agents and coding tools, the one AI category that does fetch these files, are growing. And for Shopify stores, the file is now part of how Shopify points shopping agents to your store, which we cover below. For the full decision, read do I need an llms.txt file.

The llms.txt format, section by section

The llmstxt.org proposal defines a small, strict order. Only the H1 is required. Everything else is optional, but the order matters, because tools that parse the file expect it.

Location rules

The proposal allows the file at your site root (/llms.txt) or under a subpath, such as /docs/llms.txt, in which case it covers only the URLs under that path. When more than one file applies, agents should use the most specific one. For a store, the root file is almost always what you want.

Markdown versions of pages

Version 2 of the proposal recommends offering clean Markdown versions of important pages at the same URL with .md added (for example page.html.md) or with the extension replaced (page.md). It also suggests discovery links: rel="alternate" type="text/markdown" pointing to a page's Markdown version, and rel="describedby" pointing to the llms.txt file that covers it, as HTML link elements or HTTP Link headers. These are proposal conventions, not requirements, and most stores can skip them. Never link to a .md URL unless it actually exists.

How to create an llms.txt file in 7 steps

Here is the process we use. It works on any platform; the Shopify and WordPress specifics follow in the next sections.

1. Check what you already serve. Open yourdomain.com/llms.txt in a private browser window. If you're on Shopify, you'll likely see a file already. Decide whether you need to change it before writing anything new.
2. Decide who the file is for. A shopping agent needs products, collections, shipping and returns. A research assistant comparing brands needs your about page, buying guides and reviews policy. Pick the main use case and build for it.
3. Pick 10 to 30 public pages. Choose your top collections, best-selling or flagship products, size and fit guides, shipping and returns policies, FAQ and contact page. Leave out cart, checkout, account, search results, preview and filter URLs.
4. Write the H1 and summary. Use your real brand name and a plain, factual summary. No slogans or superlatives. If a fact isn't stated on your site, don't put it in the file.
5. Group the links under H2s. Use the - [Name](url): note format, with descriptive link names and notes of one short sentence. Put nice-to-have links under ## Optional.
6. Save it as plain text named llms.txt. Not llms.txt.txt, not a PDF and not JSON. Use UTF-8.
7. Publish it at the root and test it. Upload it so it's served at /llms.txt, then run the checks in the testing section below.

An llms.txt example for an online store

Here is a complete, fictional example for a store selling outdoor gear. The brand and the example.com URLs are placeholders. Replace every name, fact and link with your own.

# Example Trail Co.

> Example Trail Co. sells lightweight hiking and camping gear online, shipping to the US and Canada.

Prices are in USD. Orders over $75 ship free in the US. Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery.

## Collections
- [Backpacks](https://example.com/collections/backpacks): Daypacks and multi-day packs, 18 to 65 liters.
- [Tents](https://example.com/collections/tents): One to four person tents with weights and pack sizes.

## Buying guides
- [Backpack size guide](https://example.com/pages/backpack-size-guide): How to choose capacity and torso length.
- [Tent comparison](https://example.com/pages/tent-comparison): Specs for every tent in one table.

## Policies
- [Shipping](https://example.com/policies/shipping-policy): Regions, carriers and delivery times.
- [Returns](https://example.com/policies/refund-policy): Return window and how to start a return.

## Optional
- [About us](https://example.com/pages/about): Company background.
- [Blog](https://example.com/blogs/news): Trail guides and gear care articles.

Notice what the example does. The summary says what is sold, to whom and where. The detail lines state facts an agent would otherwise have to dig for. Every link note tells the reader what they'll find, so an agent can choose the right page in one step. And the file stays short: an overview, not a copy of your catalog.

Should you also make llms-full.txt?

Some platforms also serve an llms-full.txt file that contains full page content in one document. The llmstxt.org proposal itself doesn't define it. For most stores, a well-curated llms.txt is enough, and a full-content file is one more thing to keep in sync with prices and stock.

How to add llms.txt on Shopify

Shopify changed this in May 2026. According to Shopify's changelog, every store now includes a default /agents.md file, and /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt point to that same content by default. When we opened the llms.txt files of live Shopify stores in October 2026, they returned Shopify-generated Markdown with instructions for shopping agents, covering the Shop skill and the Universal Commerce Protocol.

If you want to customize it, Shopify uses theme templates and checks them in this order for /llms.txt:

To add a custom file:

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes, open the menu on your theme and choose Edit code.
2. Right-click the Templates folder, choose New File and name it llms.txt.liquid (or agents.md.liquid to change all three files together). JSON templates aren't allowed here.
3. Write your Markdown. You can use Liquid, but only the request and agents objects are available, so shop, collections and articles won't work. Shopify's example uses {{ agents.store_name }}, {{ agents.store_url }} and {{ agents.sitemap_url }}.
4. Save, then open /llms.txt on your primary domain to check the output.

Two limits from Shopify's template docs: the file is served only on your bare primary domain, and it has no localized versions for Shopify Markets subfolders. Shopify recommends keeping the managed default unless /llms.txt must differ from /agents.md, and says that if you add llms.txt.liquid, you maintain its content.

Publishing on WordPress and other platforms

Outside Shopify, the job is the same: get a plain-text file served at /llms.txt with a 200 status. How you do it depends on the platform.

A file uploaded to a media library or file manager usually lands at a long CDN URL, not at /llms.txt. If your platform has no root-file option, ask your developer how root paths are served before you change production settings.

How to test and maintain your llms.txt

Publishing isn't the finish line. Run these checks the day you go live:

• Open the exact URL in a private window. You should see your Markdown, not your homepage, a password page, a cookie wall or a bot challenge.
• Check the response. A command like curl -I https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt should return a 200 status and a text content type, such as text/plain or text/markdown.
• Click every link. Each one should return the page you described, with no redirects to unrelated pages and no 404s.
• Confirm crawlers can reach it. An llms.txt file doesn't override robots.txt. Check how AI crawlers are treated with our robots.txt and AI crawler tester.
• Test the use case. Give an AI assistant your llms.txt URL and ask it to find your return policy or the right backpack size. If it picks the right page, the file is doing its job. This tests that workflow only; it doesn't prove any search product uses the file.

Keep it current

An out-of-date file is worse than none, because it points agents at old prices, retired products and moved policies. Give one person ownership and review the file whenever you change shipping or return terms, launch or retire a collection, or migrate URLs. A quick check each quarter catches the rest. If you want to see whether anyone reads it, filter your server or CDN logs for requests to /llms.txt and look at the user agents.

Your next step

Open yourdomain.com/llms.txt right now. If you're on Shopify and the default is there, decide whether you have a real reason to customize it. If you have no file, block out an hour: pick your 10 to 30 key public pages, write the summary, publish, and run the checks above. Then put the bigger share of your effort where the data says AI visibility is decided: crawler access and pages that answer shoppers' questions clearly.

If you want help with the rest of your AI search setup, see our AI search optimization service or get in touch.