There’s a new file format making the rounds: llm.txt. It’s pitched as the AI-era version of robots.txt—a way to tell large language models (LLMs) what to pay attention to on your site. Think of it as SEO for AI discovery.
We’ve been watching this trend closely. And honestly? We have mixed feelings.
Why It Sounds Useful
At first glance, the idea makes sense:
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AI discovery optimization. Just like robots.txt guides search crawlers, llm.txt could help AI models better interpret your content.
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Context control. You get to flag what’s most important about your business, rather than leaving models to infer it.
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Future-proofing. If llm.txt becomes a widely recognized standard, early adopters might benefit from being ahead of the curve.
That all sounds good. But here’s the problem: most of the benefits are theoretical.
Where It Falls Short
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Speculative investment. There’s no guarantee LLMs will honor these files. It’s like optimizing for a search engine that doesn’t exist yet.
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Maintenance overhead. Every service update, every messaging pivot—another file to update. That’s extra work without proven payoff.
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Limited control anyway. AI models are more likely to reference your published content—your case studies, media mentions, and structured data—than a separate summary file.
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Unproven impact. SEO has canonical tags and Twitter had Cards, both with measurable upside. With llm.txt, there’s no evidence (yet) of real-world influence on AI output.
What This Means for You
If you’re running a food, beverage, or ag brand, your priority should be real-world discoverability, not speculative file formats. Right now, AI models—and more importantly, your customers—are already looking at:
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Clear product and service descriptions
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Industry-specific terminology that signals authority
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Case studies and proof of results
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Mentions in trade media and earned coverage
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Structured data that’s machine-readable
That’s what actually trains models and builds trust.
Our advice:
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Focus on what works today. Keep publishing case studies, results stories, and useful insights.
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Build authority. Get mentioned in industry publications and strengthen your link profile.
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Wait and see. If, in six months, OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google announce official support for llm.txt, then it may be worth your time.
Bottom Line
This feels like premature optimization. The smarter play today is to keep creating high-quality, AI-discoverable content. That’s what models will reference—whether or not llm.txt ever matters.