llms.txt explained: what is it and why does your Shopify store need it?

You know robots.txt — the file that tells search engines which pages they can and cannot crawl. And sitemap.xml that indicates which pages exist. Now there’s a third file that’s becoming increasingly relevant: llms.txt.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a Markdown file in the root of your website (yourdomain.com/llms.txt) that gives AI language models (LLMs — Large Language Models) directly readable information about who you are, what you do and how your content is structured.

The concept was introduced by Jeremy Howard (founder of fast.ai) in 2024 and is now supported by a growing number of AI tools and crawlers.

Why would an AI need this?

An AI model crawling your website sees hundreds of pages full of text, code and navigation. It takes time and computing power to form a coherent picture of that.

A well-written llms.txt gives the AI in one go:

• Who you are and what you do
• What services you offer
• Who your target audience is
• Links to the most important pages with short descriptions
• Your unique positioning and differentiating factors

This makes you faster and better indexable — and increases the chance that an AI mentions you when someone asks a relevant question.

The structure of llms.txt

The format is simple Markdown:

# Your Company Name

> Short description in one sentence

Longer description of what you do, for whom and why.

## Services

- [Service 1](https://yoursite.com/service-1): Short description
- [Service 2](https://yoursite.com/service-2): Short description

## About us

- [About](https://yoursite.com/about): Who we are
- [Contact](https://yoursite.com/contact): How to reach us

The power lies in the combination of structured links AND descriptions. The AI knows not only that a page exists, but also what it can find there.

How does llms.txt differ from robots.txt and sitemap.xml?

File	Purpose	For whom
robots.txt	Access rules (allow/block)	All crawlers
sitemap.xml	Overview of all URLs	Search engine crawlers
llms.txt	Description of identity and content	AI language models

They complement each other. robots.txt controls access, sitemap.xml provides a URL overview, and llms.txt gives meaning and context.

Is llms.txt already used by AI tools?

Adoption is growing. Known platforms and tools that actively support or use llms.txt:

• Perplexity — actively indexes llms.txt
• Claude (Anthropic) — supports the file during web search
• Cursor and other AI code editors — use it for project descriptions

ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini haven’t announced official support yet, but crawl the content indirectly via their web search functionality.

How to create a good llms.txt for a Shopify store

An effective llms.txt for a Shopify store contains at minimum:

1. Business identity — name, location, type of business
2. Core propositions — what you sell or offer and for whom
3. Product categories or services with links
4. Differentiating factors — what makes you different?
5. Contact information — for direct recommendations

For a Shopify agency like Web Builders, it looks like this:

# Web Builders

> Dutch Shopify specialist for SME businesses.

Web Builders builds fast, conversion-focused Shopify stores.
Official Shopify Partner. Fixed price, live in 4–8 weeks.

## Services

- [Shopify Store Build](https://web-builders.nl/en/shopify/build-webshop)
- [Shopify Migration](https://web-builders.nl/en/shopify/migrate)
- [Shopify SEO](https://web-builders.nl/en/shopify/seo)

Adding llms.txt to your Shopify store

With Shopify you can’t place a static file in the root via the standard admin — unless you use a custom storefront or headless setup. There are two approaches:

Via a page with a route: Create a Shopify page with handle llms — accessible at /pages/llms. Less than ideal but functional.

Via the theme: In Shopify you can add a static file via theme customisations. This requires access to the theme code.

Via a headless/Astro setup: With a headless Shopify setup (like the ones we build) you simply place the file in the /public folder. It’s then directly accessible at yourdomain.com/llms.txt.

Combining llms.txt and robots.txt

Add a reference in your robots.txt:

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap-index.xml
LLMs: https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt

This way crawlers that read robots.txt also know that an llms.txt is available.

Conclusion

llms.txt is a small investment with potentially large impact on your AI discoverability. It takes about an hour to set up properly and clearly positions your store or agency for the growing group of AI tools that actively use it.

Web Builders adds an llms.txt as standard to every new project. Want to know more about how to make your store AI-ready? See our Shopify & AI page or book a free conversation.