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AI discovery

How to Find Websites That Publish an llms.txt File

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To find an llms.txt file for a page, inspect the page’s HTML and HTTP Link header first. Look for rel="describedby", which can point directly to the applicable file. If no link is advertised, test the most specific path (for example, /docs/api/llms.txt), then its parent path and finally the origin root at /llms.txt. Also check documentation subdomains and use public directories as leads, verifying every result against the live site.

What an llms.txt file is

llms.txt is an emerging, optional convention proposed as a Markdown overview and curated link map for a website or URL path. A file can apply to an entire origin or only to URLs beneath a path such as /docs/. Its usual structure is an H1 naming the site, an optional blockquote summary, explanatory text, and H2 sections containing links to useful resources. Read those links as a map to the documentation or content you actually need.

The proposal is documented at llmstxt.org. It is not the same as robots.txt: robots.txt communicates crawler access preferences, while llms.txt is intended to orient an on-demand reader. Publishing a file does not establish that a particular AI product will fetch or follow it. A community-maintained reference classifies the practice as a convention and reports no documented engine commitment to read it (AI Discovery Standards).

Start with the page’s own declarations

Inspect HTML link elements

Open the target page, view its source (not only the rendered DOM), and search for llms.txt, rel="describedby", or a link element like this:

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<link rel="describedby" href="https://example.com/docs/llms.txt">

The describedby relation identifies a resource that describes the page’s scope. Resolve a relative value against the page URL. Do not confuse rel="alternate" type="text/markdown" with an llms.txt map: that combination advertises a Markdown representation of the individual page, not the site’s orientation file.

Inspect the HTTP Link response header

The same relationship can be sent in the response headers. Use:

curl -sSI https://example.com/docs/api/auth

Look for a line resembling:

Link: </docs/api/llms.txt>; rel="describedby"

Headers may be easier to find when a page is heavily generated by JavaScript, and they show what the server actually returned for that request. Follow redirects and check the final response as well as the initial one.

Try URL locations in the right order

When no declaration is present, use the target page’s path to form candidates. The most specific applicable file should win when several exist.

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  1. Closest path: for https://example.com/docs/api/auth, request https://example.com/docs/api/llms.txt.
  2. Parent documentation path: try https://example.com/docs/llms.txt.
  3. Origin root: try https://example.com/llms.txt.
  4. Documentation host: if documentation lives at docs.example.com or another host, repeat the checks there.

The path matters because the proposal allows a file to cover URLs beneath its own directory. A root 404 therefore proves only that the root file is missing; it does not rule out /docs/llms.txt or a deeper file.

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Check a candidate with curl

curl -sS -D - https://example.com/docs/api/llms.txt -o /tmp/llms.txt
sed -n '1,80p' /tmp/llms.txt

The first command prints status and headers while saving the body. Confirm a successful status, inspect the content type, and read the Markdown to see which paths it claims to cover. A server may return a branded HTML error page with a 200 status, so checking the body is important.

Request it programmatically

These examples make the same checks repeatable. Replace the URL with each candidate location.

import requests

url = "https://example.com/docs/api/llms.txt"
r = requests.get(url, timeout=20, allow_redirects=True)
print(r.status_code, r.url, r.headers.get("content-type"))
if r.ok:
    print(r.text[:4000])
const url = 'https://example.com/docs/api/llms.txt';
const res = await fetch(url, { redirect: 'follow' });
console.log(res.status, res.url, res.headers.get('content-type'));
if (res.ok) console.log((await res.text()).slice(0, 4000));

Keep the final URL and status in your notes. A redirect to a login page, a soft 404, or content from an unrelated host is not confirmation that the expected file exists.

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Use public directories for broad discovery

If you are looking for many publishers rather than one known site, directories provide candidate URLs faster than guessing domains. The practical guide at How to Find a Website’s llms.txt File names directory.llmstxt.cloud and llmstxt.site. A community index also lists directory resources in awesome-answer-engine-optimization.

Directory entries are discovery leads, not proof of current publication. Open the listed URL, fetch it directly, and confirm that the response and Markdown are still present. Entries can become stale, move to a path-scoped location, or disappear.

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Method Coverage Directness Scope and freshness
HTML or HTTP describedby One requested page Highest: the publisher declares the relation Shows the page’s applicable file in a live response
Path and root guesses One known site Moderate: relies on conventional locations Can reveal deeper or documentation-scoped files; verify live
Public directories Many candidate sites Lower: an index points you to a URL Broad but may lag behind the publisher

How to read and verify the result

Confirm the file’s scope

Read the heading and introductory text, then inspect the links under each H2. A file under /docs/api/ should be treated as applying to that subtree unless the publisher says otherwise. If both a root and a path-scoped file exist, use the one closest to the page you care about.

Check that links are useful and current

Open representative links rather than assuming every entry works. Check for redirects, removed pages, authentication requirements, and links that leave the intended site. The value of llms.txt is its curated orientation; a file full of dead or unrelated links is a weak result even when it returns 200.

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Record what you actually found

  • The exact URL and final URL after redirects.
  • HTTP status and content type.
  • Whether the relation was declared in HTML or headers.
  • The path scope stated or implied by the publisher.
  • The date you checked it, because directory listings and site structures change.

If no llms.txt file appears

Do not treat absence as a defect. Chrome for Developers describes the practice as optional: its Lighthouse audit marks a 404 as Not Applicable because providing the file is optional at present (llms.txt | Lighthouse, updated May 5, 2026 UTC).

Before concluding that none is available, make sure you checked the page relation, the closest applicable path, parent documentation paths, the root, and any separate documentation host. If all return a genuine 404 or equivalent response and no declaration exists, report that the locations you checked did not publish one. Do not infer that every page on the domain lacks a path-scoped file.

Common errors and fixes

“The root URL is 404”

Cause: the publisher may use a path-scoped file. Fix: derive candidates from the page path, such as /docs/api/llms.txt and /docs/llms.txt, and inspect the page’s relation declarations.

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“View source shows nothing”

Cause: you inspected the post-JavaScript DOM, or the relation is sent only as an HTTP header. Fix: use the browser’s View Source command and curl -sSI against the URL.

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“The URL returns 200 but is not Markdown”

Cause: a soft error page, login screen, or application fallback. Fix: read the body, inspect Content-Type, follow redirects, and compare the content with the expected H1-and-links format.

“A directory entry is gone”

Cause: indexes can lag behind live site changes. Fix: treat the entry as a lead, rerun path discovery on the current site, and record the date of verification.

“Several files seem applicable”

Cause: the site publishes files at multiple path levels. Fix: select the most specific file covering the page, then use broader files for context only when needed.

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For a quick capture:

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Practical decision checklist

  1. Start from the exact page you need to describe.
  2. Inspect HTML and response headers for rel="describedby".
  3. Test the deepest applicable path, then parent paths, then the root.
  4. Repeat on a documentation subdomain or subpath.
  5. Use directories only to discover candidates at scale.
  6. Verify status, content, redirects, scope, and representative links live.
  7. State clearly when no checked location publishes a file; do not claim that the entire site has none unless the publisher documents that fact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every website have an llms.txt file?

No. It is an optional convention, and a missing file is not an error. Check the applicable paths before reporting that none was found.

Is llms.txt a replacement for robots.txt?

No. robots.txt expresses crawler access preferences; llms.txt is a curated orientation document. They serve different purposes.

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Will an AI system automatically use a site’s llms.txt?

Not necessarily. Publication alone does not show that a particular AI product fetches or honors the file.

What should I cite when reporting a discovery?

Record the exact live URL, response status, scope, and the date checked. If a directory led you there, cite the directory only as the discovery source and the publisher URL as verification.

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