To add llms.txt to WordPress, publish a Markdown file at your site’s root—usually https://example.com/llms.txt—or use a plugin that serves it there. Then open the public URL and check that it returns the intended content. The file follows an optional community convention; it is not a crawler access-control file, and Lighthouse treats a missing-file 404 as Not Applicable.
What llms.txt does—and what it does not do
The llms.txt proposal describes a Markdown index that points readers or AI agents toward useful public content. It is a community proposal, not a WordPress requirement or a mechanism for granting or denying crawler access. Omitting a page from the index does not make that page private, and listing a URL does not make private content safe to expose.
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The proposal does not establish that adding the file improves search rankings, guarantees AI citations, or ensures that a particular AI service will fetch it. Treat it as an optional way to organize links to relevant material, not as an SEO promise. The live specification may evolve; check the llms.txt proposal when implementing it.
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Version 2 allows a file at the site root or at a subpath. A file applies to URLs under its own path; if multiple files apply, agents are directed to use the most specific one. The required element is an H1 naming the project or site. Other components are optional and should be arranged as follows:
- Optional BOM: A byte order mark may appear at the start of the file.
- Required H1: Name the site or project, for example
# Example Site. - Optional blockquote summary: Briefly describe the project.
- Optional preamble: Add concise context without headings.
- Optional H2 sections: Use one or more section headings, each followed by a list of Markdown links to useful pages.
A simple root file might look like this:
# Example Site
> Guides and reference material for Example Site.
This file points to selected public resources. See the site for other pages.
## Guides
- [Getting started](https://example.com/getting-started/)
- [Troubleshooting](https://example.com/troubleshooting/)Use canonical, publicly accessible URLs and include pages that help someone understand the site or its subject. A concise, curated index is generally more useful than an indiscriminate dump of every URL.
Choose a WordPress publishing method
You can maintain a Markdown file yourself or use a plugin. The key implementation difference is whether the plugin writes a physical file or serves generated content through WordPress routing. A physical file may require permission to write at the web root. A rewrite-based plugin can serve the root URL without writing there, but depends on its routing and hosting setup. Confirm the plugin’s current requirements, output, update behavior, and handling of non-public content before enabling it.
| Option | What the available listing or proposal says | What to check before using it |
|---|---|---|
| Yoast SEO | The proposal names Yoast SEO as a WordPress integration that generates and maintains llms.txt. |
Check the current plugin interface, file path, content controls, and update behavior; the proposal does not provide a feature-by-feature comparison. |
| AIOSEO | The proposal names AIOSEO as a WordPress plugin with an llms.txt generator. |
Confirm the current settings, output, and compatibility in the plugin’s documentation or interface. |
| Project LLMs.txt – AI SEO & llms.txt for WordPress & WooCommerce | The WordPress.org listing describes generation of /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt. It lists WordPress 6.4+ and PHP 8.1+ requirements, root write access for physical-file mode, and optional WooCommerce 7.0+ for product support. The listing also says no major search engine or LLM provider has officially announced that it seeks these files. |
Verify the current version, settings, file-writing mode, and content scope on the listing. The provider-adoption statement is the plugin listing’s caveat, not a comprehensive independent survey. |
| Website LLMs.txt | The WordPress.org listing describes a rewrite rule serving /llms.txt and an uploads-folder copy for hosting where the root cannot be written. The retrieved listing reports WordPress 5.8+ and version 8.6.2. |
Those version and compatibility details are listing metadata and may change. Check the current listing and confirm which serving mode your hosting setup uses. |
| CrawlBrief for LLMs.txt | The WordPress.org listing claims support for v2 discovery metadata, Markdown alternates, and corresponding HTTP Link metadata. | Verify the current implementation, compatibility, and output before relying on those features. |
This is not a ranked five-way test: the available descriptions do not establish equivalent current settings or prove which plugin is best. Pick based on how it serves the file, the controls you need, and whether its behavior suits your hosting environment. Avoid running multiple generators for the same path unless you have confirmed which one supplies the public response.
Add the file and verify what visitors receive
- Choose public content. Select canonical pages that are useful to someone navigating or understanding your site. Do not include sensitive URLs merely because they are absent from navigation.
- Create the Markdown index. Follow the v2 order: the site-name H1 first, then any optional summary and preamble, followed by optional H2 link sections. Check spelling and links.
- Publish by file or plugin. For manual publishing or a physical-file plugin, place the file at the site root if that is the intended scope. For a routed plugin, use its setup instructions and confirm its rewrite or serving mechanism is active. Check root write permissions where physical-file mode requires them.
- Open the public endpoint. Visit
https://your-domain.example/llms.txtin a browser. Confirm that it returns your Markdown rather than a 404, a server error, a login page, or unrelated HTML. Follow several listed links to ensure they resolve to the intended public pages. - Review after changes. If the plugin generates content from site data, verify whether edits or new pages update the file automatically or require a manual refresh. Recheck the endpoint after plugin, permalink, or hosting changes.
How to interpret the Lighthouse llms.txt audit
Chrome’s documentation says Lighthouse flags pages if a server error occurs while retrieving llms.txt. If the file is not provided and the request returns 404, the audit is marked Not Applicable because the file is currently optional. A 404 is therefore not a failed requirement. A retrieval server error is different: investigate the server response, routing, or hosting configuration. The audit checks retrieval, not search rankings or AI visibility. See Chrome for Developers’ Lighthouse llms.txt audit documentation for the current explanation.
Keep access control separate
An index is not a security policy. Use authentication, authorization, server rules, and applicable crawler directives for their intended access-control purposes. Do not rely on leaving a URL out of llms.txt to prevent discovery or access, and ensure that anything the file links to is actually appropriate to expose publicly.
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