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llms.txt for your store in 30 minutes (+ ready template)

Updated 2026-08-03

What llms.txt is

llms.txt is a plain Markdown file at the root of your site (https://your-store.com/llms.txt) that gives language models — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode — a short curated map of your store: what you sell, where the key pages are, what your shipping and returns rules are, and how to reach you.

A normal store page is crowded with menus, banners, scripts and pop-ups. A model has to fight through the markup, and the important parts drown in noise. llms.txt is the same content, boiled down to the essentials in a format the model reads instantly.

The idea comes from the proposed llmstxt.org standard and has already become common practice: documentation sites, SaaS products and, increasingly, stores publish one.

Why an online store needs it

Three reasons to keep an llms.txt:

1. AI assistants increasingly recommend products. When a shopper asks "where can I buy X", ChatGPT or Perplexity assemble the answer from what they could understand about stores. If your catalog and rules are easy to read, you are more likely to make the answer.
2. You control what the model sees. In llms.txt you highlight your strong pages yourself — best sellers, categories, delivery terms — instead of leaving it to random parsing.
3. It is cheap and almost no one has it. Across our audits of 63 stores in Moldova and Romania, llms.txt is one of the most common missing pieces. Half an hour of work gives you something competitors lack.

How to build one in 30 minutes

The format is simple: a store title, a one-line description with >, then sections of link lists. Each link is [Name](URL): a short note.

Here is a working template — replace the data with your own:

# Example Store

> Online shoe and accessory store in Moldova. Nationwide delivery in 1-2 days, card and cash payment.

## Catalog
- [All products](https://example.com/shop/): full catalog
- [Men's shoes](https://example.com/catalog/men/): sneakers, boots, dress shoes
- [Women's shoes](https://example.com/catalog/women/): seasonal collections
- [Best sellers](https://example.com/best/): popular models

## Policies
- [Shipping](https://example.com/shipping/): times, cost, zones
- [Returns and exchange](https://example.com/returns/): 14 days, conditions
- [Payment](https://example.com/payment/): card, cash, installments

## About
- [Contacts](https://example.com/contacts/): phone, address, hours
- [About us](https://example.com/about/): who we are

Steps:

1. Create a text file named llms.txt.
2. Write the title and one honest description line: what you sell, where, and with what delivery. No marketing noise — the model values facts.
3. Add 3-4 sections: catalog, policies, about. Each with 3-6 links and short notes.
4. Upload the file to the root of your domain so it opens at https://your-store.com/llms.txt.
5. Confirm it is served as plain text and opens in a browser.

If you run WooCommerce, the Botmetria plugin generates and keeps llms.txt up to date automatically — no manual work needed.

How to check it works

• Open https://your-store.com/llms.txt in a browser — you should see text, not a 404.
• Check that the links point to live pages (not 404, not http instead of https).
• Run a free Botmetria audit on your domain — it checks whether llms.txt is present and correct, and shows whether AI bots have requested it.

Common mistakes

• Dumping the whole site into one list. llms.txt is a summary, not a sitemap. 10-20 of your most important links, not 500.
• Broken or http links. Every link must be live and on https.
• Marketing slogans instead of facts. "Best prices!" is useless to a model; "delivery across Moldova in 1-2 days, card payment" is useful.
• Forgetting to update it. When categories or terms change, fix the file (with the WooCommerce plugin this happens automatically).

FAQ

Related guides

• llms.txt in WooCommerce: automatic and manual