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llms.txt in autumn 2026: what is known

A summary of the year - the second edition of the proposal, the Lighthouse check, Google’s position, studies of requests and file quality. What is confirmed, what is not proven and what to do with a site

  • llms.txt
  • summary
  • status

· kaktak.net

In nine months of 2026 more became known about llms.txt than in the year and a half before. Measurements replaced opinions. Below is a summary: what happened and where it led.

What happened

Date Event
January 15 Web Almanac: 2.1% of sites have the file
February 12 Cloudflare serves Markdown to agents by the Accept header
May 7 Lighthouse checks llms.txt by default
June 15 Google: Search does not use such files
June 15 Ahrefs: 97% of the files were never requested
August 10 the second edition of the proposal
August 31 Common Crawl: 23% of the files have no links
September 16 Mintlify: agents overtook people in documentation

What is confirmed

  • Large documentation sites publish the file, including the developers of AI systems.
  • Agents in code editors work with the file when given the address. With a map they hit missing pages less often.
  • Most files on the web were made by plugins and platforms, not by owners.
  • Google Search ignores the file.

What is not proven

  • An effect on rankings in any search engine.
  • An effect on the number of mentions in AI answers.
  • That any mass AI system looks for the file on other people’s sites by itself. No bot owner has said so.

What changed in the understanding

A year ago llms.txt was discussed as a promotion method. The data did not confirm it. Its real role became visible instead: a map for an agent in an environment where the agent already works.

It also became clear that the file is one layer of several. A machine has to get the page, learn where it may go, find the addresses, understand what is on the page and read the text. Structured data is responsible for understanding, and search engines say directly that they read it.

What to do with a site

  1. Make sure pages are reachable and serve text without scripts.
  2. Sort out bots in robots.txt.
  3. Add structured data: what it is and why.
  4. Make llms.txt if the site has something to show an agent: getting started.
  5. Check the result and watch the logs: validation.

The whole path in order: A site ready for AI. The status of the proposal itself: llms.txt status.