Set Up llms.txt, IndexNow and Schema

llms.txt is a plain Markdown file at the root of a website that tells large language models (LLMs) what the site is about and which pages matter most. It is a community proposal published at llmstxt.org in September 2024, not an official standard. It offers a low-effort way to point AI tools at your key pages.

No, support for llms.txt varies between AI providers, because it is a community proposal rather than an official standard. Some tools may read it while others ignore it. Because it takes little effort to maintain, it is still worth publishing alongside your XML sitemap and structured data.

An llms.txt file should include a short description of what your site or business is and links to your most important pages, written in plain Markdown. Focus on the pages that best answer customer questions, such as your main products, services and support content. Update it as those pages change.

IndexNow is an open protocol that tells participating search engines, such as Bing and Yandex, the moment you publish, update or delete a page. Instead of waiting for crawlers to find the change, your site notifies the engines directly. That can help updated content get discovered sooner.

No, Google does not use IndexNow. To make sure Google discovers new and changed pages, keep your XML sitemap submitted in Google Search Console and link to new pages from existing ones. IndexNow still helps with participating engines such as Bing and Yandex.

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary for describing things such as organizations, articles, products and FAQs, and JSON-LD is the format Google recommends for adding it to a page. Together they give search and answer engines a structured, machine-readable description of what each page contains.

No, structured data does not guarantee rich results or higher rankings. It helps search and answer engines understand each page, but the engines decide what to display. Treat Schema.org markup as a way to add clarity, not as a ranking switch.

Open yoursite.com/llms.txt in a browser and confirm the file loads and lists your most important pages. Check that every link works and points to the current version of each page. Review the file whenever you add or retire key pages.

Test Schema.org markup with Google's Rich Results Test or the Schema Markup Validator. The Rich Results Test shows whether a page is eligible for Google rich results, while the Schema Markup Validator checks markup against the wider Schema.org vocabulary. Fix any errors they report, then test the page again.

Apex® supports llms.txt, IndexNow and Schema.org JSON-LD, so you do not have to maintain each one by hand. It keeps your XML sitemap and llms.txt up to date, can notify engines that support IndexNow when you publish, and adds structured data to your pages. You can still check the results with the standard testing tools.