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I was ready to call llms.txt snake oil — then Google put it in Lighthouse
TL;DR
- llms.txt does nothing for AI Overviews or citations — Google Search said so, and server logs show agents almost never fetch it.
- The real (future) value is as a map for browser agents, not a ranking lever — a bet the tooling layer is placing, not a current return.
Table of contents
- What the file actually is
- The debunk, because it deserves one
- The part that held me up
- The Lighthouse move — where Google started contradicting itself
- So what's next?
- WebMCP & llms.txt: is it a marriage?