Google: Search ignores llms.txt, and publishing one is fine
A month after publishing its generative AI guide, Google clarified the llms.txt line: Search ignores the file, so it cannot help or hurt your rankings, and publishing one is fine.
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What happened?
Google’s Search documentation changelog for 15 June 2026 has an entry titled “Clarifying guidance on llms.txt files”: “Added a note to the AI optimization guide clarifying Google Search’s usage of llms.txt files.”
What does the guide say now?
The guide published in May said site owners did not need AI text files “to appear in generative AI search”. The June change narrowed that to Google Search and added two sentences:
| Added on 15 June 2026 |
|---|
| “It’s completely fine if you decide to create and maintain LLMS.txt files.” |
| “Doing so will neither harm nor help your site’s visibility or rankings in Google Search, as Google Search ignores them.” |
The guide has been edited since (it shows a later “last updated” date), but the changelog records no further change to the llms.txt wording.
What does it mean for your site?
llms.txt is not a Google ranking factor, and never was. Publish one for the tools that read it, not for your position in Google Search. Nothing you put in it helps or hurts there.
If someone sells llms.txt as a way to rank higher in Google, this is the page to show them. The longer answer is in Does llms.txt help SEO?