Methodology
Every llmtxt.info measurement has a named scope, a dated snapshot and a published limitation. This page describes the current process so results can be checked or reused without guessing.
Last updated:
Measurement principles
- Primary source first. Provider documentation and the served public file take precedence over summaries.
- Date every observation. A result describes the checked response at a moment in time, not a permanent property of a domain.
- Separate publication from use. A reachable file shows that it was published. It does not establish automatic discovery, AI traffic, ranking, or answer inclusion.
- Publish the method with the number. The panel, result files and release manifest remain downloadable alongside the pages that summarize them.
Fixed-panel tracker
The tracker tests a curated fixed panel of 219 public hosts. On the snapshot dated
, 218 hosts
were testable and 113 returned a qualifying llms.txt response. A host
qualifies only when its requested file is public, returns HTTP 200, is not an HTML app shell, and
begins with a Markdown H1.
The panel is intentionally developer-heavy. It is useful for comparing this same cohort over time, not for estimating all websites. The full host list and raw metrics are available at /adoption-panel.json and /adoption-stats.json.
V2 discovery checks
A separate snapshot checks observable discovery signals on verified files: linked-page
reachability, Markdown alternates, the describedby relation, and path-scoped files. The
latest release checked 294 linked pages. It found 31 pages with a Markdown alternate, 4 pages with describedby, and 21 hosts with a qualifying subpath file.
These are implementation observations only. They do not claim that any client consumes a relation automatically. The raw snapshot is available at /v2-adoption-stats.json.
What the data cannot prove
- It cannot show that an AI product read a file, used it in retrieval, or cited it in an answer.
-
It cannot establish a Google ranking effect. Google documents that it does not use
llms.txtfor Search or its generative search features. - It cannot turn a selected panel into a global adoption estimate.
- It cannot infer a relationship, partnership, customer status or endorsement from a public file.
Downloads and reuse
Cite the snapshot date and its identifier when reusing a figure. The machine-readable release manifest contains the source hash, scope and limits: JSON, CSV, and status. For wording and commercial-disclosure rules, see the editorial policy.