llms.txt for Small Businesses

An llms.txt file is a short text file on your website, at yourbusiness.com/llms.txt, that tells AI assistants the basic facts about your business in one place: what you do, where, when you're open, what it costs and how to book.

When someone asks ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini "who does emergency plumbing near me on a Sunday?", the assistant pieces together an answer from whatever it can find. Your website is built for people, with photos, menus and pop-ups. An llms.txt file is the same information with all of that stripped out, written so a machine can read it quickly and get it right.

It's written in Markdown, which is plain text with a few symbols for headings and links. If you can write an email, you can write one.

Is it worth doing?

Yes, as long as you treat it as a 30-minute job and keep your expectations realistic.

AI assistants still get most local information from search results, review sites and your Google Business Profile. An llms.txt file won't replace any of those, and no major AI company has said it ranks businesses higher for having one. What it does is give an assistant that visits your site a clean, correct summary, so it's less likely to get your hours, prices or service area wrong.

It's worth the half hour if:

people often ask you questions your website already answers
your hours, service area or pricing are easy to misread
you're getting enquiries for things you don't do

It's a low priority if your Google Business Profile is out of date. Fix that first. It matters more.

The template

Copy this, replace everything in {curly brackets}, and delete any section that doesn't apply to you.

# {Business name}

> {One or two sentences: what you do, for whom, and where.}

{A few short facts that set you apart: years trading, qualifications,
guarantees, languages spoken.}

## Services

- {Service}: {what's included, typical price or "from" price}
- {Service}: {what's included, typical price or "from" price}

We don't offer: {things people often ask for that you don't do}.

## Location and service area

- Address: {full address, or "mobile service, no premises"}
- Service area: {towns, postcodes or radius}
- Parking and access: {details}

## Hours

- Monday to Friday: {hours}
- Saturday: {hours}
- Sunday: {hours or "closed"}
- Holidays: {how holiday hours work and where they're posted}
- Emergency or out-of-hours: {yes or no, and how}

## Booking and contact

- Book online: [{Booking page}]({URL})
- Phone: {number}
- Email: {address}
- Typical response time: {e.g. same working day}
- Lead time: {e.g. book 2 weeks ahead for weekends}

## Pricing and payment

- {How pricing works: fixed, hourly, quotes}
- Payment methods: {cards, cash, e-transfer}
- Deposits: {if any}

## Policies

- Cancellations: {policy}
- Returns or guarantees: {policy}
- Accessibility: {details}

## Key pages

- [{Page title}]({full URL}): {what's on it}
- [{Page title}]({full URL}): {what's on it}

Section by section

Name and summary

The first line is your business name, exactly as it appears on your sign and your Google Business Profile. The line starting with > is the summary an assistant is most likely to repeat when it mentions you, so make it plain and specific: "Family-run bakery in Halifax's North End, open since 2009" beats "Passionate about quality".

The short facts underneath are for anything a customer would weigh up: licensed and insured, years trading, a workmanship guarantee, languages spoken. Stick to things you could prove.

Services

List what you actually sell, one line each, with a price or "from" price if you're comfortable sharing it. Assistants are often asked "how much does X cost?", and a rough figure from you beats a guess from somewhere else.

The "We don't offer" line is the most useful line in the file for most small businesses. If you get calls for gas work and you don't do gas, say so here.

Location and service area

Give a full address, or say clearly that you're mobile with no premises. For service businesses, list the towns or postcodes you cover. "Greater Moncton" means different things to different people; a list of towns doesn't.

Hours

Write every day out in full. Assistants misread shorthand like "M-F 9-5, Sat by appt". If your holiday hours change, say where you post them rather than listing dates that will go stale.

Booking and contact

Tell the assistant exactly how a customer should get in touch and what to expect: the booking link, phone number, how fast you reply and how far ahead people need to book. This is the section that turns an AI answer into an enquiry.

Pricing and payment

Explain how you charge (fixed price, hourly, by quote) and what you accept. Mention deposits or call-out fees up front; customers who find out later are the ones who leave bad reviews.

Policies

Cancellations, refunds, guarantees and accessibility. Keep each to one line and link to the full policy page if you have one.

Key pages

Links to the pages on your site that hold more detail, such as your menu, price list, gallery or FAQ. Use the full address of each page, starting https://, and add a few words on what's there.

A worked example

Here's the template filled in for a made-up plumbing business. Yours can be shorter.

# Riverbend Plumbing

> Licensed residential plumbers serving Fredericton and surrounding
communities. Repairs, installs and 24/7 emergency call-outs.

- Family-run since 2011, two licensed plumbers
- Fully insured, 1-year guarantee on all labour
- Service in English and French

## Services

- Leak and burst pipe repairs: from $150 call-out plus parts
- Water heater replacement: from $1,800 installed
- Bathroom and kitchen fixture installs: quoted per job
- Drain clearing: from $180

We don't offer: gas fitting, commercial work, septic systems.

## Location and service area

- Mobile service, no walk-in premises
- Service area: Fredericton, Oromocto, New Maryland, Hanwell, Lincoln,
Keswick Ridge

## Hours

- Monday to Friday: 8am to 5pm
- Saturday: 9am to 1pm
- Sunday: closed for booked work
- Emergency call-outs: 24/7, every day, by phone only
- Holiday hours are posted on our Contact page

## Booking and contact

- Book online: [Book a visit](https://www.example.com/book)
- Phone: 506-555-0142 (emergencies: call, don't email)
- Email: hello@example.com
- We reply to emails within one working day
- Non-urgent jobs are usually booked 3 to 5 days out

## Pricing and payment

- Free quotes for installs; repairs billed by the hour after the call-out fee
- After-hours emergency call-out: $250
- We accept debit, Visa, Mastercard and e-transfer

## Policies

- Cancellations: free with 24 hours' notice; $75 after that
- Guarantee: 1 year on labour, manufacturer warranty on parts

## Key pages

- [Services and prices](https://www.example.com/services): full price list
- [FAQ](https://www.example.com/faq): common questions about call-outs and
quotes
- [Contact](https://www.example.com/contact): phone, email and current
holiday hours

How to publish it

The file needs to sit at the top level of your website, so that yourbusiness.com/llms.txt opens it. How you get it there depends on how your site is built.

WordPress: several popular SEO plugins can now generate or host an llms.txt file. Check your plugin's settings first. If yours can't, upload the file to your site's main folder through your host's file manager.
Website builders (Squarespace, Wix, Shopify and similar): support varies and changes often. Search your builder's help centre for "llms.txt". If it doesn't support root files, ask whoever manages your site.
A site someone built for you: send them the finished file and ask them to put it at /llms.txt. It's a five-minute job.

Once it's live, open yourbusiness.com/llms.txt in a browser. You should see your plain text, not an error page.

Then test it. Paste the file into ChatGPT or Claude and ask: "Based on this, what are this business's Sunday hours, and do they do gas fitting?" If the answer is wrong or vague, your wording is too.

Checklist

Business name matches your sign and Google Business Profile exactly
Summary says what you do and where in one or two sentences
Every service listed, with prices or "from" prices where you can
A "We don't offer" line for the things people wrongly ask for
Service area listed as specific towns or postcodes
Hours written out day by day, plus emergency and holiday arrangements
One clear way to book, with response times
Every link is a full https:// address and works
File opens at yourbusiness.com/llms.txt
Tested by pasting it into an AI assistant and asking real customer questions
A reminder set to update it whenever your hours, prices or services change

Running a bigger site or publishing lots of content? See Best Practices for Creating an llms.txt File.

llms.txt for Small Businesses

Is it worth doing?

The template