AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility

FAQ

How do I get my business mentioned by ChatGPT?

Install AI Discovery Files. ChatGPT and other AI systems look for structured, machine-readable signals when deciding which businesses to mention. AI Discovery Files provide exactly those signals — your identity, services, brand rules, and FAQs in formats AI systems can parse. This is the most direct step you can take to get mentioned by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.

What is AI visibility?

AI visibility is whether AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity can correctly discover, understand, and cite your website. Search engines show a list of links. AI systems give one answer. If your website isn’t AI-visible, you won’t be that answer — your competitor will be.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a Markdown file placed at the root of your website that provides AI systems with a structured description of your business — your name, what you do, contact information, and key pages. It was created by Jeremy Howard at Answer.AI and has been adopted by companies including Stripe, Cloudflare, and Dell. This plugin generates llms.txt plus 9 additional AI Discovery Files for complete coverage.

How is this different from other llms.txt plugins?

Most plugins only generate a single file — llms.txt. This plugin generates all 10 AI Discovery Files defined in the specification, including ai.txt (permissions), identity.json (structured identity), brand.txt (naming rules), faq-ai.txt (pre-answered questions), and more. One file tells AI your name. Ten files give AI systems everything they need to cite you accurately.

Will this help me appear in Google AI Overviews?

Yes. Google AI Overviews pull information from websites that provide clear, structured, and authoritative content. AI Discovery Files give Google’s AI systems explicit signals about your business identity, services, and permissions — making it easier for AI Overviews to represent you correctly.

What is generative engine optimisation (GEO)?

Generative engine optimisation (GEO), also called answer engine optimisation (AEO), is the practice of making your website discoverable and citable by AI-powered search engines. AI Discovery Files are a foundational part of any GEO strategy — they provide the structured data AI systems need to find and cite your business.

Does this replace my SEO plugin?

No. AI Discovery Files work alongside Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, and other SEO plugins. Traditional SEO targets search engines. AI Discovery Files target AI systems. You need both. Think of it as adding an AI layer on top of your existing SEO.

Will this affect my SEO?

AI Discovery Files are served with X-Robots-Tag: noindex headers, so they won’t appear in search results themselves. However, they help AI-powered search features (like Google AI Overviews and Bing Copilot) represent your business accurately, which can improve your overall AI visibility and referral traffic.

Does this work with caching plugins?

Yes. AI Discovery Files are served via WordPress rewrite rules with appropriate cache headers. They are compatible with WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, and other popular caching plugins.

Which AI systems read these files?

AI Discovery Files are designed for all major AI systems including ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google), Perplexity, Copilot (Microsoft), and other large language models. The formats are based on open standards — any AI system that crawls websites can read them.

What if I already have a physical llms.txt file?

The plugin detects existing physical files and warns you on the Status tab. It will not override physical files — you should remove the physical file if you want the plugin to serve it instead.

Can I customise the generated files?

Yes. Every generated file can be filtered using WordPress hooks:

add_filter( 'aidf_generated_content', function( $content, $file_slug, $data ) {
    if ( 'llms-txt' === $file_slug ) {
        $content .= "\n## Custom Section\n\nYour custom content here.\n";
    }
    return $content;
}, 10, 3 );

What is AI Crawler Analytics?

AI Crawler Analytics tracks which AI bots read the AI Discovery Files this plugin generates — llms.txt, ai.txt, identity.json, and the rest. You see exactly which bots accessed which files, how often, and whether any are being blocked by your robots.txt. This gives you direct proof that GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and other AI crawlers are consuming your files. The feature works reliably on every hosting platform — including sites with CDN edge caching — because the plugin controls the discovery file responses. Includes bot detail drill-downs, a filterable activity log with CSV export, and two WordPress dashboard widgets.

Will the crawler analytics slow down my website?

No. The plugin only tracks access to AI Discovery File URLs that it serves (e.g., /llms.txt, /ai.txt). Normal page loads are completely unaffected — no user agent checks, no database queries, no overhead at all. When a discovery file is served, the plugin logs which bot accessed it. When logging is disabled (the default), no tracking runs at all — zero overhead.

Will this slow down my website?

No. The plugin only runs when its specific URLs are requested (e.g., /llms.txt). It adds zero overhead to your normal page loads. Files are generated on-the-fly from cached settings data. The crawler analytics feature is disabled by default and only tracks discovery file access when enabled.

What happens if I deactivate the plugin?

The files simply stop being served. Your settings are preserved so you can reactivate later. If you delete the plugin entirely, all settings are removed cleanly.

How do I check if my AI Discovery Files are working?

Use the free AI Visibility Checker to scan your site after enabling your files. It validates every AI Discovery File, checks for conflicts, and gives you a score with actionable recommendations.