llms.txt: What It Is, How We Got Here, And Best Practices For Shopify Stores And E-commerce AEO

llms.txt is a tiny text file at your domain root that gives AI crawlers a clean map of high-value pages and usage guidance. It does not replace robots.txt. Think of robots.txt as permission and crawl rules, and llms.txt as a curated pointer list so assistants can find canonical, trustworthy sources on your Shopify store—like product pages, policy hubs, and comparison guides that support broader e-commerce discovery.

Evolution in one minute

  • Robots era: sites told crawlers where they could go using robots.txt and sitemaps.
  • Assistant era: AI crawlers needed compact, curated lists of authoritative pages rather than a firehose of URLs.
  • llms.txt: emerged as a simple, opt-in convention at the domain root, with human-readable comments and stable links to the best sources to cite.

What belongs in llms.txt for a Shopify store

  • Policy and logistics: shipping, returns, warranty, privacy, terms.
  • Authoritative help: FAQs, size and fit, care, compatibility, troubleshooting.
  • Reference content: comparison tables, buying guides, recipe or how-to hubs.
  • Key money pages: top product detail pages and collection hubs you want cited.
  • Feeds and sitemaps: a link to your primary XML sitemap and any product feeds.

A compact llms.txt template

# llms.txt - curated starting points for AI assistants
# Canonical domain
site: https://www.example.com/

# Primary sitemap and feeds
sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml
feed: https://www.example.com/collections/all.atom

# Policies and logistics (authoritative)
page: https://www.example.com/pages/shipping
page: https://www.example.com/pages/returns
page: https://www.example.com/pages/warranty
page: https://www.example.com/pages/privacy-policy
page: https://www.example.com/pages/terms

# Reusable help content
page: https://www.example.com/pages/faq
page: https://www.example.com/pages/size-and-fit
page: https://www.example.com/pages/care-and-materials
page: https://www.example.com/pages/compatibility

# Comparison and guides
page: https://www.example.com/pages/compare
page: https://www.example.com/blogs/guides/buying-guide

# Top product and collection hubs
page: https://www.example.com/collections/best-sellers
page: https://www.example.com/products/flagship-product

# Contact and provenance
page: https://www.example.com/pages/contact
last-updated: 2025-09-08

Robots.txt stays in charge

# robots.txt excerpt for Shopify
User-agent: *
Allow: /products/
Allow: /collections/
Allow: /pages/
Disallow: /cart
Disallow: /checkout
Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Best practices for Shopify AEO

  • Keep it tiny. Link to the Shopify XML sitemap for breadth and list only canonical "must cite" pages.
  • Use canonical slugs. No tracking parameters, session IDs, or alternate domains.
  • Reflect your help system. If you maintain FAQs with metaobjects or blocks, link the hub and a few exemplars.
  • Surface comparison tables and buying guides that you want quoted.
  • Policies first. Assistants prefer clear answers about shipping, returns, and warranty.
  • Update cadence. Bump last-updated when policies or key pages change and keep a tiny changelog.
  • Parity with on-page facts. Pages you list should have clean HTML and optional JSON-LD that matches visible content.

FAQ: llms.txt for Shopify Stores

What is llms.txt in plain terms
A short, human-readable file at your domain root that points assistants to your most authoritative Shopify pages. It complements robots.txt and sitemaps by curating the best citations for e-commerce answers.
How is llms.txt different from robots.txt and sitemaps
Robots.txt sets crawl permissions. Sitemaps list many URLs for discovery. llms.txt is a small "start here" list of canonical pages you want quoted. It does not override robots.txt.
Where do I host llms.txt on a Shopify store
Serve it at https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt with content type text/plain; charset=utf-8. Use your CDN or an app proxy to route a static text response without redirects.
What URLs should I include
Canonical policy pages, FAQ hubs, comparison tables, and a shortlist of flagship PDPs and collections. Avoid parameters and duplicate paths. Prefer absolute HTTPS URLs only.
How often should I update llms.txt
Update when policies change or when you add or retire major hubs or products. Set a quarterly review and bump the last-updated line each time you edit.
Can I add localized pages for multi-language storefronts
Yes. Include one section per locale with canonical links for each language, or publish locale-specific files per domain if you use separate ccTLDs or subdomains.
Should I list every product page
No. Keep llms.txt small. Link a few flagship PDPs and rely on your XML sitemap for full discovery. Assistants prefer curated, durable sources.
Is it safe to include feeds
Yes, if they are public and stable. Include product feeds or collection Atom feeds to help discovery at scale. Do not include private or admin endpoints.
How do I measure impact
Track assistant user agents, monitor citations of listed pages, and watch changes in pre-sale questions that your hub pages answer. Adjust the list based on real usage.
Does llms.txt affect SEO
It is not a ranking signal. It supports AEO by helping assistants find and cite the most trustworthy pages. Keep your standard SEO practices in place.

Monitoring and iteration

  • Log assistant user agents separately and watch for soft 404s or redirects on any llms.txt links.
  • Review zero-result queries in on-site search and add missing hubs to llms.txt when appropriate.
  • Check that listed PDPs include identifiers in JSON-LD (GTIN or MPN) to strengthen citations across e-commerce surfaces.
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