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The "Must-Have" SEO Hack with No Real Payoff

Brennen Bliss
June 8, 2025
TFOCBB

Let's talk about llms.txt - the latest "must-have SEO tactic" that actually isn't.

I'm seeing travel marketers scramble to implement these files after reading a couple blog posts, but here's some real talk:

Despite what the AI marketing hype machine wants you to believe, llms.txt is NOT currently being used by ANY of the major AI players (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google).

A client asked me yesterday about using Firecrawler to generate these files, and I had to pump the brakes.

Here's what you need to know:

- ZERO CURRENT BENEFIT - None of the major LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, or Google's models) are actually using llms.txt files for crawling decisions. It's a proposed standard that hasn't been adopted.

- BAD USER EXPERIENCE - The spec directs LLMs to markdown files rather than actual webpages. Do you really want users sent to a stripped-down version of your content rather than your conversion-optimized pages?

- MAINTENANCE NIGHTMARE - These files require frequent re-crawls and updates, creating one more technical SEO task with zero ROI.

- JAVASCRIPT WORKAROUND - The primary theoretical benefit would be for dynamic JS-heavy sites (since AI crawlers struggle with JS rendering).


What SHOULD you focus on instead?


✅ Proper technical SEO fundamentals
✅ Clear, structured content with question-based headers
✅ Schema markup and data organization
✅ Building quality backlinks and external mentions
✅ Tracking your current visibility in AI outputs

Drop your comments here.

Brennen Bliss, CEO at Propellic

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Written by

Brennen Bliss
Founder & CEO @ Propellic

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