Artificial Intelligence

Google’s Mueller Says llms.txt Can’t Help LLMs Differentiate Sites via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

By Interestana AI EditorialAI summary of reporting by Search Engine JournalHow we report

Search Engine Journal2 min read

Google's John Mueller stated on March 13, 2024, that Large Language Models (LLMs) cannot effectively use a file named `llms.txt` to differentiate between websites for the purpose of discovery.

Mueller, speaking in his capacity as a Search Advocate at Google, clarified that while LLMs might have a limited function once an agent is already on a specific website, the `llms.txt` file is not a viable tool for initial site differentiation in search engine contexts.

This perspective was shared in a post on Search Engine Journal, highlighting a potential limitation in how AI agents might interact with and categorize web content. The core argument suggests that the current capabilities of LLMs, particularly concerning the interpretation of such a file, do not extend to the complex task of distinguishing the relevance or nature of different websites from a discovery standpoint.

Mueller's comments underscore the ongoing challenges in AI's ability to navigate and understand the vastness of the internet for search and indexing purposes.

Sources and references

Original report

Google’s Mueller Says llms.txt Can’t Help LLMs Differentiate Sites via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Search Engine Journal

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