Study: llms.txt has almost no effect on AI search visibility

Ahrefs' analysis of 137,210 domains found 28% publish an llms.txt file, yet 97% of those files received zero requests in May 2026. SE Ranking, OtterlyAI and Limy studies confirm the file does not correlate with AI citation rates.

• 28% of 137,210 domains publish llms.txt; 97% of files got zero traffic
• 96% of llms.txt requests came from bots, mostly GPTBot and Claude-Code
• In OtterlyAI's 90-day test llms.txt drew 0.1% of AI bot visits
• Limy: 408 llms.txt requests out of 515M AI bot events — 0.00008%