# What should teams do after seeing the llms.txt data? | Trakkr Research

Canonical URL: https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/answers/what-should-teams-do-after-seeing-the-llms-txt-data
Published: 2026-03-14
Last updated: 2026-03-14
Author: Mack Grenfell

Teams should keep llms.txt in perspective. Publish it if it is easy, but put the real energy into answer pages, evidence-heavy research, and source influence where the upside is much larger.

## Methodology

Built from HTTP scans of 37,894 AI-cited domains, linked to 337,362 citations and 882 citation snapshots in the Trakkr corpus.

## Direct Answer

Mostly, teams should keep llms.txt in perspective. Publish it if it is easy, but put the real energy into answer pages, evidence-heavy research, and source influence where the upside is much larger.

## What this means

This operating rule prevents teams from misallocating engineering and content resources. With a Mann-Whitney p-value of 0.85 showing no statistically significant citation effect, operators must focus measurement and effort on proven discovery levers.

## Evidence table

| Metric | Value | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Adoption rate | 13.3% | Domains with llms.txt in the study. |
| Mann-Whitney p-value | 0.85 | No statistically significant citation effect detected. |

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Should we remove our existing llms.txt file?

No, keep it as an optional housekeeping file, but do not expect it to drive citation growth given the Mann-Whitney p-value of 0.85.

### How many domains are currently using llms.txt?

The study observed an adoption rate of 13.3 percent among the analyzed domains.

## What to do next

- [Treat llms.txt as an optional housekeeping file rather than a primary citation growth lever.](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/answers/what-should-teams-do-after-seeing-the-llms-txt-data#next-step-1)
- [Prioritize answer quality, source coverage, and page structure before spending disproportionate effort on llms.txt.](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/answers/what-should-teams-do-after-seeing-the-llms-txt-data#next-step-2)
- [Measure discovery and crawl behavior directly if you publish llms.txt instead of assuming it improved citation performance.](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/answers/what-should-teams-do-after-seeing-the-llms-txt-data#next-step-3)

## Related pages

Continue through the same study cluster.

- [does llms txt look like a sector specific behavior more than a universal standard](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/answers/does-llms-txt-look-like-a-sector-specific-behavior-more-than-a-universal-standard) - Related answer page
- [does llms txt increase ai citations](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/answers/does-llms-txt-increase-ai-citations) - Related answer page
- [average citations are functionally flat with and without the file](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/facts/average-citations-are-functionally-flat-with-and-without-the-file) - Related fact page
- [llmstxt adoption by tier tracker](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/trackers/llmstxt-adoption-by-tier-tracker) - Related tracker page

## Data And Sources

- [The llms.txt Effect](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect) - Flagship study behind this page
- [Page JSON](https://trakkr.ai/data/research-answers/llmstxt-effect/answers/what-should-teams-do-after-seeing-the-llms-txt-data.json) - Machine-readable companion file