I've been watching the same debate unfold in SEO circles for months now. Every time AI Discovery Files come up (llms.txt, ai.json, identity.json) someone inevitably says: "But it's not a standard yet."
Here's the thing: that's not a strategy. It's a way of being left behind while pretending to be cautious.
The SEO Industry's Favourite Excuse
This hesitation reminds me of the endless debates about exact title tag character counts. You know the ones: should it be 55 characters? 60? 70? Meanwhile, businesses that just wrote compelling titles and got on with it were busy ranking.
The SEO industry loves waiting for certainty. We debate minutiae while opportunities slip past.
Yes, AI Discovery Files aren't formally standardised in the way robots.txt eventually became. According to Semrush, only around 951 domains had implemented llms.txt as of July 2025. That's a tiny fraction of the web.
But here's what the "wait and see" crowd misses: early adopters include Cloudflare, Vercel, Coinbase, and Anthropic. These aren't exactly companies known for chasing fads.
What We Actually Experienced
Let me share what happened when we implemented AI Discovery Files on 365i.co.uk, our hosting and AI visibility platform.
AI systems misquoted our services. They invented features we don't offer. Some confused us with completely different companies. One AI confidently told a user we were based in London (we're in Kettering, Northamptonshire, not quite the same thing).
AI suddenly understood exactly what we do and how we do it. Validated traffic increased. We saw significant sales increases within one week. The website itself hadn't visibly changed, but how AI systems perceived us had transformed completely.
No formal standard was required for those results. No committee approved our approach. We just gave AI systems the information they needed, in a format they could easily process. We later asked Google Gemini directly what it learns from our AI discovery files, and the answer confirmed exactly what we saw in practice.
The Google Contradiction
Here's where it gets interesting. Google's Gary Illyes publicly stated in July 2025 that Google doesn't support llms.txt and has no plans to. Engineer John Mueller compared it to the discredited keywords meta tag.
Case closed, right? Not quite.
In December 2025, someone spotted that Google had quietly added llms.txt to their own Search Central documentation. When Mueller was called out on it, he responded with a cryptic "Hmmn :-/", and the file mysteriously disappeared within hours.
Make of that what you will. But when Google implements something on their own properties while telling everyone else not to bother, I tend to pay attention.
The Traffic Reality
Meanwhile, the shift toward AI-mediated discovery is accelerating faster than most businesses realise.
Research from Search Engine Journal shows that when Google's AI Overviews appear, click-through rates drop by nearly 47%. Pew Research Center tracked 68,000 real search queries and found users clicked just 8% of the time when AI summaries appeared, versus 15% without them.
Similarweb data shows zero-click searches increased from 56% to 69% between May 2024 and May 2025. Educational platform Chegg reported a 49% traffic decline in a single year.
And here's the kicker: only 18% of businesses have currently optimised for conversational search. Research suggests the vast majority of UK small businesses remain entirely invisible to ChatGPT. That's a massive opportunity for anyone willing to move first.
Traditional SEO Never Waited for Standards
Consider this: traditional SEO practices never required formal certification or universal agreement. There's no RFC for "how to write a good meta description." Google didn't convene a standards body before introducing PageRank.
We figured out what worked through experimentation, observation, and (yes) some educated guessing. The businesses that thrived were the ones willing to test approaches before everyone else caught on.
AI Discovery Files are no different. The AI Discovery File Specifications provide a clear framework. Companies are seeing results. The only question is whether you'll be an early adopter or part of the crowd that eventually catches up.
What the Sceptics Get Wrong
I understand the caution. Really, I do. SEO professionals have been burned before by "next big things" that fizzled. We've all seen tactics that worked brilliantly until they didn't.
But the sceptics are making a category error. AI Discovery Files aren't a ranking hack or a loophole to exploit. They're a communication method, a way of clearly telling AI systems accurate information about your business. As we explored in our piece on why the loudest AI critics are often the least informed, resistance tends to come from those with the least hands-on experience.
That's not going to become obsolete. If anything, as AI systems become more sophisticated, clear structured data will become more valuable, not less.
What You Should Actually Do
If you've read this far, you're probably not the type to wait indefinitely for permission. Here's a practical approach:
- Audit your current AI visibility: Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot about your business. What do they get wrong? What do they miss entirely?
- Implement the core files: Start with llms.txt and identity.json. These take minimal effort and provide immediate value.
- Expand to the full specification: Add ai.json, brand.txt, and other files from the AI Discovery File Specifications. Our AI visibility services can handle the implementation if you prefer a managed approach.
- Monitor and iterate: Check periodically how AI systems describe your business. Update your files as your services evolve.
- Don't overthink it: Perfect is the enemy of implemented. A basic llms.txt file today beats a complete one "someday." If you're on WordPress, our AI Discovery Files plugin generates the files automatically from your existing content.
The Bottom Line
The businesses that will thrive in the AI era aren't the ones waiting for consensus. They're the ones providing AI systems with accurate, structured information about who they are and what they do.
You can wait for a formal standard. You can debate whether major AI providers "officially" support these files. Or you can implement them, see results, and refine from there.
We chose the latter. Within a week, AI systems were accurately representing our business, and we saw measurable increases in qualified traffic and sales.
"It's not a standard yet" stopped being an excuse for us. Perhaps it's time it stopped being one for you, too.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly are AI Discovery Files?
AI Discovery Files are structured text and JSON files placed at your website's root that help AI systems understand your business. The key files include llms.txt (a markdown overview for language models), ai.json (structured data about your AI interaction preferences), identity.json (canonical business information), and brand.txt (brand representation guidelines). Together, they form a complete identity that AI assistants can read and use when answering questions about your business.
Do major AI companies like OpenAI and Google support these files?
Officially, no, not yet. Google has publicly stated they don't support llms.txt, though they were caught briefly implementing it on their own Search Central docs before removing it. However, "official support" matters less than practical results. AI systems that crawl your website will encounter these files, and structured, clear information about your business helps regardless of whether there's formal support. Companies like Cloudflare, Vercel, and Anthropic have implemented them, suggesting industry momentum toward adoption.
How long does it take to implement AI Discovery Files?
A basic implementation with llms.txt and identity.json can be completed in a few hours. A full implementation covering all ten file types in the AI Discovery File Specifications typically takes longer, depending on how much thought you put into your brand guidelines and FAQ content. The good news is you can start with the basics and expand over time. Any structured information is better than none.
Will implementing AI Discovery Files hurt my traditional SEO?
No. AI Discovery Files are additive. They don't replace or conflict with existing SEO practices. Your robots.txt, sitemap, meta tags, and schema markup all continue to function normally. Think of AI Discovery Files as a parallel communication channel specifically for AI systems, complementing your existing search optimisation rather than competing with it.
What kind of results can I realistically expect?
Results vary depending on your industry and how often AI systems are asked about businesses like yours. At minimum, you should see improved accuracy when AI assistants discuss your business, with fewer invented features, correct location information, and accurate service descriptions. Many businesses also report increased qualified traffic as AI systems begin recommending them more confidently. We saw significant traffic and sales increases within one week of implementation.
Is AI visibility just another marketing fad?
The underlying trend is undeniable: people are increasingly using AI assistants to find information, make purchasing decisions, and get recommendations. Zero-click searches have risen from 56% to 69% in a single year. Whether the specific file formats evolve or new standards emerge, the need to communicate clearly with AI systems isn't going away. Implementing AI Discovery Files now positions you ahead of competitors and gives you practical experience with AI optimisation that will remain valuable regardless of how standards develop.
Where can I learn more about implementing these files?
The AI Visibility Definition provides the conceptual framework, while the AI Discovery File Specifications offer detailed technical guidance for each file type. You can also use our free AI Visibility Checker to assess your current standing and identify areas for improvement.
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