llms.txt and agents.md Publish llms.txt and agents.md with ChatGPT
Publishing llms.txt and agents.md with ChatGPT means using a developer-mode app connected to StoreSEO to read what your Shopify store serves to answer engines and shopping agents, then approving each generate, activate or reset action one at a time.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up ChatGPT for StoreSEO
Skip this if ChatGPT is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the ChatGPT page.
- 1
Turn on developer mode
In ChatGPT on the web, open Settings, then Security and login, and turn on Developer mode. If your menu shows Apps and Connectors with Advanced settings instead, the same switch lives there. OpenAI lists developer mode for Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts on the web.
URLhttps://chatgpt.com/plugins
- 2
Create the app with the StoreSEO MCP URL
Open Plugins and select the plus button to create a developer-mode app. Name it StoreSEO, paste this as the MCP server URL and choose OAuth. Sign in when the browser asks: pick your Shopify store and approve access.
URLhttps://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp
- 3
Use it in a chat
The app appears in the composer's Developer mode tool during conversations. Select StoreSEO there, then ask this to confirm the connection works.
PromptUsing the StoreSEO app, show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
How does this work in ChatGPT?
You are in a ChatGPT conversation with the StoreSEO app enabled. Ask whether your llms.txt and agents.md are live and ChatGPT runs storeseo_start, storeseo_get_llms_txt_status and storeseo_get_agents_md_status. These are marked read-only, so they run without a confirmation card. You get the public URLs, the latest llms.txt version, whether settings changed since the last generation and whether /agents.md is a custom file or Shopify's default.
Writes behave differently here than in most clients. OpenAI's developer mode asks for approval on write actions by default and lets you open the payload before you accept. Take that option for storeseo_generate_llms_txt, because the arguments carry the resource types, the schedule and the content sections that get saved for scheduled runs, and the run writes a template into your live theme. For storeseo_generate_agents_md the card is your last look before a file replaces Shopify's default and spends AI Content Optimizer credit. ChatGPT then polls storeseo_get_llms_txt_status until generation finishes and reads you the result.
To roll back, ask ChatGPT to list the llms.txt versions and activate an older one, or to reset agents.md. Both appear as approval cards, and the reset is the one to read twice because the custom text is discarded with no history. If your plan only has read access in developer mode, ChatGPT can still do the status and version checks, and you generate from another agent or the StoreSEO app, then come back to ChatGPT to confirm the result is live.
-
You: Which llms.txt version is live, and are there older ones I can go back to?
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_llms_txt_versions read-only
-
ChatGPT: Version 7 is the newest, but version 6 is the active one, so your storefront still serves that. Versions 1 to 5 are kept too. Should I make version 7 the live file?
-
You: Yes, activate version 7.
- storeseo_activate_llms_txt_version needs approval
-
ChatGPT: ChatGPT will show an approval card for that call. Check the version id in the payload before you accept.
What to ask ChatGPT
Using StoreSEO, show my llms.txt status and agents.md status. Do not generate anything yet.
Generate agents.md for my store. Tell me what it will cost in AI credit and that it publishes live, then wait for my yes.
List my llms.txt versions and tell me which one is active before we change anything.
- Is my llms.txt up to date, and which version is live right now?
- Generate a new llms.txt that includes products and collections but not blog posts. Warn me before it goes live.
- Show me my llms.txt versions and switch back to the one from last week.
- Does my store serve a custom agents.md or Shopify's default?
- Write an agents.md for my store and publish it. Tell me what it costs first.
- Reset agents.md to Shopify's default.
What StoreSEO does: llms.txt and agents.md
llms.txt is a curated map of your store for AI crawlers, and agents.md tells AI shopping agents who you are and how to buy. StoreSEO generates both from your store data and publishes them to your live theme; the agent checks status, generates, switches llms.txt versions and resets agents.md to Shopify's default.
Requires: agents.md generation spends AI Content Optimizer credit and needs at least one published product.
- 1
Check what is live
The agent reads the llms.txt status (settings, latest version, whether a rebuild is due, public URL) and the agents.md status (custom file or Shopify's default, public URL).
- 2
Warn before publishing
Generating llms.txt writes a template to your live theme and uploads a copy to Shopify Files in the same run, with no separate publish step. Generating agents.md publishes it live at once and spends credit. The agent says so and waits for your yes.
- 3
Generate and wait
llms.txt generation takes a minute or two; the agent polls the status until it finishes. agents.md returns the published text and its URL straight away.
- 4
Manage versions
StoreSEO keeps the latest ten llms.txt versions. The live file serves the active version, which is not always the newest, and any version can be made active again.
- 5
Roll back
Deleting a version is permanent. Resetting agents.md drops the custom file so Shopify's default serves again, and there is no history to restore it from.
llms.txt and agents.md reference
| llms.txt | Generated from your products, collections, pages and posts; served at your store's /llms.txt |
|---|---|
| Where it is written | A template in the live theme plus a copy in Shopify Files, in the same run |
| Schedule | llms.txt can regenerate on a saved schedule; settings passed with a run are saved for scheduled runs |
| Versions kept | The latest ten; the live file serves the active one |
| Generation time | About one to two minutes for llms.txt |
| agents.md | AI-written from your brand profile, top products, collections and contact details; served at /agents.md |
| agents.md publish | Live immediately; replaces Shopify's native default |
| agents.md reset | Shopify's default serves again within seconds; the custom text is gone for good |
Rules ChatGPT follows
- The agent tells you that llms.txt generation writes to your live theme before it starts.
- agents.md generation publishes live and spends credit, so the agent says both and waits for your yes.
- Deleting an llms.txt version and resetting agents.md cannot be undone; the agent confirms each one.
- Deleting the active llms.txt version promotes the next newest automatically, so the agent says which version will go live.
In ChatGPT
Write actions depend on your ChatGPT plan. OpenAI's developer guide lists developer mode for Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts on the web, while the help center, as we read it, gives Pro accounts read access only and puts write actions in beta on workspace plans. OpenAI also lets you remember an approval for the rest of a conversation. For this job, do not use it: each generate, activate, delete and reset deserves its own look at the payload.
What runs without asking. Reads such as SEO scores, store listings, settings and Google reports run straight away. Generating a preview spends AI credit but writes nothing, and StoreSEO tells the agent to say what a generation will cost before it runs one. Applying content, optimizing images, changing settings, publishing llms.txt or agents.md, writing a product description and deleting anything wait for your yes in the conversation. That yes is an instruction the agent follows, not a lock on the server, so your client's own tool-approval setting is the hard stop.
Questions
Why does ChatGPT show an approval card when it generates llms.txt?
StoreSEO marks generate, activate, delete and reset as write actions, and OpenAI's developer mode asks for approval on write actions by default. You can inspect the payload on the card, which shows the settings that will be saved and used for scheduled runs.
Can I use ChatGPT to check llms.txt if my plan has no write actions?
Yes. storeseo_get_llms_txt_status, storeseo_get_agents_md_status and storeseo_list_llms_txt_versions are read-only tools. You can inspect the live state in ChatGPT and apply the generate and rollback steps from the StoreSEO app or another connected agent.
What is the difference between llms.txt and agents.md?
llms.txt is a curated map of your store for AI crawlers and answer engines, served at /llms.txt. agents.md is the file AI shopping agents read to understand your brand and how to shop with you, served at /agents.md. StoreSEO can generate both.
Does generating llms.txt change my theme?
Yes. The same run writes an llms.txt template into your live theme and uploads a copy to Shopify Files. There is no separate publish step, which is why the agent should warn you before it starts.
Can I go back to an older llms.txt?
Yes. StoreSEO keeps the latest ten versions, and any of them can be made the active one, which republishes it to your storefront. Deleting a version is permanent.
Can I undo a generated agents.md?
You can reset it, which makes Shopify's native default serve again within seconds. The custom text is discarded with no history, so keep a copy if you might want it back.
Keep going
llms.txt and agents.md with other agents
More ChatGPT guides