The internet is changing fast. Search engines are no longer the only systems reading websites. AI assistants, chatbots, and autonomous agents now scan pages, learn from them, and answer users directly. This shift has created a new challenge for website owners. How do you clearly introduce your site to AI systems in a way they can understand easily?
That is where cats.txt comes in.
cats.txt is a proposed new web standard designed for the AI era. It gives websites a simple way to describe who they are, what they do, and what kind of content they provide. Instead of forcing machines to guess your purpose from scattered pages and links, cats.txt lets you explain it directly in a clean and readable format.
Think of it as a digital introduction card for AI.
What is cats.txt?
cats.txt is a text file that helps AI systems understand what a website is about. It acts like a short profile for your site and gives machines clear context about your content, purpose, and ownership. The file is placed in the root of your website and is written in simple plain text.
The Origin of cats.txt
For many years, the web has relied on small text files to communicate with machines. robots.txt tells search crawlers which pages they can access. humans.txt tells visitors who built the website. security.txt tells researchers how to report vulnerabilities.
But none of these files explain what a website actually represents.
As AI assistants started reading and summarizing the web, SEO professionals noticed a gap. There was no simple, standard way for a website to describe its identity, purpose, and role to intelligent systems. cats.txt was created to fill that gap.
The name itself is playful. It comes from the mix of “chat” and the internet’s long-standing obsession with cats. Behind the humor is a serious goal. The idea is to build a shared language between websites and AI agents.
What cats.txt Actually Is
cats.txt is a plain text file that lives on your website. It contains structured information that AI bots and smart agents can read easily. It tells machines what your site is about, who runs it, what type of content it publishes, and how it should be understood.
Instead of relying on guesswork, AI systems can read your cats.txt file and get a clear summary of your website before scanning your pages.
It is designed for AI assistants, autonomous web agents, research crawlers, and future search systems that rely on machine understanding rather than simple keyword matching.
In short, cats.txt helps machines understand your website faster and more accurately.
How cats.txt Is Structured
The format is intentionally simple. It is written in plain text so both humans and machines can read it easily. Each line describes a basic attribute of your website.
A basic example looks like this:
Name: MyWebsite
Role: Technology Blog
Description: A site that publishes tutorials, guides, and news about software and AI.
Owner: MyCompany
Contact: hello@mywebsite.com
Language: EnglishThere is no code, no markup, and no scripting. It is just clean information written in a standard format. The file is usually placed at the root of your website as:
yourwebsite.com/cats.txtSome implementations may also support a special well-known directory, similar to other web standards.
Why cats.txt Matters for SEO and AI
Search is evolving. More people now ask questions to AI chatbots instead of typing queries into search engines. These systems generate answers by pulling information from websites and summarizing it in real time.
This creates a new problem. AI has to determine what your site is about, whether it is trustworthy, and whether it is relevant to a user’s question. Without clear signals, it has to guess.
cats.txt helps remove that guesswork. It gives AI a direct explanation of your website’s purpose before it reads any content. This can improve how AI systems interpret your pages and may influence how your brand is represented in AI-generated answers.
While cats.txt is not a ranking factor, it can support visibility in AI-driven search environments by providing clear context and identity.
Comparison Table: robots.txt vs llms.txt vs cats.txt
| Feature | robots.txt | llms.txt | cats.txt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Controls crawling | Guides AI usage | Describes website identity |
| Used by | Search crawlers | AI language models | AI agents and bots |
| File type | Plain text | Plain text | Plain text |
| Controls access | Yes | No | No |
| Controls usage | No | Yes | No |
| Describes site | No | No | Yes |
| Affects indexing | Yes | No | No |
| Built for AI | No | Yes | Yes |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy | Easy |
cats.txt Compared to robots.txt and llms.txt
These files serve different purposes.
robots.txt controls crawling. It tells bots which parts of your site they can access.
llms.txt provides guidance on how large language models can use your content.
cats.txt explains who you are and what your site represents.
robots.txt is about access control.
llms.txt is about content usage.
cats.txt is about identity and meaning.
They are designed to work alongside each other, not replace one another.
Current Adoption and Real-World Usage
cats.txt is still in its early stage. It is not yet an official web standard, and major search engines have not announced full support. However, this is how most web standards begin.
Right now, cats.txt is being tested and discussed by SEO professionals, AI researchers, and early adopters who want to prepare for the future of AI-driven search. Some AI bots already look for it, and others may begin supporting it as adoption grows.
robots.txt followed a similar path years ago. It started as a simple idea and slowly became a core part of the web.
How to Create and Add cats.txt to Your Website
Creating a cats.txt file is simple and takes only a few minutes.
You open a text editor and write a short profile of your website. Then you save the file as cats.txt and upload it to your website’s root folder.
A basic template looks like this:
Name: YourSiteName
Role: What your site does
Description: Short summary of your content
Owner: Company or individual name
Contact: Email address
Language: Main languageOnce uploaded, your site will be ready for any AI system that supports the format.
Limitations You Should Understand
cats.txt is not a magic solution. It will not improve rankings on its own, and it will not replace real SEO work or high-quality content. It is also not enforced by any governing body yet.
Think of it as a signal rather than a guarantee. The web runs on voluntary standards, and only the useful ones survive long term. cats.txt is still proving its value.
The Bigger Picture
The web is moving from pages to answers. AI systems do not browse the internet the way humans do. They scan, summarize, and respond. They rely on structure, context, and meaning.
cats.txt is a small file with a big purpose. It gives websites a way to communicate clearly with the intelligence layer of the internet.
That layer is only going to grow.
Final Thoughts
cats.txt is a smart experiment for the future of the web. It is simple, readable, and designed for how machines think. It does not replace SEO, content, or trust, but it adds a missing piece. It gives your website a voice in the AI ecosystem.
FAQs
cats.txt is a text file that helps AI systems understand what a website is about. It acts like a short profile for your site and gives machines clear context about your content and purpose.
No. cats.txt is still a proposed format. It is being tested and discussed by SEO and AI professionals, but it is not yet backed by any official web authority.
The file is placed in the root of your website. For example: yourwebsite.com/cats.txt
cats.txt is not a ranking factor, but it may help AI systems understand your website better. This could improve how your brand appears in AI-generated answers.
No. robots.txt controls crawling. cats.txt describes your website’s identity and purpose. They serve different roles.
There is no official support from major search engines yet. Some AI bots already check for it, and wider support may come later.
If you want to prepare for AI-driven search, adding cats.txt is a smart move. It is simple to create and does not affect your site in any negative way.
Also read:
