Why Clinic Directors Should Pay Attention to Llms.txt in 2025

Why Clinic Directors Should Pay Attention to Llms.txt in 2025

If you run a private healthcare clinic today—whether you offer dermatology, physio, fertility, or general health consultations—your online presence matters more than ever.

And here’s something new you might not have heard of yet: llms.txt.

It sounds technical (and it is), but the idea is simple.

It’s a small text file that helps AI systems like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini find and use your best content when answering health-related questions.

If your clinic’s website helps people make informed decisions, llms.txt is how you guide AI systems straight to that content.

This blog will explain:

  • What llms.txt is (in plain English)
  • Why it’s important in 2025
  • The risks if you ignore it ⚠️
  • Practical things you can do today
  • A short FAQ to clear up common confusion

Let’s get into it.

⚠️ First, a quick warning

Many clinics invest time and money into SEO, blogs, landing pages—and it works.

But AI-generated answers are becoming the first stop for patients searching online. These systems don’t browse your whole site. They grab what they can from specific pages.

Without llms.txt, there’s a good chance they’re not using your best content, or they’re getting the wrong context.

And in healthcare, that’s risky.

If an AI model grabs an outdated treatment description or skips over your new service page, the result can be:

  • Misinformation
  • Missed opportunities
  • Fewer inquiries

This isn’t about gaming the system. It’s about making sure AI answers are accurate and useful—for your patients and for your clinic.

So, what is llms.txt?

Think of it like a map for AI.

It’s a plain .txt file you place at the root of your website (like yourclinic.com/llms.txt) and inside it, you list the URLs of pages you want AI systems to read first.

That’s it.

No coding. No redesign. Just a list of your best content.

🔍 Here’s how it works in practice:

Let’s say you run a fertility clinic in South London. You’ve written a thoughtful, evidence-based guide on IVF timelines and success rates.

Now, someone asks ChatGPT:

“What’s the typical IVF process in the UK and how long does it take?”

If your guide is buried deep in your website, the model might miss it.

But if it’s listed in your llms.txt file, the model is more likely to pull from it—quoting your content and possibly linking to your clinic.

That’s visibility in the AI answer layer. And in 2025, that’s where patients are searching.

Real-world clinic example 🏥

A clinic in North London had written dozens of blog posts and service pages—but AI systems kept quoting competitors with thinner, older content.

After adding an llms.txt file and listing just 8 of their strongest, most updated URLs, things changed:

  • Their guides started appearing in AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT
  • Inquiries from non-branded searches (like “how to treat long-term sciatica”) increased
  • Time-on-site for referred traffic went up

This wasn’t a full website overhaul. Just a small text file.

3 things your clinic can do right now

1. Choose your best content
Look through your site and pick 5–10 pages that:

  • Are medically accurate
  • Are easy to understand
  • Answer common patient questions
    Examples:
  • “How long does a private dermatology appointment take?”
  • “When should you consider CBT for anxiety?”
  • “Fertility options for women over 40”

2. Create an llms.txt file
This is just a simple text file. You can use Notepad or any text editor.
Add the full URLs, like this:

arduinoCopyEdithttps://yourclinic.com/fertility/ivf-guide  
https://yourclinic.com/blog/cbt-vs-medication  
https://yourclinic.com/services/private-physiotherapy  

3. Upload it to your website’s root directory
This usually means placing it at:
yourclinic.com/llms.txt

If you have a developer or web team, they can do this in minutes. If you’re on WordPress or Wix, there are plugins or FTP tools that help.

Bonus: 2 small technical upgrades

🔧 Markdown summaries
You can also create simpler versions of your pages in markdown (.md) and list those in your llms.txt.
This helps AI systems read them faster and more clearly.
You could do:

arduinoCopyEdithttps://yourclinic.com/md/ivf-guide.md  

🔒 Control access smartly
If you’re worried about AI systems using too much of your site’s bandwidth or skipping paywalled content, you can:

  • Block them via robots.txt
  • Allow only the markdown files via llms.txt

This way, they read only what you want them to read.

Quick FAQ ❓

Q: Is llms.txt required by Google or OpenAI?
No. It’s optional. But more and more AI systems are starting to check for it. Early adopters get the benefit.

Q: Does it help with SEO?
Not directly. It’s not a ranking factor. But it helps AI systems show your content in answers, which can bring traffic.

Q: Can it be abused or gamed?
Like any tool, yes. But AI systems still check content quality. Listing low-quality pages won’t help.

Q: What if I don’t have a blog or long content?
Even just listing your top service pages helps. Focus on clarity and relevance.

Final thought: AI search is here—don’t wait

We’re not in the same search world as five years ago. People still use Google, but many are now turning to AI systems directly.

And when they do, those systems don’t look at your whole site. They look at what’s easy to find and quick to understand.

llms.txt is your chance to make that easy for them.

Think of it as turning on a spotlight for your most helpful content.

We can help

At Upmedico Healthcare Marketing, we can manage Google Ads and help clinics like yours adapt to AI search trends like llms.txt.

We work closely with healthcare providers across the UK to improve visibility, attract more inquiries, and ensure patients find trusted information—especially when it matters most.

Want to see how llms.txt could fit into your clinic’s strategy?
Get in touch through our contact page here.

Let’s make sure your clinic’s expertise gets the attention it deserves—online and in the answers your future patients are already reading.

Sources:

Google Help: Provides extensive guidance and best practices that can help infer the performance of your website.

Author

Angelo Rosati

Angelo Rosati Marketer, MBA, and AI enthusiast. Throughout his career, he had the privilege of working with several medical clinics and international companies in the healthcare space, helping them refine marketing processes and reach their financial goals. These companies include Unmind, Frankie Health, and Holistic Andrology.

Author

Angelo Rosati

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