Signal-to-noise
Signal-to-noise — answer-bearing links
In short: Keep the file to the pages that answer questions, 92 links or fewer; cut tag, pagination, cart and login links first.
What it checks
The share of the file’s links that lead to answer-bearing pages.
Why it matters
Every link costs an agent attention and context. Tag archives, pagination, cart and login pages crowd out the pages that actually answer questions.
When it applies
Applies when the file has links. A file with no links is Not applicable here.
An audit that doesn't apply, or that we couldn't verify, is removed from your score and its weight shared among the Curation Quality audits that do apply. It is never scored as a zero.
How it's scored
From the number of links: min(1, 60 ÷ links + 0.35). Up to 92 links score 1.0; 120 links score 0.85, 200 score 0.65, and the score never drops below 0.35. Every link the parser reads counts, ## Optional included.
How to fix
- Remove links to tag, category and pagination pages, and to cart, login and account pages.
- Replace index dumps with the handful of pages people actually ask about.
- Ask of each link: would an agent quote this page in an answer?
Frequently asked questions
How many links can an llms.txt have before Signal-to-noise costs points?
min(1, 60 ÷ links + 0.35), so 92 links or fewer earn full marks, 120 links score 0.85, 200 score 0.65 and 600 score 0.45, and it never drops below 0.35. The link count is how the engine measures the rubric’s answer-bearing ratio: the longer the list, the more of it tends to be padding.Sources: LLMSRank — Signal-to-noise audit · llmstxt.org — The /llms.txt file, v2
Do links in the Optional section, bare URLs and repeated links all count toward the total?
- [Name](url) lines and bare - https://… lines in every section, ## Optional included, since llms.txt v2 made Optional a convention for links an agent may skip rather than something outside the file. A page linked twice counts twice here, and also lowers the unique-URL share in URL hygiene.Sources: llmstxt.org — The /llms.txt file, v2 · LLMSRank — Signal-to-noise audit
Which links should I cut first to improve my signal-to-noise?
Sources: llmstxt.org — The /llms.txt file, v2 · LLMSRank — Signal-to-noise audit
My docs site has thousands of pages. How do I stay within the link limit?
/docs/llms.txt, covering the pages under it, and says agents should use the most specific file that applies. LLMSRank grades the file that covers the URL you scan (see Covering llms.txt), so each part of a large site can carry its own curated list of 92 links or fewer.Sources: llmstxt.org — The /llms.txt file, v2 · LLMSRank — Covering llms.txt audit
How do real llms.txt files do on signal-to-noise?
Sources: LLMSRank — Method · LLMSRank — Signal-to-noise audit