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Median citations are identical with and without llms.txt

Median citations are 3 with llms.txt and 3 without it in the Trakkr study.

Both published group medians equal 3 citations.

The numbers behind it.

Median citations with llms.txt
Median citations for domains with llms.txt.
3
Median citations without llms.txt
Median citations for domains without llms.txt.
3

The evidence.

Source
The llms.txt Effect

MeasureResult
Median citations with llms.txt

Median citations for domains with llms.txt.

3
Median citations without llms.txt

Median citations for domains without llms.txt.

3

What this study measured.

An observational snapshot.
Tested 14 March 2026.

Read the full methodology

Population and method

Built from HTTP scans of 37,894 AI-cited domains, linked to 337,362 citations and 882 citation snapshots in the Trakkr corpus.

Where the evidence stops

This is an observational study. It measures correlation with citation outcomes, not a controlled experiment.

Adoption is uneven by sector, so raw averages can hide category concentration in SaaS and developer tooling.

The top-5,000 test returns p=0.85. The full scanned sample returns p<0.001 with reported r=-0.065. Neither establishes a causal effect. The public aggregates do not include confidence intervals or document the cohort for citation means and medians well enough to recompute the tests.

What to do with this

Equal medians do not imply identical distributions or an exact null effect.

“Median citations are 3 with llms.txt and 3 without it in the Trakkr study.”

The llms.txt Effect - Trakkr Research · Median citations are identical with and without llms.txt
The llms.txt Effect · Trakkr Research · Updated 4 September 2026

https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/llmstxt-effect/facts/median-citations-are-identical-with-and-without-llms-txt
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