Governance files explained

A plain-language overview of each governance file type and why it matters. See the Governance Checks section for detailed technical reference.

The essentials

• robots.txt — tells search engines what to crawl (critical for SEO)
• XML sitemaps — tells search engines what pages exist (critical for SEO)
• security.txt — tells researchers how to report vulnerabilities

Important for advertising

• ads.txt — publishes seller declarations that buyers can evaluate; Flowpane validates syntax but does not prove commercial authority

Emerging conventions

• llms.txt — optionally curates verified site context and resources; it does not control crawler access or training permission

Nice to have

• humans.txt — credits the team behind the site
• Cookies & Consent — bounded homepage tracker/CMP discovery evidence; not a cookie inventory, behavioural consent test or legal-compliance proof
• ai.txt — an optional Flowpane-supported preference declaration; not an RFC, enforcement mechanism or guarantee of provider behaviour