llms.txt, FAQ, and structured-data checklist

An llms.txt file at the site root is a public, human-readable map: here are the URLs that state who we are, where we are, what we sell, and which claims are official. It does not buy a citation. It does not replace crawlable pages. It is useful when it lists the same facts you already published — /about, /inventory or /services, the offer page, hours, FAQ — and stays silent on pages that are thin. Do not pay a “GEO platform” for a proprietary feed as a substitute for those URLs. Do not stuff the file with keyword soup. Conceptual contents for Northfield: Northfield Motors, Frederick MD, link to inventory, link to the 48-hour test-drive paragraph, hours, phone. Conceptual contents for Cedar & Stone: licensed HVAC, Dual Highway, Hagerstown, 25-mile area, not Baltimore, $129 online tune-up, emergency-heat page, written-estimate rule.

Write FAQ as the answers you wish the model would quote. Each pair is one buyer prompt in plain language plus a one- or two-sentence fact that matches the site. Northfield examples: “Do you offer a 48-hour test drive?” → yes, on used vehicles on the Frederick lot, subject to a hold agreement. “Can I get a same-day financing decision?” → on approved credit; inventory changes daily. Cedar & Stone examples: “What does the fall tune-up cost?” → $129 if booked online. “Do you take emergency heat in Williamsport?” → yes, inside about 25 miles of Hagerstown; we do not dispatch to Baltimore. “Do you install the same day?” → no; written estimate before replacement. If the FAQ invents a guarantee the owner refused, you created a hallucination seed.

Mark up the same public facts, in whatever valid JSON-LD or equivalent you can maintain. Conceptual checklist, no vendor lock: a LocalBusiness (or AutoDealer / AutomotiveBusiness for the lot; an HVAC- or HomeAndConstruction-style LocalBusiness for the shop) with name, street address, locality, telephone, openingHours, url, and areaServed. Offer or service entries for the 48-hour test drive, same-day financing (with the approved-credit limit), the $129 tune-up, and emergency-heat — only if those sentences are visible on the page. Vehicle or Product-level markup on a VDP only when VIN/stock and price are on that URL. FAQPage only on a page that shows those questions to humans. Do not mark up a $6,000–$9,000 replacement as a live offer price. Do not mark up Baltimore if Priya will not drive there. Structured data that disagrees with the visible page is another hallucination seed.