robots.txt, llms.txt, and cats.txt are not the same job
One file controls crawl. One is an optional map for agents. One was a joke that still cleared the industry’s favourite proofs. Treat them as three jobs, not three SEO checkboxes.

One file controls crawl. One is an optional map for agents. One was a joke that still cleared the industry’s favourite proofs. Treat them as three jobs, not three SEO checkboxes.

Git and markdown can replace a visual editor for a small technical team. They do not replace drafts, permissions, or the WordPress sites your clients still open on Monday.

Apps and AI answers handle plenty of daily questions. Websites still matter when someone needs to verify, pay, book, or read docs, but only if the destination loads and works.

FID became INP, AI rewrote coding and discovery, frameworks churned, and agency clients started asking for field data instead of one Lighthouse screenshot. Field notes from the middle of 2026, not a nostalgia list.

Self-hosted Modoboa mail worked for administration. Server health, mailbox estate, and SPF–DKIM–DMARC bounce diagnosis still lived in SSH and spreadsheets until we productised the ops layer we actually used.

Institutional LLMs, EuroHPC, publisher bot controls, and agent standards are converging. A practical map of what changed, with examples agencies can use in client conversations without turning into policy pundits.
