• EXCLUSIVE: Tony Cheng rose up the corporate ladder at Reinsurance Group of America by embracing challenging roles early and credits his steady, decades-long career growth to continual learning, humility, and a willingness to take on responsibility. His leadership helped expand RGA’s presence in Asia and beyond, encouraging individuals looking to lead companies to always be open to continued growth.

It’s rare to be offered a big promotion and turn it down, but it’s even rarer to warn superiors you don’t feel prepared for the role and be appointed anyway.

Yet that’s precisely what happened to Reinsurance Group of America boss, Tony Cheng, in his early years with the business. Cheng has worked his way up the ranks of RGA over the past three decades, helping grow the company to its current position of $3.9 trillion of reinsurance covering active policyholders.

In 2025, RGA announced a landmark $1.5 billion deal with Equitable to reinsure $32 billion worth of life insurance policies, securing its place as an industry leader and expected to boost earnings for quarters come.

Sitting down for an exclusive interview with Fortune this summer, Cheng reflected on that all-important promotion to CEO, and the value of staying humble even in the C-suite.

The following has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Tony, in an era where job-hopping is often seen as the fast track to career growth, you’ve chosen a different tactic—working up through RGA since 1997. Where did your work ethic come from, and what’s inspired your long-standing commitment to the company?

I was born in Hong Kong, and my parents—both teachers—felt for the future of their four kids (of which I was the youngest) Australia would provide the Western education they wanted. So I grew up in Australia from nine months to the age of 20 and didn’t travel overseas much.

My parents worked incredibly hard. Mom looked after the four kids and Dad unfortunately had to give up his love for teaching because it just wouldn’t pay the bills. Eventually they opened up small businesses and then we, the four kids, on the weekend would go work there—12 hour days—and didn’t think otherwise. That really bred in the sacrifice of the parents, the hard work, all things I’d wish to pass onto my kids.

Growing up as many of us in a Western country but very Asian family do, I think I went to Asia once in my life, so [I took] an opportunity to join RGA in 1997 in Malaysia. 

Between 1999 and 2002 you returned to the States to earn an MBA while working for RGA, before leaving to head up the Hong Kong office. When you arrived, you had a team of 10. The Asia Pacific region now has more than 1,000 employees and revenues of $4 billion. Are there untapped career opportunities in emerging markets as opposed to progressing in established regions?

We had a very small operation, but we were actually covering about 500 million people. It was Hong Kong and Southeast Asia so Malaysia, Thailand, all those countries. I went there as the actuary, and a year and a half later they promoted me to be the CEO of that business. It was daunting, right? 

The first time I was asked to take it by my boss, I sort of said, ‘No, I’m too young.’ At the time I was 29. He ignored that. 

The equation in my mind was I’ve probably got a 10% chance of success—and that would be great—or a 90% chance of failure, but hey, I’m gonna learn a hell of a lot. I had no mortgage, no kids, so just wanted to learn. Maybe that instinct, that desire and drive to keep learning was from my parents being teachers.

In its latest financial results RGA reported revenues of $22.1 billion. How has the start-up mentality you learned in Asia helped grow the business globally?

We built that business up with incredible hard work. I’d joke internally that once every month or so pest control would come in, and that meant we could go home at 5 o’clock because what else were we going to do with ourselves? That was the spirit. In the early days, you solve problems. I’d say to the team: ‘Let’s just try. We know it’s really hard, but let’s just try.’

In the U.S., people usually don’t create new products or create new things because the market’s so big, a lot of it’s already played out and it’s been created. Any good idea has been thought of, and that’s truly okay.

It’s actually more connecting the dots in the U.S., but with a drive to not just settle on: ‘Hey, here’s the market, we want a share of it’ it’s a drive to create new things or a new combination of things so that we [can] increase the pie and share in that greater value creation. That’s always been in the company spirit, it was just really about bringing that out again to the forefront.

Like a lot of other Fortune 500 CEOs we speak to, you clearly have a love for learning. In a world where AI is expected to disrupt the labor market, what are the skills you’re looking for in new talent?

I can only think of what I advise my son, who’s in his second year of college. As the younger generation already knows, AI is gonna accelerate, and therefore number one they’ve absolutely got to be able to use it and partner with it.

Ultimately AI, one would think, is gonna replace whatever is mathematically easier to replace. Had a conversation at one of the town halls with some risk professionals in the U.S. last week and I said all those soft skills really matter, you’ve still got to learn the hard skills, you’ve got to understand your subject matter expertise regardless of technology, but increasingly all those abilities to interact, to communicate, to join the dots, to be able to understand information, communicate it, and just put those dots together is the stuff that’s gonna be obviously harder for AI to replicate. 

Maybe it will one day, but then you’ve just got to keep elevating yourself. So, what is that a lesson of? It is a lesson of continually adapting, continually learning, a bit like a sports person. When they’ve lost their passion to play and fight, it’s time to retire. 

For me, when I’ve lost that passion to learn and grow, you’re probably not gonna give it your full go, hence maybe the learning really just keeps me going. It’s not like I ever said, ‘Hey, I want to be the CEO of the company.’ I was so far away, I just wanted to be treated right and enjoy the journey and the growth,

So the lesson to individuals is you’ve just got to keep learning, you’ve got to be humble. If you’re not humble, you’re not gonna listen to yourself or your failings, you’re gonna blame them on something else as opposed to, ‘Well, what was my role in that?’ so I can learn. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

• Recent studies show that unemployment rates for men aged 22 to 27 with or without college degrees are nearly identical. Younger generations are also finding it harder than in previous years to secure jobs, so they are turning to content creation. Fortune talks to a professor about how to build a successful career as a content creator without a traditional college path.

When Gen Alpha dreams about the future, fewer and fewer are imagining the white lab coat or briefcase wishes of their parents. Instead, they see ring lights and “Get Ready With Me” videos.

In fact, the top two career aspirations among Gen Alpha across the U.S. are YouTuber and TikTok creator, according to a 2024 Whop survey. And many young people are already turning their dreams into reality, including 19-year-old Katie Fang.

The recent high school graduate boasts 6.4 million followers on TikTok and is most known for her popular videos showcasing how she starts her mornings, as well as showcasing brand-deal trips and her recent move to New York City from Vancouver, Canada. 

Even though she’s already seemingly gotten a jump-start on her career, Fang is set to attend New York University in the fall, where she will focus on upgrading her digital marketing skills. Fang told Fortune that pursuing a college education will help her think more critically and creatively, especially when crafting content and understanding how platforms like TikTok’s algorithm work.

“I think I’ve always known that I was going to stay in school. I never really took a break—I was online for two years, so it kind of felt like I wasn’t in school, but I was,” Fang told Fortune. “I wanted to go to NYU for the longest time. Just because I started social media, and it became my full-time career, doesn’t mean that dream ever faded.”

Fang’s long-term goal is to start a business after college and to continue to build a personal brand.

“I think the most important thing is just don’t rush to have it all figured out, because especially when you’re so young, you’re not going to know everything,” Fang said.

Since starting her TikTok account in Canada, Fang hasn’t earned revenue directly from her videos. Instead, the majority of her income comes from brand partnerships with companies like Glow Recipe, The Ordinary, and Kosas.

“What I enjoy most is probably how creative everything is,” Fang said. “It’s crazy how you can make the most random video that makes no sense, and that ends up being the one that gets millions of views.”

Fang is just one example of how young people have been able to turn a passion project into a runaway for a high-paying career, where they are their boss.

This comes as a growing number of Gen Zs are questioning the value of a degree to begin with. Recent data shows the unemployment rate for men aged 22 to 27 is almost the same regardless of whether they have a college degree.

Gen Alpha and Gen Z want to follow in the footsteps of MrBeast

If you’ve ever scrolled through YouTube, chances are you’ve probably come across viral sensations like “I Survived the 5 Deadliest Places on Earth” or the high-stakes Beast Games challenges—videos that have each garnered over 100 million views. 

The mastermind behind these social phenomena is 27-year-old Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, who also holds the crown as the most-subscribed creator on the platform.

A self-made YouTuber whose net worth now exceeds $1 billion, Donaldson began creating and sharing content at just 13 years old. He later dropped out of East Carolina University in 2016 after just a few weeks of courses to pursue content creation full time. Since its launch in 2012, MrBeast’s channel has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to breakout hits like “Squid Game in Real Life,” which racked up over 845 million views.

In a recent episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast, Donaldson told host Steven Bartlett that he discovered his motivation to pursue content creation on YouTube when he found out creators were making a high income a year. Growing up without much financial stability, he was driven by a desire to support his mother and family. 

“This is what I love doing, I’ve never had as much joy doing something as I do this,” Donaldson said. “I just never give up. There’s no world where I would ever quit. When I was 11, I just said I’m going to be a YouTuber, and I’m going to die trying, and I meant it. Even if there were no one still watching my videos to this day, I would still be going. I’m just the most competitive, stubborn person you’ll ever meet.”

At first, Donaldson’s mother did not want her son to pursue a career in social media because she wanted him to be successful and encouraged him to pursue a college degree instead.

“When people tell me I can’t do something, it makes me want to do more,” Donaldson said. “If you tell me I shouldn’t do something, that’s fine, but if you tell me I can’t, then everything in my body just wants to go.”

Donaldson is not alone in using social media as a source of income and as a career. According to social commerce platform Whop, 42% of US teens are actively earning money online through their digital channels. 

Another content creator who did not go through the traditional college pathway is Olajide Olayinka Williams, better known as KSI. He is a 32-year-old British influencer, professional boxer, musician, and entrepreneur. He also founded businesses such as Prime Hydration, Lunchly, and Misfits Boxing, and has a net worth of $100 million.  

Joining YouTube in 2009 and initially posting videos of himself playing games, Williams built a following of over 50 million across all his platforms. Unlike his peers, Williams decided not to pursue college at all in favor of his blossoming content creation career — in part after realizing how much he was earning before attending university.  

“I remember I asked a teacher, this is how I made this month, it was about £1,500, and I remember him telling me ‘that’s more than I make’,” Williams told the BBC in 2020. “I looked at it and I thought, that’s it, YouTube is the one, it is the goldmine. I need to push and push because I know I can become something and make my parents proud.”

How to be a successful content creator without a college degree

It’s becoming easier than ever to start a career as a content creator and make a living without a college degree. After all, all you need is a phone to get started. 

Successful content creators who didn’t go through a traditional educational pathway all share a common trait: building a community so highly engaged that they can rely on their continued support for exposure, said University of Southern California communication professor Freddy Nager.

“It’s important that you try to cultivate your fan base. Otherwise, the only way to reach your own followers is to boost your posts and buy ads,” Nager told Fortune. “A lot of people didn’t become creators to spend money. They wanted to make money, but the platforms want to make money.”

Many creators build their email lists so they can directly notify followers when a new video is released, often encouraging them to watch and leave a comment. He also suggested that creators interact with followers in the comment section, something that is favorable to algorithms.

“You want your users to comment on your posts, because if they do, it means they really care,” Nager said. “Now, the comment could be negative. They could hate your video. Nonetheless, the algorithm reads it that if you’re willing to take the time to comment on the video, not just liking it. So this means that your content must provoke comments. Sadly, that means that a lot of influencers become controversial on purpose.”

This type of collaboration is a key strategy for building influence and trust without a degree requirement. Nager also advised new creators to partner with others, regardless of their fame, emphasizing that exposure to each other’s audiences helps both grow. 

In addition, he said that to stand out, creators need two key traits: personality and perspective. They must be relatable yet aspirational, offering a unique voice and sharing their human side to form real connections. Otherwise, they risk being replaced by generic content.

While a formal education isn’t required to break into the industry, Nager said, it offers key advantages. 

“I think you need an education to learn from your mistakes, without suffering. We can all learn from suffering, but let’s avoid it. Let’s learn how to analyze data,” he explained.

And while ultimately content creators can and have succeeded without degrees, Nager said more education can also expand one’s worldview and creativity outside of your path. 

“Can you be educated without college? Possibly, if you love to read,” he said. “But college lets you explore courses outside your field—take astronomy if you’re a writer, or music if you’re a scientist. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to become a musical expert, but something about music may change the way that you think about chemistry and performance.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Last month, I noticed crawlers from companies like OpenAI and Google in my website analytics. My first reaction was concern: Was my content being scraped without my permission? I also worried that too many requests from AI or search crawlers might slow down my site for visitors.

But then I started thinking: What if I could actually turn this into an opportunity? What if I could guide AI tools—like ChatGPT—to the content I want them to see?

That’s when I discovered something called llms.txt. It’s a new file format designed to help large language models (LLMs) understand which pages on your site are most useful. This can improve how your content shows up in AI-generated answers and even help your site get mentioned as a source.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to create an llms.txt file using a plugin or a manual method. Whether you want more AI visibility or simply more control, this is a great way to start shaping how AI interacts with your content.

What Is an llms.txt File and Why Do You Need One?

An llms.txt file is a new proposed standard that gives AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude a structured list of the website content you want them to use when generating answers.

This file lets you point to your most helpful posts, tutorials, or landing pages—content that’s clear, trustworthy, and AI-friendly.

Think of it like a welcome mat for AI. You’re saying: “If you’re going to use my site in your answers, here’s what I recommend you look at first.”

The file itself lives at the root of your site (like example.com/llms.txt) and is written in plain Markdown. It can include links to your sitemap, cornerstone content, or anything else you’d want cited.

Including your sitemap ensures AI tools can find a complete index of your site—even if they don’t follow every link listed individually.

This is part of a broader approach called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). You might also hear it called AI content optimization or AI search visibility. The idea is to help AI models give better answers—and increase the chances of your site being linked as a source.

Just keep in mind that llms.txt is still an emerging format. Not all AI companies support it yet, but it’s a smart step if you’re looking to shape your content’s role in AI search results.

llms.txt vs. robots.txt: What’s the Difference?

You might be wondering how llms.txt compares to robots.txt, since both files deal with bots and visibility.

The key difference is this:

• robots.txt tells crawlers what they’re allowed to index and cache.
• llms.txt gives AI models a curated list of the content you want them to reference when generating AI-powered answers.

Here’s a side-by-side look:

For a complete AI strategy, you can use both files at the same time. You can use llms.txt to welcome the AI bots you want, while using robots.txt to block the ones you don’t.

My guide will show you how to use both files to manage your AI content strategy. You can use the quick links below to jump to the method that best fits your strategy:

Method 1: Create an llms.txt File Using AIOSEO (Recommended)

The easiest way to create an llms.txt file in WordPress is by using the All in One SEO plugin (AIOSEO). I recommend this method because it does all of the work for you.

It automatically creates a helpful llms.txt file that guides AI crawlers to your content, and it keeps the file updated as you add new posts and pages.

Step 1: Install and Activate AIOSEO

First, you’ll need to install and activate the AIOSEO plugin.

For a full walkthrough, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to properly set up All in One SEO.

The great news is that the llms.txt feature is enabled by default in all versions of AIOSEO, including the free version.

However, since we’re talking about taking full control of your content and SEO, it’s worth mentioning a few powerful features you get if you upgrade to the AIOSEO Pro license.

While you don’t need these for llms.txt, they are incredibly helpful for growing your website traffic:

• Advanced Rich Snippets (Schema): The Pro version gives you more schema types, which helps you get those eye-catching rich results in Google (like reviews, recipes, or FAQs). Adding schema markup can also help your content appear in AI search.
• Redirection Manager: This tool makes it easy to redirect bots or users from certain pages, fix broken links, and track 404 errors. It gives you more control over how both visitors and crawlers navigate your site.

So, while the llms.txt feature is free, upgrading gives you a much more powerful toolkit for managing and growing your website’s presence.

Step 2: Verify Your llms.txt File

Because this feature is turned on by default, there’s nothing you need to do to set it up. AIOSEO is already helping guide AI bots for you.

You can see the settings by navigating to All in One SEO » General Settings and clicking the ‘Advanced’ tab.

Here, the ‘Generate an LLMs.txt file’ toggle is on by default.

When you click the ‘Open LLMs.txt’ button, you’ll see that the file is a list of links to your content.

This is exactly what you want for GEO. It’s a clear signal to AI bots that you are welcoming them and have provided a helpful guide for them to follow.

Just keep in mind that llms.txt is not an enforceable rule—AI tools may or may not choose to follow it.

Method 2: Create an llms.txt File Manually

If you prefer not to use a plugin, then you can still create a helpful llms.txt file manually. This approach involves creating a text file with a list of links to your most important content.

Step 1. Create a New Text File

First, you need to open a plain text editor on your computer (like Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac).

Create a new file and save it with the exact name llms.txt.

Step 2. Add Your Content Links

Next, you need to add links to the content you want AI bots to see. The goal is to create a simple, clear map of your site using markdown headings and lists.

While you can just list your most important URLs, a best practice is to organize them into sections. You should always include a link to your XML sitemap, as it’s the most efficient way to show bots all of your public content.

Then you can create separate sections to highlight your most important posts and pages.

Here is a more structured template you can copy and paste into your llms.txt file. Just be sure to replace the example URLs with your own:

# My Awesome Website

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://example.com/sitemap.xml)

## Key Pages

- [About Us](https://example.com/about-us/)
- [Contact Us](https://example.com/contact/)

## Key Posts

- [Important Guide](https://example.com/important-guide/)
- [Key Article](https://example.com/key-article/)

Step 3. Upload the File to Your Website

Once you’ve saved your file, you need to upload it to your website’s root directory. This is usually named public_html or www.

You can do this using an FTP client or the File Manager in your WordPress hosting dashboard. Simply upload the llms.txt file from your computer into this folder.

Step 4. Verify Your File Is Live

Finally, you can verify that your file is working correctly by visiting yourdomain.com/llms.txt in your browser.

You should see the list of links you just created.

Bonus: How to Block AI Bots Using Your robots.txt File

While using llms.txt to guide AI bots is great for GEO, you may decide you want to block them instead. If your goal is to prevent AI companies from using your content for training, then the official method is to add rules to your robots.txt file.

The robots.txt file is a powerful tool that gives instructions to web crawlers. For a complete overview, I recommend our full guide on how to optimize your WordPress robots.txt file.

Method 1: Edit robots.txt Using the AIOSEO Plugin (Recommended)

If you already use All in One SEO, this is the safest and easiest way to block AI bots. The plugin has a built-in robots.txt editor that prevents you from making mistakes.

First, navigate to All in One SEO » Tools in your WordPress dashboard. From there, find and click on the ‘Robots.txt Editor’ tab.

First, you need to click the toggle switch to enable custom robots.txt.

Then you will see an editor where you can add your custom rules. To block a specific AI bot, you need to add a new rule by clicking the ‘Add Rule’ button. Then you can fill in the fields for the User-agent (the bot’s name) and a Disallow rule.

For example, to block OpenAI’s bot, you would add:

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

You can add rules for as many bots as you like. I’ve included a list of common AI crawlers at the end of this section.

Once you’re done, just click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Method 2: Edit robots.txt Manually via FTP

If you don’t use a plugin, you can edit the file manually. This requires you to connect to your site’s root directory using an FTP client or the File Manager in your hosting account.

First, find your robots.txt file in your site’s root folder and download it. Do not delete it.

Next, open the file in a plain text editor. Add the blocking rules you want at the end of the file.

For example, to block Google’s AI crawler, you would add:

User-agent: Google-Extended
Disallow: /

After you save the file, upload it back to the same root directory, overwriting the old file.

Common AI Bots to Block

Here is a list of common AI user agents you might want to block:

• GPTBot (OpenAI)
• Google-Extended (Google AI)
• anthropic-ai (Anthropic / Claude)
• CCBot (Common Crawl)

You can add a separate block of rules for each one in your robots.txt file.

FAQs About llms.txt and robots.txt in WordPress

I often get questions about managing AI crawlers. Here are some of the most common ones.

1. Will adding an llms.txt file affect my website’s SEO?

No, creating an llms.txt file won’t affect your regular SEO rankings. Search engines like Google still rely on your robots.txt file and other SEO signals to decide what gets indexed and ranked.

llms.txt is different. It’s designed for AI tools, not search engines, and is used to support Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). While it may help AI models better understand and cite your content, it doesn’t influence how your site appears in traditional search results.

2. Will using an llms.txt file help me get more traffic from AI?

No, using an llms.txt file isn’t a guaranteed way to get more traffic from AI tools. It can help by pointing language models like ChatGPT to content you want them to see—but there’s no promise they’ll use it or link back to your site.

llms.txt is still new, and not all AI platforms support it. That said, it’s a smart step if you want more control over how your content might be used in AI-generated answers.

3. What is the difference between llms.txt and robots.txt?

An llms.txt file acts like a guide for AI models, pointing them to the content you want them to see—your most helpful posts, tutorials, or pages. It’s meant to improve your GEO strategy by highlighting what’s worth citing.

In contrast, a robots.txt file is used to block search crawlers and AI tools from accessing specific parts of your site. You use llms.txt to say “look here,” and robots.txt to say “don’t go there.”

Final Thoughts on Managing Your Content’s Future

The world of AI and Generative Engine Optimization is changing fast. So, I recommend checking in on your strategy every few months.

A bot you block today could be a major source of traffic tomorrow, so being ready to adapt is key. You can always switch from blocking to guiding (or vice-versa) as your business goals evolve.

I hope this guide has helped you make an informed decision about the future of your content in the world of AI. If you found it useful, you might also like our other guides on growing and protecting your site:

• Beginner’s Guide to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for WordPress
• How to Optimize Your WordPress robots.txt for SEO
• Ultimate WordPress SEO Guide for Beginners (Step by Step)
• The Ultimate WordPress Security Guide (Step by Step)

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The post What Is llms.txt? How to Add llms.txt in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.