Abstract: The constitutive model for soils is the core and key of modern soil mechanics. Since the creation of Cambridge elasto-plastic model, the constitutive model for soils has been studied for more than 50 years, and hundreds of models have been established, but few of them can be used for engineering. How to develop the constitutive model for rocks and soils better? In this paper, the theories of various constitutive models are reviewed and analyzed. In order to solve the problem, Firstly, there must be some theories of constitutive model suitable for geotechnical materials, in which the traditional theories have their limitations. The generalized potential theory is a modeling theory which is general and convenient. For the verification of the constitutive model, it is more reasonable to verify the problem of boundary values in addition to the experimental verification in the main space. At the same time, a model easy to determine the parameters should be developed to be used in engineering design. In addition, the problem of reasonable determination of model parameters also needs to be solved. For natural geotechnical materials, due to the impact of sampling disturbances, the difference is large, and the method for determining the model parameters based on the in-situ tests should be developed, which may be the solution.