How ranking first in LLMs is different than traditional SEO
Search is evolving rapidly. Whether you call it Large Language Model Optimisation (LLMO), Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), or Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), the landscape is shifting beneath our feet. Here’s what you need to know.
What is LLMO?
LLMO might not be on your radar yet, but it’s about to become essential knowledge for anyone serious about digital marketing, lets break it down before we dive any deeper.
Large Language Model Optimisation (LLMO) is the digital marketing evolution we’ve all been waiting for. Think of it as SEO but smarter, AI’s savvy cousin, if you will. Just as traditional SEO helped websites climb Google’s rankings, LLMO is the art and science of optimising your content so that AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity actually mention your brand when users ask questions. With traditional web clicks declining by around 34% as AI-generated snippets provide instant answers, the game has fundamentally changed. Instead of fighting for the top spot on a search results page, brands need to position themselves to become the go-to answer within AI conversations.
When someone asks an AI chatbot for “the best running shoes for a 96-kilogram runner,” the brands that appear in that response didn’t get there by accident, they’ve mastered the emerging discipline of LLMO. It’s not about being found anymore more; it’s about being the intelligent, contextual answer that AI systems trust enough to recommend to millions of users seeking guidance.
How does an LLM learn?
While it happens across multiple layers, the fundamental process is straightforward: an LLM takes your words and predicts the next most likely word, transforming your query into a comprehensive answer. In terms of how an LLM develops overtime, though, that process happens in relative stages. It is not like beating levels of a video game (it understands X, it will now move directly to learning Y), but is rather like how a human learns (it has a foundational knowledge of X, so it can now move onto more complex topics like Y,Z,Q,W, all of which it is learning simultaneously and at different rates).
The process itself is very simple, LLMs learn foundational rules first, then build up to complex reasoning. They start with basic grammar, like ‘verbs follow subjects in English’ then use these patterns in their predictive models to generate results. From there, it moves on to basic facts and world knowledge. It does this by scraping the internet. This might be something like “London is the capital of the United Kingdom,” “California has a large GDP,” or “the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Milan, Italy.” This is where your brand positioning will come in. You have to dictate what your brand is by consistently shouting your message across several channels.
Though LLMs appear brain-like on the surface, experts are moving away from this type of analogy because the underlying computational processes are fundamentally different. The next step in its learning process is human logic/reasoning. But, when we say, “human logic,” we mean the replication of the logical patterns that humans use to understand the world, not reproducing logic itself.
We are far away from AI being able to reason on its own. It is not impossible, but it is far
LLMs work on top of traditional SEO
Traditional SEO is no longer the only way people find information. Large Language Models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are now answering questions directly, often without sending users to websites at all. But here’s what many marketers miss: these models are still built on top of traditional search engines. ChatGPT, for example, uses Bing’s search algorithm as part of its foundation. That means SEO still matters, but it just looks different now. This aligns with our SEO trends becoming increasingly important in the age of AI-powered search.
The most critical question your marketing team should be asking: how do we create deeper content at scale? This is the foundation of visibility in the LLM era. Shallow content simply doesn’t get picked up. The basic, step-by-step guides that once dominated search results are no longer sufficient. LLMs are designed to synthesise and summarise, drawing from the most comprehensive, specific, and authentically human content they can find. Surface-level content gets left behind.
Where do we start? Use longer tailed, natural language keywords
To adapt, you need to rethink your keyword strategy. Traditional SEO focused on short, high-volume keywords. But LLMs are designed to understand natural language. That means your content should reflect the way people actually speak and search. Instead of targeting something generic like “dog-friendly cafes,” you should be writing content that answers questions like “what are the best venues in Shoreditch, London that are dog friendly and sell decaf coffee.” These are the kinds of queries people are typing into AI tools, and they’re the kinds of questions LLMs are built to answer.
The sun has set on Wiki How-style content
Depth is just as important as specificity. You need to create content that AI tools can’t generate on their own. That means tapping into real human experiences, local knowledge, and niche expertise. Think about the kind of content that only someone who has actually been there or done the thing could write. A guide on how to spend three spare hours on a sunny afternoon in Amsterdam that doesn’t involve biking or tulips is far more valuable to an LLM than a generic travel list. It’s specific, it’s human, and it’s hard to replicate. Rather than doing more shallow, simple work, your marketing team needs to act as researchers, uncovering and publishing new ideas, tips, and secrets that are truly valuable to those who are consuming your content.
Use humans to write your content
LLMs must be trained on human-written content to avoid “model collapse”, a phenomenon where AI systems degrade when fed synthetic data. This isn’t theoretical; it’s a documented challenge in AI development. Sites filled with AI-generated content don’t just rank lower, they risk being excluded entirely. That’s why human authorship matters. AI can accelerate your workflow through research, outlining, and drafting, but humans should craft and refine the final product.
Focus on your website. Beef it up.
Your website is now one of your most powerful assets. It is common knowledge that LLMs scrape the open web to learn, and that includes your site, but the implications of this fact do not seem to have begun to resonate as much.
This means that you have the opportunity to shape what these models know about your brand, your products, and your niche. You get to dictate their knowledge, so brag about your wins, define your unique value proposition (UVP), and keep that message clear and consistent across pages and channels.
Your site needs to be rich and expansive. One landing page is not enough anymore. Depending on your industry, you may need thousands of pages to truly own a vertical. If you’re targeting the venue market in the UK, for example, you might need fifty thousand landing pages to cover the space properly. Unfortunately, that’s not overkill; that’s the new baseline.
Optimise for each LLM and Track Industry Moves
It’s also important to optimise for each LLM individually. Just like you would tailor your SEO strategy for Google versus Bing, you now need to think about how your content performs in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others. Each model has different data sources, update cycles, and behaviours. Staying on top of these best practices and new industry trends is essential.
For example, Reddit and Yelp have signed deals with OpenAI to allow ChatGPT to scrape their data. If your niche overlaps with those platforms, such as local services or community-driven content, you need to be optimising your presence there, too. These partnerships are shaping what LLMs know and trust. If you’re not part of that ecosystem, you’re invisible.
Be the source, not just the result
The future of search is not just about being found. It’s about being the source. If you want to rank first in LLMs, you need to create content that is so specific, so rich, and so human that the models have no choice but to use it. That means thinking like a publisher, scaling like a tech company, and writing like a local expert. The rules have changed, but the opportunity is bigger than ever.
Want to stay ahead of the AI curve? Follow us on LinkedIn, or attend one of our free LLMO events, if you’re in the London area! They’re every first Thursday of the month at 9am and always. totally. free.
