You did everything right; you followed SEO best practices, climbed the rankings, and had users devouring your content. But now, traffic has slowed, and you aren’t getting the reach you used to. So, what happened? AI tools are skipping your content because you haven’t focused on LLM optimization, which is a mistake you want to avoid.
Understanding how the AI-first ecosystem works is crucial in getting your content seen and keeping your business relevant.
Introduction to the AI-First Search Ecosystems
The days of sifting through Google search results for information are over. When you type a query into Google, the first hit likely won’t be a website anymore — it’ll be an AI response compiling a direct answer from the most trustworthy sources.
This rapidly changing environment and reduction in website clicks make it clear that businesses need to optimize their content for Large Language Models (LLMs) to maintain their competitive edge. These systems are trained on digital texts, enabling them to generate, understand, and respond to everyday questions in a natural, human-like way.
Those winning in this new environment are using LLM optimization in conjunction with traditional SEO as another opportunity for content distribution and amplification.
So, what are these LLMs, and how can you use them to your advantage? Let’s talk about it.
What Is GEO?
GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is the process of creating content specifically for generative AI platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, and others. The goal is to have your content accurately cited, synthesized, or summarized in AI-generated responses.
While it shares some similarities with SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), GEO is uniquely focused on AI consumption, ensuring your content is easily understood by LLMs and integrated into their knowledge responses.
GEO vs. SEO: Key Differences
How LLMs Are Impacting Traditional SEO Performance
Since AI-generated answers typically pop up first during a Google search, users are less inclined to scroll and search for additional information on other websites. This has significantly reduced site clicks and made it harder for businesses not cited in the AI response to gain visibility.
On top of that, people are starting to bypass Google entirely, entering their search queries directly into AI sites like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity. This has further reduced a website’s chances of being seen.
However, since LLM optimizations create more targeted responses for users, they have the potential to increase conversions, as people visit 50% more pages when sent from an AI search engine compared to a traditional search engine.
The “Great Decoupling”
This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as “alligator mouth,” illustrates the increasing gap between search visibility and search traffic. In the past, traditional SEO ensured that high visibility on Google typically resulted in a significant number of website visits. However, with the rise of AI-generated summaries, LLM optimizations, and zero-click searches, this correlation is weakening.
Since AI-first responses create composite answers from multiple sources, information from your website could be used in the search results. Unfortunately, you won’t see the traffic to your page or gain the conversion, which is frustrating for any business.
What You Can Do
The reality is that AI answers and LLM optimizations are here to stay, but that doesn’t mean your efforts will go to waste. You can improve organic performance and offset decreased clicks by:
- Growing content visibility: This includes creating more efficient content, repurposing previous content, and distributing it in more places.
- Retaining more users: Create a more intentional experience by delivering engaging content, improving site encounters, and targeting specific audience personas.
- Increasing brand value: Focus on optimizing for LLMs, utilizing PR and data journalism, and boosting your social presence.
Where Google Is Headed in the Future
As AI advances, it’s leading to an increase in zero-click searches, and Google is embracing this trend. The platform is enhancing its browsing experience by offering AI-powered search results instead of just a list of links. When users choose to “let Google do the Googling for you,” they benefit from a streamlined search experience that provides relevant information with just the push of a button.
In addition to AI Overviews, users can now use AI Mode, Google’s completely AI-generated experience, to get immersive, detailed answers, related follow-up questions, helpful web links, and more — all led by AI generation.
To keep up with Google’s AI-first approach, businesses need to take ownership of their ideas — not just keywords — to be included in AI composite answers.
Modern SEO Techniques That Align With AI-First Searches
While traditional SEO approaches won’t have the best impact on AI-first searches, there are newer, more effective techniques that can help your brand stand out in an AI-generated environment.
Channel Diversification
Don’t rely on organic search alone or just one channel/platform. Instead, aim to pair SEO content with other channels like paid ads, social promotions, email blasts, or curated newsletters.
Long-Tail Query Targeting
Long-tail keywords, like “how can I tell if my site is being used in ChatGPT answers?” or “what’s the best pet-friendly hotel in the U.S.?” are more aligned with how users ask questions to search engines. These types of questions/keywords are more specific and can be tied to actual business pain points or buyer intent.
Make sure your long-tail keyword targets your ICP by speaking their language and solving their niche problems.
Content Reformatting
Content reformatting works in line with channel diversification. It lets you can take existing content, turn it into something new, and share it on different platforms. Since LLMs can crawl content in different formats, reformatting a high-performing piece for a new platform can expand reach, enhance user engagement, and increase the chances of your content being included in AI responses.
For example, you could take a blog and turn it into a LinkedIn carousel graphic, a YouTube explainer video, an infographic, or a downloadable checklist. When your message lives in numerous places and in several formats, it’s more likely to be trusted and used by AI.
Gated or Soft-Gated Content
As you now know, AI responses parse information online to create a composite answer. However, just because your content is used doesn’t guarantee the traffic and visibility you want. LLMs can’t crawl info that’s gated behind a paywall or submission form.
You can provide helpful info and use LLM optimizations on your site to attract AI, but keep your most valuable details — like original research or data-heavy content — gated to prevent unauthorized use and drive leads.
Amplification
Just like traditional SEO, AI-first searches favor visibility and authority, and both can be boosted with strategic amplification. This means you can’t rely on the old standby of “if you write it, they will come.”
Instead, you need outstanding content that can be shared, linked to, cited, and seen by the masses. Once you have knockout content, you can further amplify it by sending it to partners or influencers to share, repost it with different hooks and CTAs, or use PR outreach to get it seen.
Original Data and First-Party Insights
In an AI-first world, original data and first-party insights are golden tickets. LLMs are searching for the newest takes, not tired ideas, so if you’re saying what no one else is, AI is more likely to notice you.
Whether it’s customer interviews, a quick LinkedIn poll, or insights gained from internal experiments, finding ways to give originality and authority to your content helps you stand out to AI optimization and crawlers.
AI Optimization Checklist
In addition to the above techniques, there are a few more things you can
check as you’re working toward LLM optimization and increased visibility. Try
to focus on:
- Conversational content
- Structure and formatting
- Writing style
- Summary enhancements
- Brand presence
- Authority and uniqueness
- Distribution and crawlability
Tools and Platforms for AI-Oriented Optimization
AI-first responses are redefining how people search, find, and trust information. Tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, and Google’s AI Overviews are shaping the future of online discovery. To stay competitive, businesses must understand how these platforms generate answers and how to align their content to be cited, summarized, or surfaced.
That means knowing how to leverage (or monitor, depending on timing) the
same tools AI platforms use to crawl and rank content. Visibility is the name of
the game, and the right platforms can help you stay in it:
Monitoring Tools to Track Visibility in AI and Search:
- Ahrefs and SEMRush: Traditional SEO metrics with growing AI-focused tracking features
- ZipTie.dev: Tracks citations and mentions across generative AI engines
- Advanced Web Ranking: Offers insights on how you appear in featured snippets and AI-enhanced results
Ways to Create AI-Resonant Content:
- Use the Query Fan-Out Technique (coined by Michael King) to anticipate question clusters
- Explore People Also Ask and Search Suggestions for structured, intent-rich queries
- Go directly to your audience, surveying real customers to uncover specific concerns and phrasing that AI tools might miss
Challenges and Risks in AI Platforms in Digital Marketing
AI is changing how users find and engage with content, which is great for them but makes attribution harder to understand for marketing professionals. As LLMs link and summarize differently, you may see more homepage traffic without knowing where it’s coming from. This is particularly challenging since tools like Google Search Console and AI Mode don’t separate AI-driven insights yet.
You also run the risk of LLM hallucinations misrepresenting your brand, while the low barrier to LLM optimizations creates more clutter and misinformation in search results.
Future-Proofing Your Content Strategy
Even if AI is changing how content is found, the core principles of content strategy haven’t changed.
- Focus on user value: Create a clear content journey based on your ICP; answer their questions, solve their problems, and guide them toward action.
- Differentiate yourself: Deliver on-site experiences that LLMs can’t replicate, like interactive tools, immersive storytelling, or personalized guides.
- Build brand equity: Focus on fostering trust and providing consistency, not just adding keywords.
- Use what’s hard to imitate: Data journalism, original research, and expert commentary can’t be recreated by AI, so they are your best shot at staying visible for AI summaries.
Get Referenced, Not Replaced
AI-first searches represent a market shift and the way of the future. But that doesn’t mean you have to start at zero with your content strategy. To win in this realm, blend timeless SEO principles with modern AI-aware tactics like embracing originality, diversifying channels, and truly understanding how people engage with content. When you do these things, you’re more likely to be the site AI references, not the one it ignores.
Be flexible. Stay curious. Test often. And never stop trying to figure out what
your audience needs, because that’s what AI is trying to do, too.
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