The way people search is changing, and it’s happening fast. With the rise of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, along with the reimagining of SERPs thanks to AI Overviews, more users are skipping traditional “blue link” Google search altogether.
In fact, statistics show that 52% of Gen Z are already using AI to make informed decisions. Whether it’s for product research, recommendations, or everyday questions doesn’t matter.
The point is this trend isn’t slowing down.
As users turn to LLMs for search, sticking to traditional SEO won’t cut it anymore. This shift calls for a new kind of optimization.
Enter: Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO).
To stay competitive, brands need to ensure their content is not just discoverable by search engines but also understandable, quotable, and usable by AI models.
In this article, we’ll break down exactly how you can optimize your website for this new frontier in digital visibility.
What are LLMs, again?
LLMs, short for Large Language Models, are a subcategory of generative AI that’s trained to understand and generate human-like language.
Depending on which tool you’re using, they can have advanced or basic underlying mechanisms that enable them to answer questions, summarize information, and even write full articles.
LLMs can be further subdivided into two major categories:
A. Retrieval Augmented Generation or RAG
RAGs are LLMs with access to external sources. When you ask a question, they retrieve real-time information from the web or internal databases and then generate a response based on that fresh data.
This makes them highly accurate and current, perfect for fact-based or up-to-date queries. Gemini and AI Overviews fall under this category.
Here’s Gemini when asked who won between the Indiana Fever and the Golden State Valkyries on July 10:
P.S. The matchup happened on July 9, yet Gemini did not bother to correct my wrong question.
B. Self-contained LLMs
In contrast, self-contained LLMs rely solely on the data they were trained on, without fetching new info. Their responses originate from patterns they have already learned, which means they may be less current but still excellent for general knowledge, writing, or problem-solving.
ChatGPT (for a time) and Claude fall under this category. For instance, as of writing, Claude has a knowledge cutoff date of April 2024.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT (GPT is short for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer”) now has features enabling it to connect to web browsing, even on the free version.
Here is ChatGPT when asked the same question as above:
ChatGPT did a more impressive job by correcting my incorrect date and adding references in their content, even including a highlight reel for good measure.
What is LLMO?
In the words of Bernard Huang, founder of Clearscope:
“LLMs are the first realistic search alternative to Google.”
While Google dominated the search space for a long time, a fraction of the number is now turning to LLMs and generative AI.
Sure, the number is dismal compared to the total population of Google users. But the active user base will only keep getting bigger and bigger, considering LLMs are now equipped with web search functionality, albeit not as refined as Google’s pristine index.
This brings us to LLMO or Large Language Model Optimization.
LLMO is a new approach to making your content more accessible and useful to generative AI tools, specifically those equipped with RAG, like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on ranking in search engine results pages, LLMO is about optimizing content so it is featured and cited by AI assistants for relevant prompts.
Search engines like Google and Bing have their very own algorithms that allow them to rank pages based on a plethora of factors. LLMs also have the same.
Thanks to recent findings, we get a sneak peek into some of the most important qualities that major LLMs look for when citing pages. And we’ll discuss them later.
Why is LLMO Important in 2025: 3 Reasons
As AI transitions to becoming an alternative way people find answers online, the rules of search are changing. Ranking #1 in Google isn’t the only goal anymore. Being understood by AI models is just as crucial for driving traffic and visibility to your website.
Here are three specific reasons why LLMO matters more than ever in today’s AI-first digital landscape.
Reason #1. Traditional SEO is not enough in an AI-first world
For years, SEO has stood as the sole barrier to entry for search visibility. This strategy revolved around optimizing content for search engine crawlers through keywords, backlinks, and other technical data to climb the ranks.
However, for the first time, LLMs are challenging SEO’s position as an arbiter for search visibility. Given the popularity of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity, it’s only fitting that Google integrates the same generative summary at the top of search results in response to queries (AI Overviews).
This created a bipartite challenge to traditional SEO:
- The first organic position will receive significantly fewer clicks and CTR
- You now have to perform SEO to rank high and LLMO to bag a spot in the AI snapshot
Faithfully sticking to either one strategy or the other wouldn’t cut it.
Reason #2. Zero-click searches are replacing traditional SERPs
AI Overviews on their own are already a problem. But Google is brewing a new SERP feature called AI Mode that seeks to completely replace the traditional search results interface with AI-generated content, complete with links to sources.
This only makes the argument for zero-click searches stronger.
Unlike traditional SERPs, where users are actively looking for answers, zero-click searches spoon-feed instant responses. That means no more need to click a website, and Google gives a comprehensive summary that answers your specific inquiry.
When that happens, your traffic and visibility depend less on rankings and more on being included in the AI’s generated response.
LLMO makes your content attractive to AI citations, improving your chances of being featured in those answer boxes.
Reason #3. Your content could be cited without ranking #1 in organic search
SEO and LLMO are not easy.
But for a small website in a cutthroat industry, we can argue that ranking for AI Overviews and other LLMs is way easier than outcompeting household names with unlimited SEO budgets.
Recent studies from Ahrefs reveal that traditional SEO metrics have not-so-great correlation with mentions in AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. This means that, while SEO metrics matter, you can blow past established brands on AI citations if you play LLMO right.
Here is what Patrick Stox discovered in his mention share vs. Ahrefs rank analysis of the top 50 brands mentioned across LLMs:
This new finding makes the playing field even more level. And below, we’ll look at data-backed strategies on how to do LLMO:
How to Do Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO)?
There isn’t an established consensus yet on the best practices for optimizing content for large language models. However, microstudies from various authors offered invaluable insights into creating this list.
Here are the resources we referenced for the curation of these strategies:
- What content works well in LLMs? By Kevin Indig (Growth-Memo)
- An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors (75K Brands Studied) by Louise Linehan and Xibeijia Guan (Ahrefs)
- Domain-Level Link Metrics May Not Be Good Predictors of AI Search Mentions by Patrick Stox (Ahrefs)
1. Double-check if your site is unintentionally blocking LLMs from indexing your content
You could have the best, most AI-recognizable content, but if the technical aspects of your site are blocking your efforts, your page still wouldn’t appear as citations.
Check your robots.txt file if any commands are added there that might block LLMs from crawling your site.
Additionally, make sure your website is indexed in various search engines for maximum visibility, whether for traditional search or AI-generated content.
For example, the website OnlineDoctor.com is indexed on Google…
… but not on Bing:
In that case, relevant queries concerning OnlineDoctor’s niche may surface the website on Google’s AI Overviews and Gemini but not on Bing’s CoPilot.
Other technical issues that can prevent AI mentions include:
- LLM crawlers blocked by firewall or CDN
- Overlooked broken links disallowing LLMs from fully crawling your site
- Improper redirect implementation that confuses LLM bots
- Nofollow tags in your pages’ metadata
Technical inconsistencies like this can sabotage your LLMO efforts, so make sure your site is accessible to generative AI tools to increase your chances of getting cited.
2. Phrase your content as AI chatbot users would phrase their prompt
Think of your content as a direct response to an AI prompt. Users interact with LLMs by asking natural, question-based queries like “How does LLMO differ from SEO?”
So, your content should mirror those queries in structure and tone. Don’t go all ornate and overembellished on your prose because you’re not Shakespeare (unless that’s your entire schtick).
Otherwise, keep your content simple, which means:
- Use conversational phrasing
- Answer questions clearly
- Include variations of how a prompt might be asked
In addition to proper content formatting, it’s equally crucial to phrase your content in a way that mirrors the language people use in AI queries.
For example, Kevin Indig discovered that the term “best” triggers brand mentions in nearly 70% of prompts. Other powerful prompt triggers include “trusted,” “source,” and “recommend.”
In practice, here is an example of how that should look. Instead of saying, “We provide an automated internal linking SaaS for SEO,” you might write, “We’re a trusted SaaS company that offers automated internal linking tool that’s used by thousands of marketers.”
This doesn’t just make your content more relevant, but even makes it AI-friendly.
There’s little research yet on the most common queries used on LLMs, so we can’t reverse-engineer anything yet with full certainty at this point. But microstudies like these give us insight into these machines’ internal workings.
3. Increase your word and sentence count without adding more fluff
Let’s get one thing straight: CONTENT LENGTH and CONTENT DEPTH are not one and the same.
Just because an article is long doesn’t mean it’s valuable. Some 2,000-word articles can be compressed to 500 words and still get the same message across.
However, LLMs have a proclivity toward longer content, specifically because longer pieces have a higher tendency to offer complete, comprehensive, and well-explained answers to a query.
Here is a quick graph showing the primary differences between the top 10% and bottom 90% of pages cited in AI snapshots:
Conversely, shorter posts are likely (not necessarily) to be thinner in value.
Aim to extend the value of your content by making the following improvements:
- Cover additional or tangential subtopics relevant to your content
- Create original graphics if possible
- Add relatable or real-life examples
- Answer frequently asked questions
- Use bullet points, comparisons, and formats that AI can parse easily
The goal is to make your content dense and information-rich, satisfying intent, and making it more attractive for AI citations.
4. Improve your Flesch-Kincaid readability scores
Believe it or not, traditional SEO metrics like the number of backlinks, number of keywords, and total traffic does not matter that much for AI citations. At least, that’s what Kevin Indig found in his study.
AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT place more weight on Flesch readability scores.
If you’re not aware, Flesch Reading Ease is a 0-100 scoring system that measures how easy it is to read a piece of text based on the sentence length and word complexity. The higher the score, the easier it is to read the content.
Apparently, Flesch scores aren’t only for human readers but also for LLMs. Don’t get it twisted. AI can understand even the most complex run-on sentences. However, readability scores may be a stiff parameter that they take into account when citing resources.
To improve your content’s readability, here are a few tips:
- Keep sentences short and punchy
- Use more active voice and limit passive voice usage
- Break up long paragraphs
- Avoid jargon when possible
This isn’t about dumbing down your content. Think of it as simplifying complex ideas for easier comprehension, making your content attractive to AI tools.
5. Invest in a good PR strategy to amplify your reach (in a good way!)
In an analysis conducted by Ahrefs’ Louise Linehan and Xibeijia Guan, they discovered three metrics to have the highest correlation with AI Overview mentions:
- Branded web mentions: How many times your brand name is mentioned across the open web
- Branded anchors: How many times your brand name was used or integrated into anchor texts (backlinks, internal links, external links)
- Branded search volume: How many times your brand is searched on search engines per month on average
Here’s the breakdown of the factors influencing AI Overview citations:
Since LLMs source out content across multiple reputable sources, you want your brand to be all over the place.
From a human’s perspective, seeing your brand plastered across the web associates your brand with reputability, this helps with brand recall. The same principle applies with AI.
If your brand name is present across multiple touchpoints, LLMs are more likely to see you as a reliable source, increasing your chances of being cited.
A smart PR strategy can help distribute your content and brand name to places where AI models are more likely to find it. Think guest posts, media coverage, podcast features, and niche mentions.
6. Build more high-quality backlinks from reputable sites
Piggybacking off point #5, backlinks are still invaluable for AI discovery despite the downplay on traditional SEO metrics.
First, branded anchors is an important factor for AI Overview citations. This emphasizes the importance of building backlinks using branded anchor texts. It doesn’t have to be exact match per se, but including your brand name on the anchor text can already have a massive impact.
Secondly, backlinks, much like other links, are channels for AI bots to discover your site. Focus on building backlinks from reputable sites since they are likely frequently visited by AI crawlers, which, by extension, amplifies your content’s chances of being discovered as well.
Finally, SEO aside, high-quality backlinks are still the most significant ranking factor for SEO to this day. That means actively engaging in link-building efforts lets you hit two birds with one stone:
- Boosted traditional SEO performance
- Increased AI citation likelihood
7. Work on the factors influencing your brand’s overall popularity
According to Kevin Indig, popularity is the most significant criterion for AI citations, particularly with AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT.
But what exactly does “popularity” mean?
Popularity is an overarching, multifaceted term in the modern digital marketing landscape. It refers to those brands that excel across various marketing channels, including SEO, content creation, social media, reviews, and digital advertising.
To maximize LLMO, you can’t afford to have tunnel vision, or primarily focusing on one or two marketing facets, then neglect the rest.
Staying consistently active and successful on multiple channels increases your likelihood of being picked up and cited by large language models.
Is SEO Still Relevant in the Age of LLMO?
Thinking SEO is dead just because large language models have a growing user base of searchers is a big mistake.
SEO and LLMO are not mutually exclusive, but are interdependent.
Multifaceted marketing optimization, which includes SEO, is the backbone of LLMO. That means neglecting SEO puts you at a disadvantage if you want to appear in AI citations.
On the other hand, relying solely on SEO without adapting to how AI systems retrieve and present information also leaves you behind. Traditional SEO tactics are formulaic and focused primarily in ranking in SERPs, while LLMO ensures your content is structured, readable, comprehensive, and semantically rich to be cited in AI-generated answers.
That said SEO and LLMO complement each other. Think of LLMO as an evolution to SEO.
To thrive in today’s AI-driven search landscape, marketers must integrate SEO foundations with LLM-focused enhancements.
So, ready to succeed in LLMO?