{"id":2889,"date":"2025-04-07T09:41:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T09:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/geo-llmo-aeo-its-all-just-seo\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T09:41:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T09:41:36","slug":"geo-llmo-aeo-its-all-just-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/geo-llmo-aeo-its-all-just-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"GEO, LLMO, AEO\u2026 It\u2019s All Just SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>As a marketer, I want to know if there are specific <em>things<\/em> I should do to improve our LLM visibility that I am not currently doing as part of my routine marketing and SEO efforts.<\/p>\n<p>So far, it doesn\u2019t seem like\u00a0it.<\/p>\n<p>There seems to be massive overlap in SEO and GEO, such that it doesn\u2019t seem useful to consider them distinct processes.<\/p>\n<p>The things that contribute to good visibility in search engines also contribute to good visibility in LLMs. GEO seems to be a byproduct of SEO, something that doesn\u2019t require dedicated or separate effort. If you want to increase your presence in LLM output, hire an\u00a0SEO.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sidenote\">\n<p>Sidenote.<\/p>\n<p> GEO is \u201cgenerative engine optimization\u201d, LLMO is \u201clarge language model optimization\u201d, AEO is \u201canswer engine optimization\u201d. Three names for the same\u00a0idea.<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to improve LLM visibility\" data-section=\"how-to-improve-llm-visibility\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-186895-_a0fvnemeodmd\"\/>How to improve LLM visibility<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s worth unpacking this a bit. As far as my layperson\u2019s understanding goes, there are three main ways you can improve your visibility in\u00a0LLMs:<\/p>\n<h3>1. <a id=\"post-186895-_wulj43y50p3q\"\/>Increase your visibility in training data<\/h3>\n<p>Large language models are trained on vast datasets of text. The more prevalent your brand is within that data, and the more closely associated it seems to be with the topics you care about, the more visible you will be in LLM output for those given topics.<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t influence the data LLMs have already trained on, but we can create more content on our core topics for inclusion in future rounds of training, both on our website and third-party websites.<\/p>\n<p>Creating well-structured content on relevant topics is one of the core tenets of SEO\u2014as is encouraging other brands to reference you within their content. Verdict: just\u00a0SEO.<\/p>\n<h3>2. <a id=\"post-186895-_tv2oge6njxwr\"\/>Increase your visibility in data sources used for RAG and grounding<\/h3>\n<p>LLMs increasingly use external data sources to improve the recency and accuracy of their outputs. They can search the web, and use traditional search indexes from companies like Bing and Google.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_186896\" style=\"width: 1994px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-186896\" class=\"wp-image-186896\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1984\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-1.png 1984w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-1-680x195.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-1-768x220.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-1-1536x441.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1984px) 100vw, 1984px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-186896\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">OpenAI\u2019s VP Engineering on Reddit confirming the use of the Bing index as part of ChatGPT Search.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s fair to say that being more visible in these data sources will likely increase visibility in the LLM responses. The process of becoming more visible in \u201ctraditional\u201d search indexes is, you guessed it,\u00a0SEO.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-186895-_yrhdk8ivtotd\"\/>3. Abuse adversarial examples<\/h3>\n<p>LLMs are prone to manipulation, and it\u2019s possible to trick these models into recommending you when they otherwise wouldn\u2019t. These are damaging hacks that offer short-term benefit but will probably bite you in the long\u00a0term.<\/p>\n<p>This is\u2014and I\u2019m only half joking\u2014just <em>black hat<\/em> SEO.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why GEO is the same as SEO\" data-section=\"how-geo-is-the-same\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-186895-_a0fvnemeodmd\"\/>Why GEO is the same as\u00a0SEO<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>To summarize these three points, the core mechanism for improving visibility in LLM output is: creating relevant content on topics your brand wants to be associated with, both on and off your website.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s SEO.<\/p>\n<p>Now, this may not be true forever. Large language models are changing all the time, and there may be more divergence between search optimization and LLM optimization as time progresses.<\/p>\n<p>But I suspect the opposite will happen. As search engines integrate more generative AI into the search experience, and LLMs continue using \u201ctraditional\u201d search indexes for grounding their output, I think there is likely to be less divergence, and the boundaries between SEO and GEO will become even smaller, or nonexistent.<\/p>\n<p>As long as \u201ccontent\u201d remains the primary medium for both LLMs and search engines, the core mechanisms of influence will likely remain the same. Or, as someone commented on one of my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7302655218444357632\/\">recent LinkedIn posts<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\">\n<div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cThere\u2019s only so many ways you can shake a stick at aggregating a group of information, ranking it, and then disseminating your best approximation of what the best and most accurate result\/info would\u00a0be.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote-info clearfix\">\n<div class=\"quote-photo\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Aedan Johnston\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Aedan-Johnston.jpeg\"\/><\/noscript><img class=\"lazyload\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Aedan Johnston\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Aedan-Johnston.jpeg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How GEO is (slightly) different from SEO\" data-section=\"how-geo-is-different\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-186895-_9dzo4vuo9j0o\"\/>How GEO is (slightly) different from\u00a0SEO<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I shared the above opinion in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/thinkingslow_im-just-gonna-say-it-llmo-geo-leo-whatever-activity-7305908021312782338-uHit?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAuygqQBwS0PzkfW8cQjYRk6Stra8lDgFLo\">LinkedIn post<\/a> and received some truly excellent responses.<\/p>\n<p>Most people agreed with my sentiment, but others shared nuances between LLMs and search engines that are worth understanding\u2014even if they don\u2019t (in my opinion) warrant creating the new discipline of\u00a0GEO:<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. Unlinked brand mentions matter more\" data-section=\"one\">\n<h3>1. <a id=\"post-186895-_ths4zsx5wt1t\"\/>Unlinked brand mentions matter more<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This is probably the biggest, clearest difference between GEO and SEO. Unlinked mentions\u2014text written about your brand on other websites\u2014have very little impact on SEO, but a much bigger impact on\u00a0GEO.<\/p>\n<p>Search engines have many ways to determine the \u201cauthority\u201d of a brand on a given topic, but backlinks are one of the most important. This was Google\u2019s core insight: that links from relevant websites could function as a \u201cvote\u201d for the authority of the linked-to website (a.k.a. <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-pagerank\/\">PageRank<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>LLMs operate differently. They derive their understanding of a brand\u2019s authority from words on the page, from the prevalence of particular words, the co-occurrence of different terms and topics, and the context in which those words are used. Unlinked content will further an LLM\u2019s understanding of your brand in a way that won\u2019t help a search engine.<\/p>\n<p>As Gianluca Fiorelli writes in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iloveseo.net\/a-guide-to-semantics-or-how-to-be-visible-both-in-search-and-llms\/\">excellent article<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\">\n<div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cBrand mentions now matter not because they increase \u2018authority\u2019 directly but because they strengthen the position of the brand as an entity within the broader semantic network.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>When a brand is mentioned across multiple (trusted) sources:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The entity embedding for the brand becomes stronger.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The brand becomes more tightly connected to related entities.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The cosine similarity between the brand and related concepts increases.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The LLM \u2018learn\u2019 that this brand is relevant and authoritative within that topic\u00a0space.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote-info clearfix\">\n<div class=\"quote-photo\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gianluca Fiorelli\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Gianluca-Fiorelli.jpg\"\/><\/noscript><img class=\"lazyload\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gianluca Fiorelli\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Gianluca-Fiorelli.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Many companies already value off-site mentions, albeit with the caveat that those mentions should be linked (and dofollow). Now, I can imagine brands relaxing their definition of a \u201cgood\u201d off-site mention, and being happier with unlinked mentions in platforms that pass little traditional search benefit.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.productledseo.com\/p\/llm-seo-best-practices-and-hacks\">Eli Schwartz<\/a> puts\u00a0it,<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\">\n<div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cIn this paradigm, links don\u2019t need to be hyperlinked (LLMs read content) or restricted to traditional websites. Mentions in credible publications or discussions sparked on professional networks (hello, knowledge bases and forums) all enhance visibility within this framework.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote-info clearfix\">\n<div class=\"quote-photo\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eli Schwartz\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Eli-Schwartz.jpeg\"\/><\/noscript><img class=\"lazyload\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eli Schwartz\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Eli-Schwartz.jpeg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"recommendation\">\n<p>Track brand mentions with Brand\u00a0Radar<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>You can use our new tool, <a href=\"https:\/\/app.ahrefs.com\/brand-radar\">Brand Radar<\/a>, to track your brand\u2019s visibility in AI mentions, starting with AI Overviews.<\/p>\n<p>Enter the topic you want to monitor, your brand (or your competitors\u2019 brands), and see impressions, share of voice, and even specific AI outputs mentioning your\u00a0brand:<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1775\" height=\"1375\" class=\"wp-image-186897\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2.jpg 1775w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2-549x425.jpg 549w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2-768x595.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2-1536x1190.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1775px) 100vw, 1775px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1775\" height=\"1375\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-186897\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2.jpg 1775w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2-549x425.jpg 549w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2-768x595.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-2-1536x1190.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1775px) 100vw, 1775px\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. Off-topic links and rankings matter less\" data-section=\"two\">\n<h3>2. <a id=\"post-186895-_dj9wmnagvd9t\"\/>Off-topic links and rankings matter less<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I think the inverse of the above point is also true. Many companies today build backlinks on websites with little relevance to their brand, and publish content with no connection to their business, simply for the traffic it brings (what we now call <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/essentials\/spam-policies\">site reputation abuse<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>These tactics offer enough SEO benefit that many people still deem them worthwhile, but they will offer even less benefit for LLM visibility. Without any relevant context surrounding these links or articles, they will do nothing to further an LLM\u2019s understanding of the brand or boost the likelihood of it appearing in outputs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. Different content types impact visibility\" data-section=\"three\">\n<h3>3. <a id=\"post-186895-_bvhhaa8ov3d2\"\/>Different content types impact visibility<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some content types have relatively little impact on SEO visibility but greater impact on LLM visibility.<\/p>\n<p>We ran research to explore the types of pages that are most likely to receive traffic from LLMs. We compared a sample of pageviews from LLMs and from non-LLM sources, and compared the distribution of those pageviews.<\/p>\n<p>We found two big differences: LLMs show a \u201cpreference\u201d for core website pages and documents, and a \u201cdislike\u201d for listing collections and listings.<\/p>\n<p>Citation is more important for an LLM than a search engine. Search engines generally surface information alongside the source that created it. LLMs decouple the two, creating an extra need to prove the authenticity of whatever claim is being\u00a0made.<\/p>\n<p>From this data, it seems the majority of citations fall into the \u201ccore site pages\u201d category: a website\u2019s home page, pricing page, or about page. These are crucial parts of a website, but not always big contributors to search visibility. Their importance seems greater for\u00a0LLMs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_186898\" style=\"width: 2058px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-186898\" class=\"wp-image-186898\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3-680x377.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3-768x425.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3-1536x851.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-186898\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-186898\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3-680x377.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3-768x425.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-3-1536x851.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-186898\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A slide from my brightonSEO talk showing how AI and non-AI traffic is distributed across different page\u00a0types.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Inversely, listings pages\u2014think big breadcrumbed Rolodexes of products\u2014that are created primarily for on-page navigation and search visibility received far fewer visits from LLMs. Even if these page types aren\u2019t cited often, it\u2019s possible that they might further an LLM\u2019s understanding of a brand because of the co-occurrence of different product entities. But given that these pages are usually sparse in context, they may have little impact.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, website documents also seem more important for LLMs. Many websites treat PDFs and other forms of documents as second-class citizens, but for LLMs, they are a content source like any other, and they routinely cite them in their outputs.<\/p>\n<p>Practically, I can imagine companies treating PDFs and other forgotten documents with more importance, on the understanding that they can influence LLM output in the same way any other site page\u00a0would.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. LLMs benefit from unique document structures\" data-section=\"four\">\n<h3>4. <a id=\"post-186895-_6tflgzq2z1bo\"\/>LLMs benefit from unique document structures<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The point that LLMs can access website documents raises an interesting point. As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/karpathy\/status\/1899876370492383450\">Andrej Karpathy points out<\/a>, there may be a growing benefit to writing documents that are structured first and foremost for LLMs, and left relatively inaccessible to people:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\">\n<div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cIt\u2019s 2025 and most content is still written for humans instead of LLMs. 99.9% of attention is about to be LLM attention, not human attention.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>E.g. 99% of libraries still have docs that basically render to some pretty .html static pages assuming a human will click through them. In 2025 the docs should be a single your_project.md text file that is intended to go into the context window of an\u00a0LLM.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Repeat for everything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote-info clearfix\">\n<div class=\"quote-photo\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Andrej Karpathy\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Andrej-Karpathy.jpg\"\/><\/noscript><img class=\"lazyload\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Andrej Karpathy\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Andrej-Karpathy.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This is an inversion of the SEO adage that we should write for humans, not robots: there may be a benefit to focusing our energy on making information accessible to robots, and relying on the LLMs to render the information into more accessible forms for\u00a0users.<\/p>\n<p>In this way, there are specific information structures that can help LLMs correctly understand the information we provide.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Snowflake refers to the idea of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snowflake.com\/en\/engineering-blog\/impact-retrieval-chunking-finance-rag\/\">global document context<\/a>\u201d. (H\/T to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/victorpan_long-context-isnt-all-you-need-how-retrieval-activity-7305953393607421956-V2ZV\/\">Victor Pan from HubSpot<\/a> for sharing this article.)<\/p>\n<p>LLMs work by breaking text into \u201cchunks\u201d; by adding extra information about the document throughout the text (like company name and filing date for financial text), it\u2019s easier for the LLM to understand and correctly interpret each isolated chunk, <em>\u201cboosting QA accuracy from around 50%-60% to the 72%-75% range.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_186899\" style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-186899\" class=\"wp-image-186899\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4-680x391.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4-768x442.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4-1536x883.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-186899\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-186899\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4-680x391.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4-768x442.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-4-1536x883.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-186899\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Understanding how LLMs process text offers small ways for brands to improve the likelihood that LLMs will interpret their content correctly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"5. LLMs train on data that doesn\u2019t impact SEO\" data-section=\"five\">\n<h3>5. <a id=\"post-186895-_nt04jdxcksxh\"\/>LLMs train on data that doesn\u2019t impact SEO<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>LLMs also train on novel information sources that have traditionally fallen outside the remit of SEO. As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/adam_x_007\">Adam Noonan<\/a> on X <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/adam_x_007\/status\/1904873462054666441\">shared with me<\/a>: <em>\u201cPublic GitHub content is guaranteed to be trained on but has no impact on\u00a0SEO.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1555\" height=\"926\" class=\"wp-image-186900\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5.png 1555w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5-680x405.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5-768x457.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5-1536x915.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1555px) 100vw, 1555px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1555\" height=\"926\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-186900\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5.png 1555w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5-680x405.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5-768x457.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/word-image-186895-5-1536x915.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1555px) 100vw, 1555px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Coding is arguably the most successful use case for LLMs, and developers must make up a sizeable portion of total LLM\u00a0users.<\/p>\n<p>For some companies, especially those selling to developers, there may be a benefit to \u201coptimizing\u201d the content these developers are most likely to interact with\u2014knowledgebases, public repos, and code samples\u2014by including extra context about your brand or products.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"6. LLMs don\u2019t render JavaScript\" data-section=\"six\">\n<h3>6. <a id=\"post-186895-_8p2rp4grcvdn\"\/>LLMs don\u2019t render JavaScript<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lastly, as <a href=\"https:\/\/semking.com\/ai-crawlers-do-not-render-javascript-sign-your-texts\/\">Elie Berreby<\/a> explains:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\">\n<div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cMost AI crawlers do not render JavaScript. There\u2019s no renderer. Popular AI crawlers like those used by OpenAI and Anthropic do not even execute JavaScript. That means they won\u2019t see content that is rendered client-side through JavaScript.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote-info clearfix\">\n<div class=\"quote-photo\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Elie Berreby\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Elie-Berreby.jpeg\"\/><\/noscript><img class=\"lazyload\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Elie Berreby\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Elie-Berreby.jpeg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This is more of a footnote than a major difference, for the simple reason that I don\u2019t think this will remain true for very long. This problem was solved by many non-AI web crawlers, and will be solved by AI web crawlers in short\u00a0order.<\/p>\n<p>But for now, if you rely heavily on <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/javascript-seo\/\">JavaScript rendering<\/a>, a good portion of your website\u2019s content may be invisible to\u00a0LLMs.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-186895-_hp3pglrbn3qy\"\/>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>But here\u2019s the thing: managing indexing and crawling, structuring content in machine-legible ways, building off-page mentions\u2026 these all feel like the classic remit of\u00a0SEO.<\/p>\n<p>And these unique differences don\u2019t seem to have manifested in radical differences between most brands\u2019 search visibility and LLM visibility: generally speaking, brands that do well in one also do well in the\u00a0other.<\/p>\n<p>Even if GEO does eventually evolve to require new tactics, SEOs\u2014people who spend their careers reconciling the needs of machines and real people\u2014are the people best-placed to adopt\u00a0them.<\/p>\n<p>So for now, GEO, LLMO, AEO\u2026 it\u2019s all just\u00a0SEO.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\nif(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','1511271639109289');fbq('track','PageView');<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/geo-is-just-seo\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a marketer, I want to know if there are specific things I should do to improve our LLM visibility that I am not currently doing as part of my routine marketing and SEO efforts. So far, it doesn\u2019t seem like\u00a0it. There seems to be massive overlap in SEO and GEO, such that it doesn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}