LLM SEO: How to Get Your Brand Named in AI Answers
LLM SEO, also called LLM optimization, is the work of getting AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews to name and recommend your brand. It works on two things: what the AI already learned about you, and the pages it finds when it searches the web. A big part of that work happens on other websites, not just your own.
What is LLM SEO?
An LLM (large language model) is the kind of AI behind ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. It learns from huge amounts of text, then writes answers to questions. SEO (search engine optimization) is the work of getting your pages to rank in search engines like Google.
LLM SEO puts the two together. The goal is not a spot in a list of links. The goal is to be named in the answer when a buyer asks something like “what’s the best CRM for a small team?” or “who installs heat pumps near me?”
This covers Google too. AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries at the top of many Google results. AI Mode is a separate Google search mode that writes longer answers to harder questions. Both are LLM answers, so both are part of LLM SEO.
You will see other names for the same work:
- LLM optimization (LLMO): the same idea, without the word SEO.
- generative engine optimization (GEO): the term most agencies and researchers use.
- answer engine optimization (AEO): a term focused on getting your content used as the direct answer.
The labels differ. The goal is the same: when a buyer asks AI for help, your brand is in the answer.
How LLMs decide which brands to name
An AI tool can learn about your brand in two ways. Either one can lead to a mention.
1. What the model learned before the question
LLMs are trained on large amounts of text from the web. AI companies collect that text with crawlers, which are bots that visit and copy web pages. ChatGPT’s maker uses a crawler called GPTBot for training. Claude’s maker uses one called ClaudeBot.
A brand that is written about on many sites has more chances to become part of what the model learned. That knowledge can show up with no link at all. In our study of 10,000 AI answers, when ChatGPT named brands it already knew, 85% of those mentions had no link to the brand’s own website.
The same study also asked an AI model with no web search the same questions: 82.22% of ChatGPT answers named at least one brand that model also named, and 61.07% of that model’s brands showed up in ChatGPT’s answers.
Source: Web Asset Builders study of 10,000 US keywords, August–September 2026.
2. What the AI finds while it answers
Many AI tools also search the web live, then write an answer from the pages they find. ChatGPT uses a search crawler called OAI-SearchBot. Claude uses one called Claude-SearchBot. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode use Google’s own search index. They often run several related searches at once to gather more pages. This is called “query fan-out.”
Each AI uses different sources
This is where LLM SEO gets tricky. Each AI tool leans on its own set of pages. In our study, Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT shared only 3.33% of the pages they linked to, on average. Reddit showed up in 49.87% of AI Overviews but in only 0.31% of ChatGPT answers. YouTube showed up in 50.81% and 0.16%.
So being strong in one AI tool doesn’t mean you show up in another. You have to check each one.
How LLM SEO differs from regular SEO
| Regular SEO | LLM SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | Rank your pages in search results | Get your brand named in AI answers |
| Where the work happens | Mostly on your own website | Your website plus the other sites that write about you |
| What you measure | Rankings, clicks and sales | How often AI names you, next to whom, and which pages it links to |
| How steady results are | A ranking gives you one clear number | The same question can get a different answer each time |
The two still overlap a lot. Google’s AI features are built on its normal search rankings. In our study, 49.83% of the pages AI Overviews linked to were in Google’s top 10 for the same search. ChatGPT was different: only 10.87% of the pages it linked to were in Google’s top 10.
How to optimize for LLMs: 6 steps
These steps answer the question “how do I rank in LLMs?” They work best together, as one plan.
1. Let AI crawlers read your site
robots.txt is a small file on your site that tells bots which pages they may visit. Check that it doesn’t block Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot or Claude-SearchBot. Sites that block OAI-SearchBot don’t appear in ChatGPT’s search answers.
Training bots and search bots are separate. You can block GPTBot or ClaudeBot and still let the search bots in. Also put your key facts in plain text on the page, not only inside images.
2. Find the questions your buyers ask AI
People type short keywords into Google. With AI tools, they often ask full questions, with details like budget, location or team size.
List the questions a buyer asks at each step: learning about the problem, comparing options, then choosing who to buy from. Ask those questions in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google. Write down which brands get named and which pages get linked. Our free AI visibility audit does this for you and shows where you stand.
3. Make your own pages easy to understand
Say plainly what you sell, who it’s for, where you work and what it costs. Answer common buyer questions on the pages that match them. Keep facts like prices, locations and features up to date.
You don’t need tricks. There is no special way to write for AI. You don’t need to break pages into tiny chunks. You don’t need special schema markup (code that labels page content for search engines) to appear in Google’s AI features. And Google Search doesn’t use llms.txt files at all.
4. Get your brand onto the pages AI trusts
In our study, 80.69% of the links next to brand mentions in AI Overviews went to other websites, not the brand’s own site. For ChatGPT, it was 57.58%. So a big part of LLM SEO happens off your website.
Start with the pages that already show up for your buyers’ questions: reviews, comparisons, “best of” lists and trusted industry sites. Aim to be named there, with accurate details.
Buying placements is not a shortcut. Only 2% of the websites AI Overviews linked to appeared in a catalog of sites that sell guest posts (paid articles on someone else’s site). ChatGPT was about the same: in our study, 2.36% of the websites it linked to were in that catalog.
Share of linked websites found in a guest-post-selling catalog. Source: Web Asset Builders study of 10,000 US keywords, August–September 2026.
5. Rank in Google for the same questions
Google’s AI Overviews lean on pages that rank. Of the AI Overview links that also appeared in Google’s top 100 for the same search, the typical (median, or middle) rank was #6. So normal SEO still feeds LLM SEO, at least on Google.
ChatGPT’s matching pages had a median rank of #21. It leans much less on Google, so check it on its own. Our guide on how to get recommended by ChatGPT covers that side.
6. Track what AI says, again and again
AI answers change. We asked Google the same questions three times. An AI Overview showed all three times for 82.7% of the keywords. In our study, it showed only once or twice for 7.9%, and not at all for 9.4%. But the brands named overlapped only 60.06% on average across the three runs.
- AI Overview all 3 times 82.7%
- AI Overview 1 or 2 times 7.9%
- No AI Overview 9.4%
The same 1,000 keywords, each searched in Google 3 times. Source: Web Asset Builders study of 10,000 US keywords, August–September 2026.
One check tells you little. Ask the same questions across tools, many times, and watch which brands and pages come up. Here is how to track your brand in AI. Google Search Console, Google’s free tool for site owners, now also has a report that shows how often links to your site appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
What doesn’t help much
A lot of LLM SEO advice focuses on small tricks. Most of it won’t change what AI says about you:
- An llms.txt file. Google Search doesn’t read it.
- Rewriting everything “for AI.” Clear writing for people is what works.
- Stuffing pages with keywords. LLMs understand meaning, not repeated words.
- Buying guest posts. As the 2% figure above shows, that is not where AI Overviews draw from.
The work that matters is bigger: be clear on your own site, rank for your buyers’ questions, and get named on the pages AI trusts.
If you sell software, see AI SEO for SaaS for how this works when buyers ask AI to compare tools.
Get your free AI visibility audit
LLM SEO works best as one plan: get your brand onto the pages AI trusts and the pages that rank, then track what AI says. Our free AI visibility audit shows where you stand in AI, what your buyers ask it, and how to close the gap.
