Understanding Modern SEO
The search landscape has changed. Here is what every business owner needs to understand.
What Is AI SEO?, AI SEO is the practice of optimizing your website and content so that AI systems, including Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini, cite your brand as an authoritative source when users ask questions in your niche. For a full breakdown, read our deep-dive guide on what AI SEO is and how it works.
What Is LLM SEO?, LLM SEO (Large Language Model SEO) is the process of structuring your content, brand mentions, and online presence so that large language models trained on web data recognize and recommend your business when generating answers about your industry or service category.
What Is Traditional SEO?, Traditional SEO is the practice of optimizing your website through technical improvements, keyword targeting, and link building to rank higher in Google's standard organic search results. It remains the foundation of any digital marketing strategy.
Traditional SEO vs AI SEO vs LLM SEO
Understanding the differences helps you invest in the right strategy for where your customers are searching.
| Feature | Traditional SEO | AI SEO | LLM SEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank on Google page 1 | Get cited in AI Overviews | Appear in LLM-generated answers |
| How it works | Keywords, backlinks, technical | Content structure, schema, E-E-A-T | Brand mentions, entity authority |
| Key platform | Google Search | Google, Perplexity, ChatGPT | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot |
| Timeline | 3–6 months | 4–8 weeks | Ongoing |
| Measurement | Rankings, organic traffic | AI citation rate | Brand mention rate in AI answers |
Everything Covered
Technical SEO
Site speed optimization, Core Web Vitals, crawlability, indexation, structured data implementation, and mobile-first compliance.
On-Page SEO
Keyword research, content optimization, meta tags, internal linking architecture, and semantic content strategy.
Link Building
Authoritative backlink acquisition through outreach, digital PR, and content partnerships that build lasting domain authority.
AI Search Optimization
Schema markup, E-E-A-T content signals, and FAQ optimization that gets you featured in Google AI Overviews and Perplexity.
LLM Brand Optimization
Entity building, brand mention campaigns, and structured content that trains AI models to recommend your business.
Local SEO
Google Business Profile optimization, local citations, and geo-targeted content that dominates your local market. See our guide to local SEO for service businesses.
How to Optimize
for AI SEO in 5 Steps
This is the exact framework we use to get clients appearing in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT answers.
Build E-E-A-T Signals
Add author bios, credentials, and real-world evidence of expertise. AI systems favour content from demonstrably authoritative sources.
Implement Schema Markup
Add FAQPage, HowTo, Organisation, and Service schema to your key pages. Structured data is the language AI systems read most fluently.
Write Direct-Answer Content
Every question should be answered directly in 40–60 word paragraphs. AI systems extract and cite concise, factual responses.
Build Brand Entity Authority
Get your brand consistently mentioned across authoritative external websites, industry directories, and relevant publications.
Optimize for Snippet Extraction
Format lists, tables, and definitions in clean HTML that is easily parsed and reproduced by AI systems generating answers.
Want Us to Do This For You?
Our SEO team implements all five steps as part of every campaign. Book a free audit to see where you currently stand.
Book Free SEO Audit →Common SEO Questions
Traditional SEO optimizes your website to rank on Google's standard search results pages through keywords, backlinks, and technical improvements. AI SEO optimizes your content so that AI-powered search systems, including Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, cite your brand as an authoritative source when generating answers.
To get cited by ChatGPT and other large language models, build strong entity authority through consistent brand mentions on authoritative websites, structured content with clear definitions, and FAQ-format pages that answer questions directly. This is the core of LLM SEO, a service Position Xero specializes in for US businesses.
LLM SEO is the process of optimizing your brand to be recommended by AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. It matters because over 100 million people now use ChatGPT monthly, and many are replacing Google with AI assistants for product and service recommendations. If you're not optimized for AI, you're invisible to a growing share of your market.
For most competitive keywords, ranking on Google page 1 takes 3 to 6 months with consistent SEO work. Local SEO for less competitive markets can show results in 4 to 8 weeks. AI SEO citations in Google AI Overviews typically appear within 4 to 8 weeks of structured content optimization.
A good local SEO strategy includes: optimizing your Google Business Profile, building local citations across directories, targeting location-specific keywords, earning customer reviews, and creating locally relevant content. In 2026, this should also include AI SEO to appear in Google AI Overviews for local search queries. For more answers, visit our marketing FAQ.
Google AI Overview is an AI-generated summary that appears at the top of Google results for certain queries. It synthesises answers from multiple web sources using large language models. To appear in AI Overviews, your content needs strong E-E-A-T signals, clear structured content, schema markup, and direct answers to commonly asked questions.
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, Google's framework for evaluating content quality. High E-E-A-T signals (author credentials, factual accuracy, external citations, brand authority) are critical for ranking in traditional search and being cited in AI-generated answers.