LLM SEO and generative engine optimisation: a practical guide
People now ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity before they search. Here is how to make your pages the source AI answers cite, without gimmicks.
Published 6 October 2026 · By Naveed Murtaza
Source: Semrush monthly search-volume estimates, US and Canada databases, checked 6 October 2026. Estimates, not measured searches.
Crawlable page
Search and AI crawlers can reach and read it.
Clear answer
The main question is answered in plain words near the top.
Evidence
Original data, examples and named sources make it worth citing.
Consistent facts
Your name, services and details match across the web.
Citation
The AI system links to you as a source for its answer.
Why is this term growing?
Semrush estimates about 1,600 US monthly searches for “llm seo” with moderate ranking difficulty (39/100), and several thousand for related terms like “generative engine optimization”. Many of the searchers are business owners and marketers looking for help, so the topic has commercial value.
The number of names (GEO, AEO, LLM SEO, AI SEO) shows the field is new. Pick the term your customers use and explain the others.
What do AI systems look for?
Different systems work differently, but most retrieve web pages, then choose sources that answer the question clearly and appear trustworthy. Google says its AI features use the same systems and quality rules as normal search.
That means thin, keyword-stuffed pages perform poorly. Specific, accurate pages with real experience perform better.
How should pages be written?
Lead with a direct two-sentence answer. Use question-style headings that match real queries. Add short lists, tables and FAQs where they genuinely help.
Show who wrote it, their experience and when it was last updated. Link to primary sources for any facts.
What about llms.txt and special tags?
Some people recommend an “llms.txt” file. It is a community proposal, not a standard that major search engines say they use for ranking. It does no harm, but do not expect it to change results by itself.
Structured data such as Article, FAQ and Organization schema helps machines understand your page, as long as it matches visible content.
How do you measure progress?
Check Search Console for growth in longer, question-style queries. Ask the main AI assistants your key customer questions each month and note whether you are cited.
Track referral traffic from AI tools in analytics. Results are noisy, so look at trends over months, not days.
How fast will this topic grow?
Nobody can reliably promise that a topic will reach millions of searches in a set number of weeks. Search demand moves with news, product launches and policy announcements. The figures in this article are Semrush estimates for the US and Canada, so treat them as a guide to relative interest, not exact numbers.
A sensible approach is to publish a clear, sourced answer early, update it whenever the official source changes, and check real Search Console data before writing more on the same theme.