LLM search optimization FAQ

How we find information, how we research things, how we search is changing.

LLMs initiated a shift from constrained, search box queries that return lists of links to natural language questions that return conversational answers — and it’s hard to imagine going back.

It’s an exciting shift, but it’s also a bit jarring and ambiguous, too.

We built this FAQ to be an ongoing, updated resource for our clients and fellow marketers to stay ahead of the latest updates to LLM search, LLM optimization, and all things Google search as we learn them.

Have a question that’s not answered here? Reach out and we’ll answer it in this FAQ.

Am I losing traffic to AI overviews? What can I do?

If you were building search-optimized content prior to AI Overviews being rolled out, almost definitely you will see a decline in clicks for any top-of-funnel, informational content.

Google's AI Overviews provide comprehensive answers directly ahead of standard search results, reducing the need for users to click through to websites for informational queries.

Reports indicate that clickthrough rates have decreased 30%+ due to the introduction of AI Overviews.

We are encouraging teams to spend their strategic writing resources on content that brings forward their unique perspective and point-of-view and to write content as context—context that they’re uniquely qualified to write. This context can then be repurposed into various content formats through LLM-assisted workflows to maximize its value.

What is Google AI mode, and is it the new way to search Google?

AI mode is Google’s latest innovation on their search experience. It’s an LLM-first search experience that feels more like what users are used to from ChatGPT’s web search functionality than the traditional Google search experience:

AI mode was introduced in March 2025 and is currently rolled out to all US search users as a Google Search Labs experiment. To access, it, you can go to google.com/aimode and follow the appropriate instructions to enable it for your personal Google account. (Note that AI mode is not currently available for Google Workspace users.) It’s not clear if this will become the dominant search experience, but we think some version of this is likely.

We’re closely following the rollout and response to AI mode and will keep clients and this FAQ updated we as learn and observe more.

Why would I use Google AI mode over ChatGPT?

ChatGPT requires you to “search the web” specifically, or otherwise requires you to prompt it to search the web, whereas Google AI Mode will search the web 100% of the time, no questions asked. Want the most recent data available on the internet? For now, AI mode would be your pick.

When do LLMs search the web vs use training data?

This is a question, in my opinion, not enough people ask.

Every change to the state of your query for an LLM can have a significant impact, and it’s important to understand what’s happening.

As of May 2025, every major public LLM provider has web search integrated. There are important differences to know in how web search is triggered, which are not fully understood, depending on the LLM provider.

At the highest level, for most LLM chat surfaces, if the LLM has sufficient training data for a query up to it’s knowledge cut-off date, it may not trigger a web search.

Currently how this works depends on the provider, and the level of control and visibility is changing often.

As a way to “force” web search more reliably, you can prompt the LLM to “Search the web for latest info as of today’s date.” (I do this with basically every prompt!)

• ChatGPT (GPT-4o): Utilizes live web search by default when training data is incomplete. You can also specifically trigger a web search using the Tools dropdown within ChatGPT by selecting search the web:
• Claude 4 (Opus and Sonnet): Offers web browsing capabilities but only searches web under specific conditions. Best to always request in prompt if recency is important.
• Google Gemini: Able to search the web, with no specific option to do so. Best to always request in the prompt if recency is important. (Google’s AI mode appears to always search the web, so there’s that!)
• Perplexity AI: Always searches the web with cited sources
• Google AI Mode (beta): Always searches the web with cited sources

Do LLMs credit sources when using my content?

Often - yes! ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity provide citations or links to original source when they’ve searched the web. Unfortunately, when they retrieve information from their training data, this is often unavailable or unreliable. More to say on this soon.

How do I optimize my content for LLMs?

There is no “rank” or “indexing” for LLMs. Content sources for a particular, relevant topic are weighted differently by different models, with different sources being considered authoritative by industry.

For the popular general-purpose LLMs, we have little visibility into how they work, but can track citations over time to understand patterns in behavior. However, it’s important to note that the “weighting” of the authority of sources can change overnight per industry or vertical.

Whether or not you show up in an LLM query is incredibly dynamic—possibly even moreso than search, and certainly less predictable at this stage. We track this information closely with clients, to get as close to the clues as we can.

That said, here are some things we can at least semi-confidently recommend for optimal visibility:

• Identify blog post author and their role to establish authority
• Use authoritative sources in your copy and cite your sources
• Lead with active verbs and use short sentences so content is easy to parse
• Structure content like components that can function independently (eg: a paragraph should be able to live alone without missing key details)
• Add FAQs at the end of post to capture potential queries a user might ask about the topic
• Leave at least 15% of any blog post for connection to product. This makes your content inevitably unique in the SERPs and gravitates your strategy towards content with strong connections to your product (= higher conversion)

Technical site concerns should also be reviewed, but are rarely an issue. We’re happy to help if you’re trying to sort through a confusing audit or need some guidance.

Can we influence what LLMs say about our brand?

Indirectly, yes. By ensuring that authoritative and up-to-date information about your brand is available across reputable sources—such as your website, Wikipedia, social media, and industry publications—you can influence the data LLMs access and, consequently, the narratives they generate.

What should we communicate to stakeholders about LLMs' impact on our digital strategy?

The rise of AI-generated answers is reshaping how users find things. A strong content strategy to maintain and increase visibility and authority is more important than ever.

In order to obtain optimal and accurate search ranking and LLM visibility, investments should be made in content optimization and messaging refinement for current content, creating net new content and repurposing, and refining website messaging and updates.

What’s the relationship between search engine optimization and LLM optimization?

The premise—as in “optimizing for how people find things”—is the same, but almost nothing else is.

SEO historically has helped brands go from unknown to known, across a variety of topics that they otherwise might not have been surfaced for—through content. You write content focused on topics and derivative keywords, and with enough focus, it can rank.

LLMs don’t follow the same rules—and it’s complicated.

But whether or not you’re surfaced by LLMs is still at least partially determined by SEO. Google is a grounding component for many, if not all, major LLMs. This means, if you’re in the top 10 for a search query today, that’s still a factor in LLM-powered search experiences. Right now, at least.

So what does this mean for your SEO strategy? Continue everything you’re doing, but also have a complimentary strategy for LLM visibility—and stay on top of the latest developments, optimizations, and opportunities.

Turns out, you need to talk about your brand everywhere now. Authoritative sources are the new Google. Every search on Reddit, YouTube, or anywhere your users are is its own SERP, and you need to show up.

As always, our advice is to keep creating content that only you can create, that is uniquely decorated with your perspective and point of view.

Have a question that’s not answered here? Reach out and we’ll answer it.