Published 16 June 2025 – Ryan Walsh
Why I’m Even Talking About “LLM Visibility”
I’ll admit it: a few months ago I was hunched over my breakfast, soggy cornflakes and all, convinced SEO was about to croak. AI chatbots were hogging the spotlight and my trusty ranking tools looked suddenly… quaint.
Then I did what any caffeine-fuelled marketer does when panic strikes: I dug in. Turns out, large language models (LLMs) aren’t killing search; they’re adding an extra doorway to your shop. Semrush even reckons chatbot traffic will eclipse old-school Google clicks by 2027. So instead of tossing SEO in the bin, I’ve started bolting on something new: generative-engine optimisation, or GEO. Same house, fresh extension.
Wait—What Exactly Is an LLM Anyway?
Picture an impossibly huge autocomplete engine that’s read half the internet and can now spit out answers like your smartest mate at the pub. ChatGPT, Claude, copyright—those are LLMs. They don’t dump a blue list of links in your lap; they cherry-pick the juiciest paragraph (sometimes from page SEVEN of Google) and serve it up, citation in tow.
Why Your Current SEO Isn’t a Wasted Effort
If you’ve spent years polishing E-E-A-T scores and collecting solid backlinks, congrats—you’re already jogging halfway round the GEO track. LLMs still crave depth, authority, and clarity. The tweak is relevance on a micro level. They’re less bothered about where the whole page ranks and more about whether that one grail paragraph answers the question perfectly.
A Quick Story About Porsche Paint Chips
Last week I asked ChatGPT how to fix a stone chip—never said which car. Because I’d previously peppered it with ten searches about 911 ownership, it handed me Porsche-specific paint-care guides on a silver platter. Moral: LLMs remember who’s asking. Own a niche, and you’ll pop up whenever your tribe comes calling.
GEO vs. Traditional SEO—My Cheat Sheet
Old-School SEO
GEO Twist
Win the SERP, earn the click
Win the snippet, earn the mention
Backlinks = clout
Backlinks plus crystal-clear structure = clout
One-and-done query
“Query fan-out”: user asks follow-ups, model digs deeper
Big brands dominate page 1
Smaller experts can leapfrog giants if their paragraph is sharper