SEO to LLMO: Strengthen the base, and build better

SEO to LLMO has been the hot topic here at Tenato; we have been watching our clients’ online traffic results and are seeing noticeable shifts. Let’s face it, as internet searches move from Google to AI, it was bound to happen. I know some of us are kind of happy to see Google losing its monopolistic grip on search (especially when they are keeping people from clicking through to websites by giving them instant AI answers), but it will certainly require a visibility recalibration. It also means a shift from standard search engine optimization, SEO to LLMO, a type AI optimization.

We’re expecting that websites, while generating fewer leads, may generate better leads…ones that are more qualified, more engaged, and further along in their decision-making journey. Here’s why.

As our Digital Marketing Associate, Alan Osborne says, you could think of it in Star Wars terms, as “a disturbance in the Force.” That disturbance is the move from traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to what we now call Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO). That means we’re not all just focusing on Google anymore. Your visibility now depends on being read, understood, and referenced by AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

Even Google is now copying the core mechanics of how Large Language Models (LLMs) retrieve and structure data. They’ve adopted passage-based indexing and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), which means they’re moving away from listing pages in third-party websites, and instead just extracting the most relevant chunks of content, which is exactly how LLMs do it. Google isn’t innovating in this space; it’s playing catch-up to these newer AI systems. Let’s take a look at what happened and when…

What Shifted SEO to LLMO

Google used to be the gatekeeper. They even paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 to remain the default search engine on Safari. Their search model was based on keywords, backlinks, and paid placements. But the system was flawed.

As Alan says, the top 10 links often didn’t answer the user’s question, leading to bounce rates and pogo-sticking. Marketers tried to game the system with SEO – Search Engine Optimization – which sometimes involved techniques like keyword stuffing, creating fluff-filled content, and purchasing backlinks to fuel subpar content. It worked until it didn’t.

Then came November 30, 2022: the day OpenAI launched ChatGPT.

That moment introduced a new player to the game: large language models (LLMs), which don’t rely on keywords the same way humans do. They work off intent, context, and meaning. And they don’t display a list of links. They provide a synthesized answer, often sourced from the top 10 or 20 most relevant web pages, in chunks rather than keywords.

So what does is all mean to you?

Traditional SEO Is Being Replaced by GEO and LLMO

Well, SEO might not get you the website traffic that it used to. Instead, we’re moving into a world of GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. GEO is the method of optimizing your content for visibility in AI-generated answers. It’s not about rankings anymore. It’s about references, citations, and semantic alignment. In this new world, you want to be cited – like a published academic. Imagine that, according to you, AI thinks this is the right answer.

Where traditional SEO chased the algorithm, getting cited through LLMO must align with the reasoning of the model. The focus is on context, natural language, and structured information. The page doesn’t have to rank #1 in Google to be cited by an AI model. It just has to contain the best answer.

Think of this as moving from shouting the loudest to being the most useful. Quality will now matter immensely.

Compass Audit: Encompassing SEO to LLMO

Out of frustration with how SEO tools oversimplified what matters, Alan has designed a process we use at Tenato called SEO Compass Audit. It follows first principles, breaking the problem down to the fundamentals:

• Search is about matching problems to solutions.
• Visibility requires clarity, structure, and meaning.
• AI engines process content differently from humans.

This audit analyzes where your brand is being seen, what’s being indexed, and where LLMs are pulling answers…or ignoring you altogether. Here’s how he explains it.

The Blind Men and the Elephant: A Broken SEO System

As he puts it, “The old SEO approach is like four blind men touching different parts of an elephant. One thinks it’s a wall, another a rope, another a tree. Nobody sees the whole picture. Traditional SEO focused too narrowly on keyword data or backlinks, missing the bigger picture: intent, clarity, and answer quality.”

So, basically, GEO and LLMO correct this by combining all those fragments into a unified, consumer-centric perspective. They ask: What is the user trying to solve, and does your content offer a complete, contextualized answer? 

Passage-Based Retrieval: What LLMs Actually Read

LLMs don’t read whole pages. They extract specific passages that match the query’s intent. This means your headers, bullet points, and short paragraphs matter more than ever. If your content is buried in long introductions or dense text, it’s unlikely to be used.

Google moved from indexing entire documents to indexing passages back in 2021. Now, in 2025, generative engines use Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), which means they pull chunks of your content and generate answers on the fly. To be used, your content must:

• Be chunkable (short, self-contained passages)
• Be readable (simple language with high clarity)
• Be semantically rich (answers that go beyond the obvious)

So, where do we go from here?

So, Do Business Owners Still Need to Invest in SEO?

Yes, you still need technical SEO. That’s because your site must be crawlable, indexable, and structured. That’s your foundation. But true online visibility today also requires:

• Technical SEO to ensure your site is discoverable and stable.
• On-page SEO to clarify meaning with structure, headings, metadata, and schema.
• UX/CX SEO to align user experience with search expectations.
• Off-page SEO, including digital PR, social signals, inferred and non-inferred backlinks.

SEO is how you get into the top 10 trusted sources that LLMs use to construct answers. These models don’t pull from random web pages; they use a fan-out search system that looks at the top 10, sometimes the top 20 sources. Then they cross-reference those pages to develop a shared answer built on consensus. If your content isn’t structured, semantically precise, and technically sound, you’re not even in the running to be referenced. Without SEO, you’re invisible to the machines making decisions about what the best answer is.

This layered system of SEO to LLMO, what we call Full-Stack SEO, is now the most critical method for maintaining positioning as we move from keyword lists to answer chunks, from ranking pages to influencing AI responses.

Why Visibility Now Means Being in the AI’s Thought Process

Here’s how going from SEO to LLMO changes your approach.

Traditional SEO asks: What rank are we?

LLMO asks: Does the model think of us when assembling an answer?

That’s model memory. It’s about being relevant often enough, across enough trustworthy sources, that AI includes you in its logic. You’re not optimizing for one page. You’re optimizing for brand relevance inside a model’s reasoning path.

So where do you go from here? Here’s my list to get you going…

Next Steps: Moving from Traffic to Trust

1. Run an SEO Compass Audit to understand your current standing.
2. Structure your content for chunking, not scanning.
3. Add semantic depth: FAQs, real examples, analogies, and clear definitions.
4. Update your topical coverage to match how models classify content.
5. Monitor your model mentions, not just your rankings.

The search system hasn’t disappeared. It has changed. And those who adapt will capture the highest-quality leads with the lowest acquisition costs.

SEO isn’t dead. It’s grown up. It now has a memory, and that memory belongs to machines.

Let’s make sure they remember you, and for the right reasons – great, high-quality, fresh, and relevant content. 

Call us, or set up an appointment, and we’ll get you started.