The way people find information online is changing.
Search engines are no longer the only gatekeepers.
Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s AI Overview are now answering questions directly.
That raises an important question: how do you make sure your business still shows up?
Search Engines vs. LLMs
Traditional search engines crawl, index, and rank websites based on keywords, backlinks, and technical SEO.
LLMs work differently.
They generate answers instead of returning a list of links.
They pull from trusted data and summarise it into a single response.
How LLMs Decide What to Surface
LLMs are trained to prioritise content they can trust.
They look at factors such as:
Domain authority and reputation (age, history, recognition)
Schema and structured data that makes content easy to understand
Author credentials and citations
Freshness and recency of content
Backlinks still matter, but they are less important than whether the model can trust and understand your content.
Why Generic Content No Longer Works
Basic content like “What is SEO” or “What is a Website Audit” gets buried.
LLMs have thousands of similar answers to pull from.
What stands out now is helpful, niche content written with authority signals.
That means insights from real experts, backed up with schema, data, and clear answers.
The Role of Schema and Structured FAQs
Schema tags help AI parse your content.
This is not just good for Google snippets anymore, it is how you tell LLMs: this is the question, this is the answer.
Structured FAQs, author bios, and credible citations give AI models the confidence to use your content in their answers.
What Businesses Should Do Now
If you want to stay visible in an AI-driven world, here are some practical steps:
Audit your content: Are you publishing generic filler or niche expertise?
Add schema and FAQs: Make your content machine-friendly.
Show authority: Use author bios, credentials, case studies, and real-world proof.
Keep it fresh: LLMs reward content that is up to date and relevant.
Think trust first: Would an AI confidently quote your page in front of millions?
Conclusion
LLMs are not killing SEO, they are reshaping it.
The focus is shifting from keywords and backlinks to trust, clarity, and authority.
If you want your business to appear in the AI answers of tomorrow, you need to start adapting today.