In this article, I discussed strategies you can implement to ensure your brand is included in these tools’ responses.
In today’s digital marketing world, achieving brand visibility through large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence tools has become an important strategic goal.
SEO specialists and digital marketing professionals are curious about how their brands can appear in responses provided by AI-based tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. However, finding reliable and detailed information on this topic can be challenging.
Considering SEO’s impact on Google and other search engines, keyword usage, content quality, and backlinks play a significant role in this process. However, the “link” factor is not as crucial for large language models (LLMs) as it used to be.
When LLMs respond to questions, they rely on the relationships and frequencies of words in their training data. For instance, the word that ChatGPT will produce after a specific word is determined by how often those words occur together during training.
ChatGPT has the text “The best thing about AI is its ability to…”. Imagine it has scanned billions of pages of human-written texts (such as those on the web and in digitized books) and found all instances of this text—then it looks at how often different words follow. ChatGPT essentially does something similar, but it doesn’t look at the text verbatim; it looks for things that are “semantically matched” in a certain sense. As a result, it produces a ranked list of which words could follow and presents the “probabilities” along with that.
Therefore, to ensure that your brand appears in the responses of such tools, you need to create “keyword proximity.” In other words, your brand or products being frequently mentioned about specific topics will make you stand out in the responses given by LLMs.
First, you must ensure that your brand is frequently mentioned regarding a specific topic. To achieve this, produce content centred around targeted keywords and pay attention to the variety of platforms where this content is published. For instance, being highlighted on well-known websites listing “the best breakfast restaurants in Istanbul” can effectively link your restaurant brand to this topic in the data used to train language models.
You can conduct an effective online PR process to ensure your brand’s AI tools are included in the training data. Collaborate with well-known media outlets, blogs, influencers, or other authoritative reference sites in the industry to increase your brand’s visibility. Since the source of data is crucial for LLMs, being featured on such reputable platforms will enhance your brand visibility.
To associate your brand with specific topics, ensure that your brand is mentioned in the related content. This process is similar to backlink strategies in Google SEO, but what truly matters in LLMs is the “mention” of your brand in word form. In this context, having your content featured in authoritative publications increases the likelihood that your brand will appear in LLM training data.
You can use these AI tools to learn about the sources from which large language models have been trained or what types of content they prioritize. For example, you can ask ChatGPT about the likelihood of a specific publication being included in LLM training data to get a general idea. Using tools like BuzzSumo, you can track where specific keywords appear and aim to be featured in those sources.
I recommend regularly monitoring sites highlighted in Google’s AI Overviews using tools like Semrush. These tools allow you to discover sites quickly that have been previously identified and recommended by LLMs.
LLMs tend to use brands and content that frequently appear in the training data in their responses. Therefore, collaborating with authoritative sources in your field ensures your brand is often mentioned in such content. For example, writing articles for well-known industry blogs, sharing expert opinions, or participating in interviews can be practical.
Large language models and AI tools are reshaping SEO and digital marketing strategies. To ensure your brand is featured in the responses generated by these new tools, it’s crucial to create keyword proximity and effectively utilize PR and content marketing. While this process may appear different from traditional SEO tactics, the fundamental content creation and relationship-building principles still apply.
Remember, when your brand is associated with a specific topic, your chances of being included in the answers to related questions will increase significantly. This provides a significant competitive advantage in digital marketing in the age of artificial intelligence and large language models.
Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly SEO insights, join the discussion in our community, or engage with professionals on our Twitter group.
