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What is LLM SEO? A simple guide for small businesses

26 June 2026 · Zeb Choudhry

LLM SEO is about making sure AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity can find, understand and recommend your business.

That's the short version. Here's why it matters and what you actually need to do about it.

What does LLM stand for?

LLM stands for Large Language Model. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini and Claude are all LLMs. They are the AI tools people are now using to ask questions like:

• "Who is the best dentist in Leeds?"
• "Find me a reliable accountant in Manchester"
• "What's the best Indian restaurant near me?"
• "Can you recommend a local solicitor for a property purchase?"

When someone asks one of those questions, the AI gives them a direct answer — usually a short list of businesses it trusts. That answer doesn't come with a list of links to click. The AI just picks the businesses it knows about and understands.

LLM SEO is the practice of making sure your business is one of those picks.

How is LLM SEO different from regular SEO?

Regular SEO gets you ranking on Google. LLM SEO gets you into AI-generated answers.

They use different signals. Google cares a lot about backlinks, keywords and page speed. AI tools care more about:

• Clear facts — your business name, what you do, where you are, how to contact you
• Structured data — technical markup that tells AI exactly what type of business you are
• External mentions — reviews, directory listings, Reddit discussions, press coverage
• Content quality — clear, quotable, factual writing that AI can summarise without misrepresenting you

The opposite is also true. A small business with a modest Google presence can appear regularly in AI recommendations if it has the right signals in place — especially in local and niche searches.

Why does it matter now?

AI search is growing quickly. ChatGPT crossed a billion users in early 2026. Perplexity handles hundreds of millions of queries per month. Google's own AI Overviews appear at the top of an increasing number of search results, answering questions before users even see the list of links.

The customers using these tools to find businesses are not always returning to Google afterwards. They get an answer and they act on it. If your business isn't in that answer, you may never know you lost them.

Early adopters — businesses that get set up for LLM SEO now — are building an advantage that will compound over time. The signal patterns that make a business visible in AI answers tend to be self-reinforcing: more mentions lead to more trust lead to more recommendations.

What do you actually need to do?

The good news is that LLM SEO doesn't require a huge budget or a technical background. The most important steps are:

1. Add schema markup — a small piece of structured data that tells AI tools what type of business you are, where you are, and how to reach you. If you're on WordPress or Squarespace, there are plugins that do this without any code.
2. Allow AI crawlers — check your robots.txt file isn't blocking GPTBot (ChatGPT's crawler) or PerplexityBot. Many sites accidentally block them.
3. Write clear, factual content — explain what you do, who you serve, what your location is, what your hours are. Don't bury the basics in vague marketing language.
4. Build external mentions — get listed on Google Business Profile, relevant directories, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot, Yell — anywhere that confirms your business is real and what it does.
5. Publish an llms.txt file — a simple plain-text file at the root of your website that gives AI crawlers a quick map of who you are and which pages matter.

That's the core of it. You don't need to do everything at once. Start with the things you're missing and work through the list.

How do you know what's missing?

That's exactly what GetVisus is for. Run a free LLM SEO audit and within 60 seconds you'll see a score out of 100, a verdict, and the three most important things to fix first — in plain English.

GetVisus also runs live tests against ChatGPT and Perplexity to check whether they currently mention your business when asked relevant questions. So you don't have to guess — you can see exactly where you stand.