Off-page SEO is everything you do outside of your website to help it rank better in the SERPs. On-page SEO focuses on content, site structure, and technical improvements, but off-page SEO looks at building credibility from outside. There are many ways to get there, from link building to social media to earning those coveted brand mentions.
With off-page SEO, you try to gain trust and credibility for yourself or your business. A big part of this strategy concerns link building, which involves getting other websites to link back to yours. Doing this shows search engines that your content is helpful and worth looking at.
Remember that it’s about the quality of links, instead of the quantity. A few high-quality links from trusted websites will help more than lots of links from low-authority ones. But links aren’t the only signals that matter.
Mentions of your brand name or domain from other websites also help build authority. Even without direct links, consistent references in articles and forums show that people are engaging with your brand.
Social media builds on that exposure. Sharing content where your audience spends time can boost visibility, which in turn can lead to more mentions, traffic, and backlinks.
Local SEO is another area of off-page SEO. Using tools like Google Business Profile and getting reviews helps your business appear in location-based searches. It’s especially useful for service businesses or companies with physical locations.
You can also experiment with creating content for different audiences to naturally attract attention. Reusing content in different formats, like videos, blog posts, or infographics, keeps your reach wide. You can also work with experts or influencers, as these can introduce your brand to new audiences and help build visibility.
Why off-page SEO matters for your site
Search engines want searchers to see trustworthy content. With off-page SEO, you can prove your site is dependable, and the quickest way to do this is when others refer to or recommend it. Good links from strong websites act like references, building confidence in your content’s value.
Even unlinked brand mentions help. When your name keeps coming up across the web, algorithms pick up on it. A strong digital presence makes a difference, whether that’s engaging with others online, through media coverage, partnerships, or content sharing.
While not directly tied to rankings, increasing your online visibility can lead to more searches, shares, and links, which can lead to increased traffic.
All these efforts support the broader goal of demonstrating that your website is run by real people with knowledge and experience. They help search engines judge how much they can rely on your content.
Link building is a big part of off-page SEO
Links from other websites tell search engines that your content is worth showing. That’s why link building is one of the key parts of off-page SEO, but not every link is equal.
Search engines find links from high-authority, topic-relevant sites more important. Getting those kinds of links usually means creating content that people want to reference, such as guides, studies, or tools.
Outreach plays a role, too. You can connect with other websites, offer guest posts, or share original insights. Over time, this builds relationships and can lead to higher-quality backlinks.
PR and content marketing also help, whether you contribute expert opinions to news outlets or create something worth citing. It’s more effective than mass emailing or buying links, the latter of which you shouldn’t do anyway.
Part of your job should be managing your existing links. SEO tools such as Ahrefs and Semrush can monitor broken or lost links and help fix or replace them.
If you are successful, link building can be more than just a tactic. It can show that others recognize your site as trustworthy, and that recognition, measured through linking, can improve rankings and drive traffic.
Social media’s impact
Social media doesn’t directly affect ranking, but it helps people discover and share your content. That kind of exposure can lead to links, searches, and increased brand familiarity.
Platforms like LinkedIn, X, Reddit, and Instagram let you speak to your audience and encourage interaction. When people find value in what you publish, they tend to share it or come back to it.
In time, these interactions build brand recognition. While this might not have a clear SEO metric attached, it does support and improve your visibility. Collaborating with influencers expands your audience even more. If they share something you’ve created, it can get picked up and linked to by others.
Video is playing an increasingly important role in this. Research from BrightLocal shows that many U.S. consumers are drawn to video content directly from businesses discussing their products or services. Over a third of consumers prefer this type of video, even more than those shared by friends, influencers, or typical social media reviewers. Additionally, 31% of individuals find value in watching videos from regular social media users.
Use insights from these platforms to spot what your audience cares about. That helps shape better content, which can trigger organic shares and mentions.
Local SEO as an off-page SEO strategy
For locally oriented businesses, off-page SEO means being easy to find and well-reviewed locally. Start with accurate business info across online directories, so make sure that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent. Search engines use this to match your business to search results.
Your Google Business Profile needs regular attention, so photos, updates, and timely responses to reviews all help. In that same BrightLocal research, 89% of respondents say they expect merchants and business owners to reply to all types of reviews.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave public reviews. New reviews show search engines and potential visitors that your business stays active and involved. A complete, active listing stands out to local customers and improves your chances of appearing in map results.
Try building links from other local businesses or organizations. These carry weight in local SEO. Sponsoring events or working with local publications can lead to mentions and coverage.
Being visible in your area is not just about what local content you have on your site, but also about how your local audience views your business online.
Carefully replying to your reviews manages your online reputation
Expertise and trust
With off-page SEO, you have many opportunities to show your expertise. Sharing your knowledge can build trust, which in itself can create useful input for search engines.
Guest posting on reputable websites reaches people already interested in what you have to say. If those sites link back, it’s a plus for SEO, except when shady things happen, of course.
You can also take part in forums and Q&A sites. Offering useful, relevant insights gets your name out and sometimes leads to mentions from others who find your content helpful.
Podcasts, webinars, and speaking events work the same way. Participating in discussions in your space helps establish expertise and can result in new traffic or backlinks from media coverage or event promotions.
Collaborating with other professionals through research or shared content introduces your work to their audience and can lead to more recognition and links over time.
You shouldn’t just focus on creating more content, but try to actively lead in your field. If your business is perceived as the go-to place, this builds trust with both your audience and search engines.
How off-page SEO impacts AI-driven search
Search is changing quicker than ever. Beyond the classic search results, people are now using AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and chat assistants like ChatGPT to find answers. These tools use large language models (LLMs) to pull information from across the web, and off-page SEO plays a role in how your content shows up.
When your brand or website appears on high-quality, trusted sites, it increases the chances that AI tools recognize your content as reliable. Structured citations, strong backlinks, and consistent brand mentions all help LLMs “see” your site as a good source. This can lead to your content influencing or being featured in AI-generated summaries and answers.
Authority, trust, and topic alignment are all important. The more your content is referenced or quoted by reputable sources, the more likely it is to appear in conversational search results or be used to answer common questions. Find out how to optimize content for AI LLM comprehension using Yoast’s tools.
Off-page SEO now supports not just link-driven visibility, but also discoverability in AI search and chat tools. It helps improve your overall presence, so it doesn’t matter whether someone uses Google, social media, or an AI chatbot to find information about you.
Off-page SEO helps widen the scope
Off-page SEO works together with on-page work to strengthen your website’s reputation across the web. First, it helps your users, but it also helps search engines and AI tools recognize your content as trustworthy and relevant.
Whether you’re earning backlinks, encouraging brand mentions, engaging on social platforms, or building local visibility, each off-page signal adds to your authority. Collaborations, reviews, and expert participation show real experience behind your site.
These strategies now also influence how content surfaces in AI-generated results. That means off-page SEO doesn’t just support traditional rankings, but it also helps your brand stay discoverable in new, AI-powered ways.
The more consistent, trusted, and present your brand is across the web, the more likely it is to show up wherever people are searching, even if they’re not using a classic search engine. Build trust, stay visible, and let your off-page efforts work across search formats, now and into the future.
Some YouTube videos gain millions of views, while others struggle to find an audience. The reason often comes down to the algorithm. YouTube’s algorithm isn’t guesswork—it’s a sophisticated system predicting what viewers will most likely watch and enjoy.
Whether you’re a marketer, content creator, or business owner, understanding how the YouTube algorithm works can help you grow your channel and reach more viewers. In this article, we’ll break down how the YouTube algorithm works in 2025 and share strategies to help you succeed.
Key Takeaways
The YouTube algorithm in focuses on understanding individual viewers through their behavior, preferences, and watch history.
YouTube serves videos in three main ways. The homepage shows videos based on viewer history, suggested videos appear alongside a video being watched, and search results combine relevance and viewer preferences.
Metrics like watch time, click-through rates (CTR), likes, comments, and shares are key factors in determining a video’s visibility.
Including YouTube Shorts, live streams, and playlists in your strategy can help you connect with wider audiences.
Regular uploads and active audience engagement signal to the algorithm that your channel offers value.
Features like polls, Q&A sessions, and multilingual subtitles increase engagement and appeal to diverse audiences.
Algorithm optimization has seven components: create a click-worthy title, add detail to your description, design an attractive thumbnail, increase watch duration, encourage action after the video, maintain engagement with video series and playlists, and improve content using analytics over the long term.
What Is the YouTube Algorithm?
The YouTube algorithm is a recommendation system that serves videos to users based on their histories and (if they’re actively searching) search queries. The algorithm evaluates over 80 billion signals, according to the official YouTube blog.
The algorithm matters because YouTube is a powerful organic channel. Understanding how to increase the reach of your videos can increase revenue significantly.
In fact, research conducted by my team at NP Digital found it’s the top organic social channel, outperforming sales from all other platforms by a large margin.
YouTube provides recommendations in four main areas:
Homepage: Features videos based on viewer history and content performance.
Suggested videos: Highlights related content next to the video being watched.
Search results: Combines relevance and viewer preferences to rank results.
Shorts: Shows short-form videos in the shorts feed based on user history.
Let’s look at each of these in detail.
Recommended Videos: A Whopping 70% of All Views
Recommended videos appear on the homepage and alongside videos on “watch pages,” on-screen at the end of videos, and in the suggested videos sidebar.
A mixture of personalization factors—based on the user’s history—and individual video performance signals are used to make recommendations.
Search Results: The Web’s Sixth Biggest Search Engine
Results page videos are served in response to YouTube search bar queries. The algorithm uses a mix of relevance (in relation to the search phrase) and personalization to rank videos.
Despite accounting for only 30% of views, the number of searches on YouTube is still high enough to make it the sixth largest search engine on the web. My research found that YouTube has 3.3 billion searches every day.
Shorts: Casual Scrolling
The “shorts algorithm” serves videos based on user history, in a similar way to the homepage and watch page suggestions. However, videos are viewed in a scrolling format, typically on mobile.
My team and I looked at the engagement levels of different types of content and found that shorts account for 31.3% of all social media content engagement, beating every other category. Shorts are excellent for building your audience, and I publish them regularly on my channel.
Trending: What’s Hot In Your Country
The “Trending” tab in YouTube displays videos that are going viral and generating high viewing figures. According to the YouTube Help Center, “Trending isn’t personalized and displays the same list of trending videos to all viewers in the same country.”
The YouTube Algorithm’s Evolution
The YouTube algorithm has evolved significantly over the years. Early versions rewarded videos based on view counts alone, encouraging clickbait tactics. In 2012, the focus shifted to watch time, prioritizing videos that kept viewers engaged for more extended periods.
In 2025, AI-driven personalization will play a central role. The algorithm analyzes viewer behavior to recommend videos that align with individual preferences. Metrics like watch time, click-through rates (CTR), and satisfaction surveys have a major impact on video ranking.
Short-form videos, like YouTube Shorts, are now a major factor in discoverability. They grab attention quickly, making them effective for engaging new viewers. Creators who include Shorts in their strategy often see significant growth in views and subscribers.
The evolution of the algorithm shows that success on YouTube depends on adaptability. Content that engages viewers across formats and metrics is more likely to gain visibility.
How the Algorithm Works: A Complete Overview
So, how does the algorithm work?
Let’s look at official and reputable third-party sources to piece together an understanding of what YouTube looks at to recommend and rank videos.
Official YouTube Documentation: Personalization and Performance
“…we start with the knowledge that everyone has unique viewing habits. Our system then compares your viewing habits with those that are similar to you and uses that information to suggest other content you may want to watch.”
“Our algorithm doesn’t pay attention to videos, it pays attention to viewers. So, rather than trying to make videos that’ll make an algorithm happy, focus on making videos that make your viewers happy.”
In addition, a paper published in 2016 titled Deep Neural Networks for YouTube Recommendations explained that the YouTube recommendation model works in two stages. Although it has evolved since the paper was published, there’s a strong likelihood that the underlying ideas have remained the same.
First, the algorithm goes through a “corpus” of millions of videos to retrieve a subset of videos that match the user’s preferences based on their history. Second, it evaluates multiple video and user factors to rank these candidates, returning what it determines to be the best-fit recommendations.
A Discussion Between YouTube Insiders: No One “Number”
In early 2025, YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie and Todd Beaupré, who leads the Growth and Discovery team, discussed the YouTube algorithm in depth.
Rene Ritchie asked, “We often hear from creators, ‘What’s the one number? Is it click-through rates? Is it watch time?” How do creators optimize for all of these factors?”
Beaupré answered by saying, “One thing to understand is there’s no single answer to that question, as much as creators would love to have one. But the reality is that we’ve enabled the system to learn that different factors have different importance in different contexts.”
He also added, “While we do look at how long people watch videos, it’s only one of the factors we consider…we introduced this concept of satisfaction…where we’re trying to understand not just viewers’ behavior but also how they feel.”
The key point is that YouTube considers a wide range of context-dependent factors. But the emphasis is on user “satisfaction.” Factors like relevance, watch time, and engagement all fit neatly into this category.
7 Key YouTube Algorithm Signals
A mix of official documentation and third-party testing highlights seven key areas that YouTube looks at in order to evaluate what Todd Beaupré calls “satisfaction.”
Here’s a working roundup of YouTube algorithm signals:
Content characteristics: The algorithm uses metadata, such as titles, descriptions, and transcripts, to determine a video’s relevance to a viewer’s query. Optimized metadata increases a video’s chances of being recommended.
Watch time: Longer viewing sessions suggest valuable content. While there is significant variance across topics, my team and I found that 3.06 minutes is the average watch time on YouTube, and this is a good benchmark to keep in mind for longer videos.
Click-through rate (CTR): This is the percentage of impressions that turn into clicks. Attractive titles and thumbnails draw more clicks and indicate relevance.
Likes, comments, and shares: Viewer interactions show the content’s relevance and appeal. Videos with strong engagement are more likely to be promoted.
Viewer behavior: Content is prioritized based on individual viewing history, likes, and repeated interactions. It also considers patterns among viewers with similar interests to recommend content.
Relevance:Research by the Pew Research Center found that 32% of adults in the US use YouTube to stay up to date with current events, making it one of the web’s most popular news platforms. Because of this, the relevance of news-related content is likely a strong ranking factor.
Handling misinformation: Channels with authority and consistent, trustworthy content are favored. The algorithm also flags and limits the reach of misleading videos, so aligning with YouTube’s policies is critical. According to YouTube, consumption of “borderline content” recommended by the algorithm is lower than 1%. This is content that doesn’t violate YouTube’s terms of service but comes close.
How to Improve Your Organic Reach: 7-Step Framework
Improving organic reach on YouTube is about focusing on three factors: engagement, relevance, and viewer satisfaction.
Creating useful, attention-grabbing content should be your priority. However, there are also powerful tweaks that can give your rankings an extra lift.
1. Pick a Catchy Title
YouTube looks at your video’s title to understand what it’s about. A well-crafted title makes it more likely that you’ll be recommended to users and appear in search results for relevant queries.
Here’s how to nail your video titles:
Pick a primary high-volume keyword: Enter the core topic of your video into the YouTube search bar to generate specific keyword variations and pick one of these for your title. You can also run potential keywords through a tool like Ubersuggest, as there is significant overlap between Google and YouTube search term volumes.
Describe a clear benefit: A catchy title isn’t just for telling the algorithm what your video is about. It’s also for building interest and driving clicks. Articulate a clear, precise outcome or benefit, as I have done with “social media mastery” in my video below. “How to” titles also work very well on YouTube.
Don’t get too hung up on tags: There’s no harm in adding tags in the Show more section of the Details page of the upload window. However, don’t worry too much about these as their value is limited. Three or four keywords that describe your video will do the job.
2. Optimize Your Description
Descriptions do more than summarize your video—they help the algorithm understand and categorize your content.
Here’s how to create a killer description:
Focus on the first two lines: These appear in search results. Start with an engaging preview that highlights what viewers will learn.
Provide details: Outline key takeaways and include timestamps for longer videos. Use bullets in your description to make it easy for readers to skim.
Add calls to action (CTAs) where appropriate: Direct viewers to related videos or encourage them to subscribe when it’s appropriate to do so.
Here’s an example of a helpful description from one of my videos. It’s comprehensive—giving plenty of info to YouTube—and pulls readers in with a clear description of what they’ll learn.
3. Create a Captivating Thumbnail
Your thumbnail is an invaluable opportunity to stop scrollers, restate the benefits of watching your video, and encourage clicks. And if you’re not a natural designer, AI tools can fill the gap.
Here’s how to create thumbnails that get noticed:
Reiterate the benefit in a different way: Use the thumbnail as an opportunity to reiterate the main promise or learning of your video in a slightly different way to attract viewers that may not have found your title compelling.
Keep your design professional (without breaking the bank): Platforms like Canva and Adobe Express, which now have AI features, create professional-looking thumbnails that grab attention.
Split Testing: Test different thumbnails across your videos to see which combinations perform best.
You can see a selection of thumbnails for my videos below. In all cases I include my ugly mug—ahem, beautiful visage—and reiterate the main promise of the video in a slightly different way to the title.
4. Aim for Longer Watch Durations
The algorithm rewards content that keeps viewers watching from start to finish. Strong video storytelling holds those eyeballs and boosts watch time.
Here are my four top tips for improving average watch duration:
Start strong: Hook your audience in the first 10 seconds with a clear and engaging statement.
Match expectations: Align your video content with what the title and thumbnail promise.
Add chapters: Divide longer videos into sections with timestamps so viewers can skip to the parts they’re most interested in.
Modify your strategy based on feedback: Analyze audience retention graphs in YouTube Studio to see where viewers drop off and refine your content strategy accordingly, removing sections that might be seen as boring or not useful.
I hit all these criteria in my video “I’ve Closed $100M+ in Sales, Here’s How to Sell Anything to Anyone.” It opens strong, provides exactly what it promises (with practical examples), includes chapters, and cuts all nonessential fluff.
Oh, and don’t be afraid of creating lo-fi (or low-fidelity) videos if your audience is already engaging with content that’s more casual. This content isn’t overly polished and is designed to communicate authenticity. My research found that it tends to outperform high-fidelity content.
5. Don’t Skip the Conclusion
How you end your videos matters. A good conclusion keeps viewers engaged and encourages them to either subscribe, watch another video, or visit a landing page.
Add all of the following to your conclusions:
End screens: Add an end screen with a CTA and a link to your landing page or subscribe button.
Verbal calls to action (CTAs): Suggest specific videos or playlists that viewers can watch next.
Add cards: Reference related content from your channel and use clickable cards to drive traffic to it.
Here’s an example of a video from Russell Brunson with an end screen that includes a CTA, a card of a related video, and links to his channel page (the picture of his face) and his commercial website.
6. Create Series and Playlists
Serial content keeps viewers engaged for longer and increases session time as they watch the whole series, which the algorithm values. Creating binge-worthy videos also encourages viewers to subscribe to your channel.
There are two ways to offer serial content:
Playlists: Group related videos into playlists that autoplay. This keeps viewers watching without needing to search for the next video.
Episodic, well-labeled series: Structure your content in a way that builds anticipation, such as a step-by-step tutorial or a multi-part series that is clearly labeled—“Part One,” “Video One,” etc.
When signing off from videos in a series, don’t underestimate cliffhanger endings. A teaser for what’s coming next can make all the difference in keeping viewers watching.
Here’s an example from my SEO Unlocked course on SEO fundamentals, with a link at the end of the video to part two.
7. Monitor Analytics to Find Opportunities
YouTube Studio offers tools to analyze your performance, refine your strategy, and align content with audience preferences.
Audience retention: Identify drop-off points and adjust your content to keep viewers engaged.
Click-through rate (CTR): Measure how well your titles and thumbnails attract clicks.
Engagement metrics: Look at likes, comments, and shares to understand what resonates.
Demographics and traffic sources: Learn about your audience and adjust to appeal to core groups.
Bonus Tip: Make the Most of YouTube Shorts
As we’ve mentioned before, YouTube Shorts are a powerful way to reach new audiences and promote your main content. Their quick, engaging format is perfect for grabbing attention. But they work slightly differently from long-form videos.
Follow these best practices for maximizing the reach of your shorts:
Focus on one idea: Keep it simple and clear. Shorts are most effective when they focus on a single concept.
Use captions: Many viewers watch without sound, so captions help convey your message.
Repurpose content: Highlight key moments from your long-form videos to attract new viewers.
Here’s an example from my YouTube channel. In under a minute, it delivers a quick lesson on social media engagement.
Adapting to Trends in 2025
Staying competitive on YouTube in 2025 requires keeping up with audience expectations and platform trends. Interactive content and a focus on sustainability and inclusivity shape how creators connect with viewers.
Interactive Content
Interactive features like polls, Q&A sessions, and community posts help you connect with your audience on a deeper level. These tools encourage participation, making viewers feel more connected to your content. This engagement also signals to the algorithm that your videos resonate with your audience.
This simple and easy addition makes the video more engaging and can even spark future conversations and video ideas.
Live streams are another way to build engagement. Use live chats to answer questions or collect feedback directly from viewers. These real-time interactions create a sense of community and keep your audience coming back for more.
Sustainability and Inclusivity
Audiences are increasingly drawn to creators who reflect their values. Content incorporating sustainable practices, like reducing waste during production, can appeal to eco-conscious viewers. Inclusivity is equally important. Multilingual subtitles, diverse representation, and accessible formats help you reach a broader audience while improving viewer satisfaction.
Focusing on these areas can strengthen your brand and improve your chances of gaining visibility on the platform.
Is AI Changing the Way the Algorithm Works?
I believe that the future looks bright for YouTube creators in the age of AI.
The algorithm has evolved significantly over the years. Early versions rewarded videos based on view counts alone, encouraging clickbait tactics. In 2012, the focus shifted to watch time, prioritizing videos that kept viewers engaged for more extended periods.
In 2025 and beyond, AI algorithms will continue to focus on relevance, watch time, click-through rates (CTR), and satisfaction. My view is that it will get better and better at measuring these signals, which means that high-quality content is the best path to success.
In addition, my team and I have found that AI engines often cite YouTube videos, with a 414% uptick in citations in AI overviews since launch. This points towards continued growth in the consumption of YouTube videos as AI search becomes more pervasive.
FAQs
How does the YouTube algorithm work?
The YouTube algorithm matches videos to viewers based on relevance, engagement, and personal preferences. It analyzes metadata, watch time, and viewer behavior to recommend content that keeps audiences engaged.
What is the YouTube algorithm?
The YouTube algorithm is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to determine which videos to recommend to users. It evaluates individual preferences, engagement metrics, and channel authority to prioritize content.
What 4 things does the algorithm prioritize on YouTube?
Watch Time: Videos with longer viewing durations and those contributing to session watch time perform better.
Engagement: Likes, comments, and shares improve visibility.
Relevance: Titles, tags, and descriptions matched to user queries.Viewer History: Recommendations based on past watch and search behavior.
Conclusion
Mastering the YouTube algorithm is about creating engaging content that connects with your audience. The algorithm prioritizes watch time, relevance, and engagement, so aligning your videos with these factors is critical.
Focus on building quality content that addresses viewer needs, optimizing it with strong YouTube SEO practices. Use features like interactive tools, live streams, and Shorts to connect with your audience and expand your reach. Embracing sustainable and inclusive practices can also strengthen your brand and attract diverse viewers. Whether you’re improving your video marketing strategy or experimenting with new formats, staying focused on your audience will keep your channel growing.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-07-17 19:00:002025-07-17 19:00:00How the YouTube Algorithm Works (Data-Backed Answer)
I asked ChatGPT: “What are the best resources to learn SEO in 2025?”
The response mentioned Backlinko twice.
Here’s the thing: We don’t rank #1 in Google for “best SEO resources.” (Ads, Reddit, and AI Overviews take up that real estate).
We haven’t even optimized for “best SEO resources,” but we got mentioned anyway.
That’s LLM seeding in action.
Organic traffic is dropping across the board. Large language models (LLMs) are now answering your audience’s questions directly, quietly hijacking the clicks you used to count on.
Maybe you’ve already seen the dip. Maybe you see the writing on the wall.
Either way, it’s time to fight back — with a new kind of visibility strategy.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
What to publish so LLMs actually cite you
Where to seed your content for maximum pickup
And how to track whether your brand is showing up
Get your brand into the conversation now — so you don’t get left behind.
What the Heck Is LLM Seeding?
LLM seeding is the practice of publishing content in the formats and places LLMs are most likely to scrape, summarize, and cite.
Here’s an example of a Backlinko article that encourages scraping with an LLM-friendly format:
In other words: You’re not just optimizing for Google.
You’re optimizing for ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and any other LLMs or AI search engines your audience uses.
Here’s how it works:
You create AI-friendly content, such as comparison posts with tables and FAQ sections.
And publish it in places LLMs look for information. (More on this later.)
When people ask LLMs for information related to your industry, they mention your brand in the answer.
Often, they don’t include a link to your site.
Still, that mention sticks.
Users notice it, remember it, and later search for your brand directly.
Over time, these citations drive more branded searches, direct traffic, and trust in your name.
While LLM seeding is a new strategy, you’re not starting from scratch.
It builds on everything you already know about SEO, content marketing, and PR.
The difference? It requires a fundamental mindset shift.
You’re no longer optimizing for clicks. You’re optimizing for citations.
And instead of trying to rank #1, you’re influencing what AI tools say about your brand.
Adopting this new approach means rethinking how you show up online.
But it’s how you’ll stay visible and influential as search continues to evolve.
3 Big Benefits of LLM Seeding
Still chasing backlinks and rankings?
According to a Semrush study, AI search traffic will surpass traditional search by the end of 2027.
Shift your focus to LLM seeding now to stay competitive.
And prepare for a zero-click, LLM-driven world.
1. Brand Exposure Without Traffic Dependence
Here’s the problem:
Searchers no longer have to click search results to get the information they need.
Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode provide detailed answers to questions and step-by-step instructions.
LLMs allow searchers to bypass Google and other search engines entirely.
They provide product recommendations, summaries, answers … you name it.
For many site owners, this is resulting in a noticeable decline in traffic.
So, what’s the answer?
Becoming the answer.
When LLMs cite your brand, you become part of the conversation.
Which helps your brand stay top of mind, even without the click.
2. Authority by Association
One of the biggest wins of LLM seeding? Instant credibility.
When large language models mention your brand alongside industry leaders, it boosts your authority.
Case in point: I asked ChatGPT to recommend products for dogs with leaky gut.
It suggested Purina and Zesty Paws, two huge brands.
But it also recommended Adored Beast, a much lesser-known pet brand.
That’s the beauty of LLM seeding.
You don’t need a massive budget or a #1 ranking.
You just need to publish content that LLMs want to cite.
3. Leveled Playing Field
In traditional search, the highest-ranking content wins.
But LLMs work differently.
They prioritize the best answers, no matter what page they’re on.
In fact, almost 90% of ChatGPT citations come from positions 21+, according to Semrush’s study.
So, your comparison post on page 4 could get cited more than a competitor ranking in Google’s top 5 — if your content provides better answers.
Sounds good? Now, I’ll cover how to create LLM-friendly content.
What to Publish (So You Get Cited by LLMs)
LLMs are citation machines. But they need content from credible sources.
Here are the formats that consistently get picked up:
Structured “Best Of” Lists
Both readers and LLMs appreciate a “best of” list — especially ones with clear structure and useful comparisons.
For example, I asked Perplexity what the best mattresses are for back pain.
And review site Sleep Advisor was one of its sources.
This site publishes “best of” articles often and has a rigorous testing process, two important components of LLM citations.
But to get cited, your list needs to go beyond the basics.
Start by explaining how you selected the items on your list.
LLMs prioritize content that shows transparent, well-reasoned decision-making. (Just like your readers do.)
This added context also helps LLMs match your content to the questions people are asking.
Sleep Advisor includes details about its testing process upfront in articles so readers (and LLMs) can’t miss it.
Another AI-friendly component of a “best of” list?
Giving each item a “best” rating that matches search behavior:
Best for freelancers on a budget
Best for advanced analytics
Best all-in-one solution for remote teams
If you’ve used LLMs, you know they quote these phrases in responses.
But it also helps users self-identify, which can increase leads and conversions.
For instance, Sleep Advisor awards mattresses with targeted “best” ratings.
Like “best mattress for upper back pain” and “best mattress for stomach sleepers with back pain.”
Now, consider your content’s structure.
This is where semantic chunking comes in.
Semantic chunking means organizing your content into short, clearly labeled sections that focus on a single idea or answer.
Why does it matter?
Chunked content with natural language headers makes it easier for AI to parse, understand, and pull relevant snippets into responses.
Use the same layout for every entry. A repeatable structure signals credibility and makes your content easier to extract and cite.
For example:
Item name + best rating
Quick summary
Key features or standout capabilities
Pros and cons
Pricing
Take it even further by adding scoring systems or ratings.
Sleep Advisor awards a 1-to-5-star rating based on hands-on testing across categories like pressure relief, motion isolation, cooling, and responsiveness.
That kind of structured, criteria-based scoring makes your content more credible … and easier for LLMs to cite.
Overall, anything that makes your content easier to skim and read will also help make it LLM-friendly.
This includes bullet lists, tables, and summary boxes.
First-Person Product Reviews
Authentic, hands-on reviews are another format LLMs tend to favor.
Why?
Because real testing equals real credibility.
LLMs surface these types of reviews because they:
Include measurable outcomes
Follow repeatable testing processes
Use specific, quotable phrasing
Let’s look at Wirecutter’s electric standing desk review, for example.
They have a “Why you should trust us section” that states they’ve tested 40+ adjustable desks since 2013.
This is a clear, measurable signal of expertise.
So, get granular and provide all your testing details:
Explain how many items you tested
Describe who did the testing, what their credentials are, and when it was conducted
Outline your methodology or criteria
This shows LLMs and your audience that your review is authentic.
Short, declarative lines are also important to include because they’re extract-friendly.
Here’s an example from the Wirecutter article:
The Branch Duo Standing Desk is a good option if you have limited space or are over 5-foot-8. But it doesn’t offer nearly as many customizable features as the Uplift, and there’s no option to upgrade to an advanced keypad.
Did you notice it includes both positives and negatives?
Balanced statements show you’re giving a fair, experience-based evaluation, not a sales pitch.
That kind of transparency helps establish trust with users and LLMs.
Comparison Tables (Especially Brand vs. Brand)
Mid-funnel users use AI platforms to help make purchasing decisions.
This is why it’s crucial to create content that compares your product to alternatives.
The key?
Present it in a clean, structured format, such as a table or chart.
Like this Backlinko article that includes a table to help readers choose the best PPC tool for their needs.
To make your comparison tables citation-worthy, focus on three things:
Use-case verdicts: Don’t just compare features. Tell readers which option is better for freelancers, agencies, enterprise teams, and more.
Highlight tradeoffs: Include both strengths and weaknesses for each option to add credibility
Citation-ready phrasing: Make each recommendation easy to cite. Instead of “Tool A is more feature-packed,” write “Tool A is the best choice for teams on a budget that need features like multi-user logins and grammar checking.”
This kind of clarity makes it easy for LLMs to quote your content when users ask: “Which one is better for [my specific use case]?”
FAQ-Style Content
LLMs are trained on Q&A content from platforms like Quora, Reddit, and other public forums.
So, it’s no surprise that FAQ formats perform well. They match the structure LLMs were built to understand.
For this reason, you’ll want to add FAQ-style posts to your content rotation.
You can identify customer questions in the following ways:
Once you’ve chosen your questions, structure them as subheadings in your article.
And write concise responses that start with a direct answer.
Semrush’s SEO FAQ article is a good example of this LLM-friendly format.
It includes questions as clear subheadings, including:
What Is SEO?
How Long Does It Take to Rank on Google?
Why Has My Organic Traffic Dropped?
This is the type of post that probably wouldn’t rank super well in Google.
But is EXACTLY what LLMs use to train on.
Importantly, the content provides clear, direct answers to the questions.
Adding structured data is another smart way to help AI search engines and LLMs better parse and interpret your content.
WordPress plugins like RankMath and Yoast can automatically add FAQPage structured data to help increase your citations.
Opinion‑Led Pieces with Clear Takeaways
Want to increase LLM citations? Come up with a unique take on something in your industry.
This could be a contrarian industry opinion or a surprising prediction — anything works when it’s done well.
The caveat?
You’ll need industry authority, experience, and evidence to support your stance.
But remember — structure matters more than ever before.
Ensure it’s well-structured and easy to summarize.
Otherwise, it’s unlikely to stand out (or get cited).
For example, in a YouTube video (yes, LLMs can pull from video transcripts and descriptions), digital growth marketer Grace Leung challenges outdated content strategies.
She explains why they’re holding brands back and what to do instead.
Her format is viewer- and AI-friendly with defined sections and actionable takeaways.
And she shares a strong opinion throughout the piece that is backed up by her expertise.
Want to do the same?
Include details that help LLMs understand and trust your content:
Author credentials: Briefly explain who you are and why you’re qualified to cover the topic. This adds credibility for both readers and LLMs.
Content overview: State what the piece covers early on (in your blog post intro or video description) so it’s easy to parse and summarize
Internal links: Link to related posts or supporting content to signal depth and strengthen your topical coverage
In Grace’s case, her video’s description includes all of the above (and more): a video summary, quick author bio, newsletter link, and related content.
But it’s also another way to give LLMs more context about your content.
Make your visuals LLM-friendly with these tips:
Write full-sentence captions that explain what’s pictured and why it matters. Think: “Peach cobbler cookie from Good Cakes and Bakes, one of Detroit’s most beloved bakeries,” not just “Cookies on a plate.”
Reference visuals directly in your copy. Instead of skipping over an image, say, “As you can see in the photo, this bakery’s seasonal peach cobbler cookies are a local favorite.”
Add alt text that reflects both the subject and its importance. Try: “Peach cobbler cookie at Good Cakes and Bakes, a popular Detroit bakery known for seasonal desserts.”
Use descriptive file names, like detroit-good-cakes-peach-cookie.jpg, to reinforce meaning for AI crawlers.
Tools, Templates, and Frameworks
Offer valuable resources that solve real problems to get referenced in LLM conversations.
For instance, I asked Perplexity how I can check keyword rankings for free.
Depending on your industry, you might create free templates, frameworks, calculators, or interactive tools.
To make your resource citation-worthy, give it a clear, descriptive title that matches how users search.
Like “Budget Calculator for Freelancers” and “Free Grammar Checker.”
Include an intro that explains who it’s for, what it does, and how to use it.
Then, add supporting content (like examples, FAQs, or use cases) so LLMs understand its context and value.
The more useful and well-structured your resource is, the more likely it is to earn mentions from your target audience and AI platforms.
For example, our free rank checker lets users check rankings in seconds.
The tool’s design is clean and user-friendly.
And the description sums up the tool’s benefits well, which is important for scraping:
Discover who’s linking to you and your competitors to find the latest opportunities and enhance your backlink profile.
Since the tool is both easy to use and genuinely helpful, it’s recommended by third parties in blogs and forums.
These mentions are vital because LLMs pick up on them when deciding what to cite.
Where to Seed Your Content for Maximum LLM Pickup
Publishing great content is only half the battle.
The other half? Getting it in front of the right crawlers.
Publish in places that LLMs trust, crawl frequently, and find easy to parse.
Here’s where to focus your efforts:
Third-Party Platforms
Certain third-party platforms are LLM magnets.
Why?
Their clean layout, clear headings, and consistent quality make them easy for AI to read and cite.
This includes:
Medium: Repurpose your long-form blog content here. Medium’s minimalist layout and semantic structure make it ideal for LLMs. Include section headers, summaries, and internal links for added context.
Substack: A great home for newsletter-style content and thought leadership commentary. Its emphasis on editorial voice and topical depth adds authority and makes your content easier for AI to recognize as expert-driven.
LinkedIn articles: These articles are indexed well and often tied to real profiles (which gives your content a credibility bonus in LLMs)
Trusted Industry Publications
LLMs are more likely to trust and cite content that comes from respected industry sources.
So, create a strategy to share content and quotes in high-impact publications to boost your LLM visibility.
Here’s how:
Create Guest Posts
No, guest posting isn’t dead — it’s just not all about the links anymore.
It’s about visibility.
Choose topics that align with popular LLM prompts (like product comparisons, trends, or how-tos).
And format your content clearly with subheads, summaries, and data points.
Offer Expert Quotes
Reach out to journalists, editors, and bloggers in your niche.
Provide non-promotional, insight-driven quotes to increase your chances of being featured in articles that LLMs frequently reference.
Tools like HARO or Featured.com can help you find opportunities to share your expertise.
Get Featured in Roundups
As you’ve learned, LLMs love “best of,” “top tools,” and “expert tips” formats.
Pitch to writers creating these lists — whether newsletters, LinkedIn posts, videos, or blog posts.
And make it easy to include your brand by providing a concise, structured blurb with supporting context or proof points.
User-Generated Content Hubs
Why do LLMs and AI search engines love user-generated content hubs?
Because they’re full of real people asking real (often long-tail) questions. And subject matter experts providing highly specific, detailed answers.
Ones you often won’t find elsewhere.
That makes these platforms powerful spots to seed your expertise.
Here’s where to focus:
Reddit
LLMs cite Reddit more than any other source, according to Semrush.
So, if Reddit wasn’t on your radar before, it should be now.
Participate in relevant subreddits where you can highlight your expertise and add genuine value.
Answer questions and respond to comments.
And then do it all over again.
Make Reddit a part of your regular rotation to boost your chances of LLM citations.
Quora
Reddit may be the darling of LLMs, but Quora isn’t far behind.
For this reason, you’ll want to add this platform into the mix as well.
Side note: Quora is the most commonly cited website in Google’s AI Overviews, according to Semrush’s AI search study.
Provide comprehensive answers to industry questions.
Include specific examples, comparisons, or step-by-step explanations to increase your chances of LLM citations.
But don’t let formatting slide just because you’re on an informal platform.
Add clear headlines, subheads, and bullet points to increase your chances of LLM scraping.
GitHub Discussions
Have a technical brand?
Get involved in community discussions beyond your product.
Share helpful bug fixes, answer questions, and offer support.
Building credibility makes it easier to reference your tool or solution when it’s genuinely relevant.
Niche Forums and Public Facebook Groups
Don’t overlook specialized communities.
LLMs scan niche forums and public Facebook groups for in-depth, experience-based insights.
Look for active, topic-specific forums like:
ContractorTalk: Home improvement and construction professionals
Chronicle Forums: Equestrian and horse care advice
GardenWeb forum: Gardening and plant tips and advice
AVS Forum: Home theater and tech product discussions
Contribute regularly with meaningful, non-promotional input.
Answer niche questions, clarify common misconceptions, or share first-hand experience.
These authentic contributions increase your chances of getting cited in AI-generated responses where nuance and expertise matter most.
Editorial-Style Microsites
Want to boost your chances of getting cited by LLMs? Build an editorial-style microsite.
These standalone sites tend to carry more credibility than heavily branded company pages.
Why?
Because you can structure them like independent publications.
Like this microsite IKEA built to highlight original research:
The goal is to create a trusted, well-organized resource that covers your entire industry, not just your own product.
For example, IKEA’s microsite includes statistics on happiness and enjoyment at home, which ties into its core offering: home products.
To earn trust (from both readers and LLMs), focus on E-E-A-T signals.
Include author bios with credentials, cite reputable sources, and make your editorial policies easy to find.
Clearly state who’s behind the site and why it exists.
Comparison and Review Sites
Content from review platforms is often cited in LLMs, and for good reason.
Sites like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius follow a formula that attracts LLMs:
Pinterest: Ideal for visual brands — but only if your pins include rich descriptions and link to structured content
Instagram: As of July 2025, Instagram posts (if opted in) can be indexed by search engines and LLMs. Add captions, alt text, and hashtags to help shape how your brand appears in AI platforms.
How to Track LLM Seeding Success
Here’s where things get tricky.
Understanding LLM impact isn’t as straightforward as tracking clicks or traffic.
So, how do you measure this influence?
Here are a few smart ways to assess your brand’s visibility across LLMs.
Branded and Direct Traffic Growth
Noticed something weird going on in Google Search Console lately?
Your impressions are increasing … but clicks are decreasing.
LLMs might be to blame.
For example, at Backlinko, our impressions increased by 54% over the past three months, while our clicks decreased by 15%.
Here’s what’s happening:
Users see your brand mentioned in AI responses, make a mental note, then research you directly days or weeks later.
They’re not clicking through immediately. They’re bookmarking your name in their minds.
This creates declining organic clicks paired with stable or growing branded searches. And it’s the signature pattern of LLM influence.
Here’s how to spot it in your data.
Open Google Analytics (GA) and go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.
Compare your direct traffic trends over the past three to six months.
If your direct traffic increased, this is a positive sign that LLMs are mentioning your brand.
Next, compare these patterns to your organic traffic changes in Google Search Console (GSC).
Go to Performance > Search results.
Declining clicks + growing direct traffic = LLM visibility.
If your data is pointing to LLM influence, this is a good thing.
But it’s important to verify your findings with manual prompt analysis.
Pro tip: Getting branded traffic? Great. Now, ensure your branded SERP is optimized so users searching for your name land on high-converting pages. Like product quizzes, comparison guides, or testimonials.
Brand Mentions in AI Tools
The clearest way to gauge your LLM visibility is to see if (and how) your brand shows up in AI-generated answers.
Run manual prompts across different tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini.
Use a private or incognito browser to avoid skewed results from past queries or personalization.
Then, search the way your audience would … naturally and with clear search intent.
Try prompts like:
Best project management tools for remote teams
What is the best project management software for startups
Top budget-friendly productivity tools for small businesses
Document the sentiment and context of each mention.
Are you positioned as a budget option? A premium choice? The innovative newcomer?
Do certain LLMs recommend your product more or less?
Document these results monthly in a spreadsheet or tracking doc.
Include the tool used, the prompt, the exact language cited, and your position in the response.
This lets you identify shifts in brand positioning, message clarity, and which prompts consistently trigger mentions.
Not showing up yet?
You’ll still learn what LLMs are citing so you can reverse-engineer how to get included.
Pro tip: Make your LLM citations work harder. Add email capture opportunities to your top pages. (Especially ones on topics LLMs are likely to mention.) Use content upgrades, templates, and discounts to turn visitors into subscribers.
Unlinked Brand Mentions
Not every brand mention includes a link to your site, making this influence harder to track.
But since LLMs weigh authentic, third-party references heavily when determining what content (and brands) to trust and cite, these mentions are vital.
Set up alerts for your brand name, product names, and key team members.
As you get mentions, dig into the context.
Are you being cited as an expert?
Recommended as a tool?
Compared to a competitor?
If you’re not getting many mentions, look for opportunities to contribute.
Pitch newsletter authors or podcast hosts with useful, non-promotional content that fits their audience.
Join relevant discussions, offer expert insights, and speak at industry events.
Continue tracking mentions over time to measure whether your efforts result in increased LLM visibility.
LLM Visibility Across Platforms
We’re all used to tracking rankings and referral traffic.
But those signals no longer tell the full story.
Tracking your performance across AI platforms is now a core part of measuring your success.
But you’ll need specialized tools for this.
Semrush’s Enterprise AIO lets you track how your brand is perceived and cited in popular AI platforms.
Once you set it up with the AI models and prompts that you want to track, it’ll tell you how your LLM visibility compares to competitors.
That’s just scratching the surface. You can also track your brand’s overall market share, sentiment, and consumer engagement across AI platforms.
Semrush’s AI Toolkit also lets you track how your domain and overall brand are perceived by individual models. It’s not super customizable yet, but you can still gain a lot of insights.
From there, individual reports break those metrics down by platform.
This gives you a clear view of where you’re gaining traction. And where you may be falling behind.
For example, pet company Petlibro currently holds a much smaller market share in ChatGPT than its competitors.
But in Google’s AI Mode, Petlibro significantly outperforms those same brands.
This is important data because it shows that performance can vary widely by platform.
And tells you where to focus your efforts.
The toolkit also provides sentiment analysis reports so you know how AI platforms describe your brand.
Whether positively, neutrally, or negatively.
This gives you a clearer picture of how LLMs frame your brand in their responses.
Petlibro, for instance, has a 64% favorable overall sentiment score, indicating generally positive positioning.
But also room to strengthen how it’s perceived.
You can drill down further to see what’s behind your sentiment score.
Both the positives and the pain points.
For Petlibro, strengths like convenience, automation, and food freshness drive favorable mentions.
On the flip side, app connectivity issues and limited advanced features are flagged as recurring concerns.
This insight tells you what to highlight in content.
And identifies potential fixes to maintain or improve sentiment.
You’ll also learn the types of queries users ask about your brand. And the intent behind them.
For Petlibro, the majority are educational, followed by research-based queries.
This tells you exactly what types of content to prioritize in your LLM seeding strategy.
For Petlibro, the toolkit suggests creating comparison charts, highlighting smart features, and showcasing testimonials that reinforce brand strengths.
As you gather data, refine your seeding strategy.
Double down on what’s working, whether it’s a specific content format, platform, or message.
And use gaps in visibility or sentiment as signals for where to publish, what to say, and how to position your brand for maximum LLM impact.
Make LLMs Work for You, Not Against You
Moral of the story? Don’t fight the machine — work with it.
AI isn’t coming. It’s here.
And it’s already changing how your audience discovers, evaluates, and chooses brands.
The brands that get cited in AI answers will win mindshare — even if they never rank #1 or get a single click.
That’s what LLM seeding is about.
You’re not optimizing for traffic. You’re engineering trust.
You’re not chasing backlinks. You’re earning brand mentions.
So, if you want to stay relevant?
Get your brand into the conversation now so you don’t get left behind.
Then, use our Search Everywhere Optimization guide to expand that visibility across every surface your customers trust — from AI to Amazon and beyond.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-07-16 15:48:372025-07-16 15:48:37LLM Seeding: A New Strategy to Get Mentioned and Cited by LLMs
Enter your domain and up to four competitors’ domains. Click “Compare.”
Scroll to the “All keyword details for [your site] report.”
Pay attention to the following:
Missing: Keywords that all the other domains rank for, except you
Untapped: Keywords that at least one of the other domains ranks for, except you
This reveals content gaps where your competitors are already succeeding.
Instead of guessing what topics might work, you’re targeting proven winners with a strategy to outrank them.
Mine Online Communities
Online communities are GREAT for finding your customers’ burning questions.
For example, say you have a recipe blog and want to create content for specific diets.
Head over to the Paleo subreddit, and you’ll notice lots of questions about dessert:
Why is this important?
Most people ask questions on Reddit because they couldn’t find their answer on Google.
Or because the answers on Google don’t feel authentic enough.
This means there’s a HUGE opportunity for you to swoop in and answer that question with your content.
Pro tip: Use AI tools to analyze thousands of Reddit threads and Quora questions in minutes. Ask AI to identify patterns in customer questions to help you spot common pain points and preferences.
These community questions should become the backbone of your content strategy in two key ways:
Pain point mapping: Track which questions appear repeatedly to identify the biggest challenges your audience faces. Then, prioritize these topics in your content calendar.
Content format planning: Pay attention to HOW people ask. A “how do I” question might work best as a tutorial, while “what’s the best” questions are perfect for comparison posts or roundups.
You can even create a dedicated FAQ hub on your site that directly answers these community questions.
This approach builds trust fast because you’re solving real problems your audience is actively searching for.
Prioritize topics with solid search volume, clear search intent, and manageable difficulty.
Then, consider if your team can realistically create quality content on this topic.
Do you have the expertise, resources, and time to do it justice?
Finally, think about your differentiation opportunity.
Can you add a fresh angle, better examples, or unique insights that competitors haven’t covered?
If a topic checks all four boxes, green light it.
Once you’ve validated your topics, assign each one to its corresponding awareness stage:
Most aware topics: What questions do prospects ask right before buying? What final objections need addressing? Turn these topics into pricing guides, comparison pages, and tutorials.
Product aware topics: Are competitors ranking for “best [solution category]” terms? Create your own version with honest comparisons and clear differentiators.
Solution aware topics: Are people asking “how to choose” or “what type of [X]”? Build educational content that explains the options and subtly positions your solution as the best fit.
Problem and unaware topics: What recurring pain points did you identify in your topic research? Turn those insights into content that validates the problem and builds awareness.
Pro tip: Want to reach more customers on more channels at all stages of their journey? Experiment with different content types. Try blog posts, videos, lead magnets, ebooks, infographics, success stories, interactive content, and more.
Step 3: Create Comprehensive Content Briefs
Coming up with high-impact topics is only half the battle.
The other half?
Turning those ideas into content that actually performs. That’s where a content brief comes in.
Content briefs eliminate guesswork and align your entire team on what you’re creating and why.
They prevent scope creep, reduce revisions, and ensure every piece of content serves a clear business purpose.
And they can be as short or detailed as you like.
My vote? Make them comprehensive.
The more direction you provide upfront, the less time you’ll spend on revisions.
And the more likely your content will resonate with your audience.
Every brief should include the basics. Like the topic, primary keyword, and article format.
But creating trulyhelpful content requires doing more than the minimum.
That’s why we include audience insights like the following in our briefs at Backlinko.
Target audience level: Beginner, intermediate, or advanced
Awareness stage: Where are they at in their journey?
Reader pain points: The challenges your audience faces
Pro tip: Ask your product, sales, and support teams to contribute to briefs. They can flag upcoming features, share common prospect questions, and identify knowledge gaps worth addressing.
This context helps writers match their tone, examples, and approach to your specific audience.
Another essential brief component? SERP analysis.
Include the most notable competitors’ URLs in the brief for writers to use as inspiration. And leave notes on any gaps you can fill to outrank your competition.
Expert quotes break up visual flow while adding credibility and fresh perspectives to your content.
Pro tip: If you use AI tools to support content creation, inject original insights, quotes, and real-world examples to maintain your authority and trust.
Research
Great content is built on great sources.
While trustworthy sources vary by industry, prioritize these sources as a general rule:
Academic research and peer-reviewed studies
Government data (.gov sites)
Industry surveys from recognized research firms
Industry-leading websites and blogs
Company earnings calls and official statements
Fill in knowledge gaps with expert insights and quotes.
At Backlinko, we often feature expert input from industry veterans to add unique insights and authority to our content.
Visuals
There’s no way around this:
If you want people to read and share your content, it needs to look GREAT.
This is why we go the extra mile to use high-res screenshots.
These crisp, annotated screenshots prove you’ve actually done what you’re teaching.
And make complex processes instantly understandable.
Charts and data visualizations transform boring numbers into compelling stories that support your key points and make them stick.
We also use custom-designed guides to differentiate my content from competitors.
And boost perceived value.
Examples
When it comes to content, there’s one thing I’ve found to be true almost 100% of the time:
People LOVE examples.
When you hear the words “for example,” your brain breathes a sigh of relief.
It makes learning easier and more relatable.
That’s why we include TONS of examples in every post:
Including examples makes your content easier to understand.
But it also signals E-E-A-T to readers and Google.
Even better? AI can’t replicate it.
When you share specific examples, you demonstrate real-world experience that generic content simply can’t match.
Does adding examples take more work than simply saying, “do this”?
Sure.
Is it worth it?
Definitely.
Statistics
Nothing builds credibility faster than strong statistics.
When you back up claims with data from reputable sources, it sends trust signals to both readers and Google.
But not all statistics are created equal. The key is finding data that’s both credible and compelling.
Original data works even better than citing existing studies.
Whether it’s a full-scale study or a LinkedIn post, it attracts readers and backlinks.
And gives you a serious competitive edge.
Here are the best ways to source original data:
Conduct surveys of your audience or industry
Analyze your customer data for trends and insights
Compile industry benchmarks from multiple sources
Track performance metrics over time
Interview experts and quantify their insights
Pro tip: Don’t focus solely on new content in your strategy — revisit and refresh older posts, too. Add new stats, update examples, and optimize for today’s search behavior to give them a second life.
Step 5: Promote Your Content
Without strategic promotion, even your best content might never reach your target audience.
The question is: How do you promote your content the right way?
Here are a few simple strategies that actually work.
Create Email Newsletters
This is HUGE.
An email list is the #1 content promotion tool on the planet. Period.
In fact, there isn’t even a close second.
Remember:
Your subscribers are made up of people who LOVE your stuff.
In other words:
They’re people who are very likely to spread the word about your content.
That’s why we share most of our posts with our email subscribers:
As you can see, our email doesn’t look like a stuffy corporate newsletter.
In fact, the email looks like it could be from a friend.
This is EXACTLY how you want your emails to look.
So, how did it do?
That single email generated 14,067 total visitors:
Nice!
Curate Content Roundups
In case you’re not familiar with them, roundups are posts that curate (or “round up”) awesome content from the week.
The best part?
There are roundups in almost every niche, shared everywhere from social media to email marketing.
For example, this is a LinkedIn roundup from the digital marketing niche:
Here’s why promoting your content to link roundups works so well:
Your pitch actually makes their life easier (yes, really).
I’ll explain…
Roundup curators struggle to find content to include in their roundup.
And when you suggest your new post, you deliver awesome content on a silver platter.
This means there’s no arm-twisting required to get a link.
For example, here’s a LinkedIn roundup that featured one of Backlinko’s articles:
Step 6: Track and Measure Performance
Now it’s time to see how well your content strategy is working.
The question is: How do you know if your content “worked”?
The key is organizing your metrics into two categories that actually matter: business impact and engagement.
Business Impact Metrics
These metrics directly connect to revenue and business growth.
Problem/Unaware content: Blog subscriptions, social follows
If you see conversions moving up, it’s probably a sign that your content marketing is working.
So, you want to add more of that content type to your editorial calendar.
That said:
It’s sometimes hard to track content’s indirect sales impact.
For example:
Brian Dean’s (Backlinko’s founder) conversions that come directly from YouTube were super low:
And if he ONLY looked at Google Analytics, he’d probably say: “YouTube is a waste of time.”
But when he dug a little bit deeper, he could see that his YouTube channel was a HUGE driver of subscribers and sales.
Customers cite his YouTube channel as the main reason that they decide to make a purchase:
This shows that YouTube content is paying off.
Leads Generated
Not all leads are created equal.
Track qualified leads your content generates — people who fit your customer personas and have buying potential.
For example, use UTM parameters on content links to see which pieces drive the most leads.
If you have a CRM, tag leads by source, so you know which content influenced them.
And score leads based on engagement. Did they read one post or download three guides?
Connect this back to the awareness stages from Step 1:
Most Aware content should generate high-intent leads ready for sales conversations
Product Aware content should generate leads actively evaluating solutions
Solution Aware content should generate leads seeking education and guidance
Problem/Unaware content should focus on list building and brand awareness
If your content isn’t generating the right leads for its stage, reassess the intent and quality.
Traffic Quality
Raw traffic numbers mean nothing if visitors bounce immediately.
Focus on engaged traffic — people who actually consume your content and take the next steps.
Key metrics to track:
Pages per session: 2+ indicates genuine interest
Average session duration: Benchmark against your industry average
Bounce rate by content type: Identify which formats keep people engaged
Return visitor rate: Shows you’re building an audience, not just attracting one-time visitors
That said:
Content marketing and SEO can take time to kick in.
For example, look at the traffic numbers from the early days of Backlinko:
As you can see, it took about six months for things to really take off.
And if we gave up early on because content “wasn’t working,” we wouldn’t have seen the huge traffic spike that got us going:
Backlinko has only continued to grow since.
Persistence pays off when you combine strategic content with consistent execution.
Engagement Metrics
These metrics show how well your content resonates with your audience and predicts future business impact.
Views and Reach
Track how many people your content reaches across different platforms and channels.
What to track:
Platform-specific reach: YouTube views, LinkedIn post impressions, blog sessions
Audience quality: Use analytics to see if viewers match your ideal customer profile
Cross-platform performance: Which channels drive the most engaged traffic to your site
Search Visibility and Rankings
Search visibility is more volatile than ever.
But position tracking remains crucial for monitoring your content’s performance.
Here’s what to monitor:
Keyword clusters: Are you ranking for related terms beyond your primary keyword?
Featured snippets: Track snippet wins and losses and identify opportunities using a tool like Semrush’s Position Tracking
SERP features: Monitor video carousels, image packs, and People Also Ask boxes
Click-through rates: Use Google Search Console to see if higher rankings actually drive more clicks
LLM appearances: Are LLMs driving people to your site? Check Google Analytics’ traffic acquisition report to see referral traffic from ChatGPT and other AI platforms.
Monitor how long people stay engaged with your content.
High engagement time signals that your content provides real value.
For example, check your average engagement time per blog post.
Compare your top performers to identify patterns in the topics that resonate most with your readers.
If you’re on YouTube or another video platform, monitor watch time and audience retention. This will tell you where viewers drop off to improve future videos.
Use this data to find your stickiest topics. Pay attention to the subjects that make people read multiple pages or watch entire videos.
If engagement drops at specific points, you know where to strengthen your content.
The best content gets people talking, sharing, and coming back for more.
Start by looking at the comments on your blog, videos, and social media posts.
Comments that ask follow-up questions or share personal experiences signal real engagement, not just passive scrolling.
Then, check the native analytics data for any social platforms you’re on.
For example, Pinterest tells you how many times your pins are saved to boards.
And Facebook tells you how many times users interacted with your content.
Along with providing details on views and follows/unfollows.
Don’t forget to monitor brand mentions across social platforms.
Tools like Semrush’s Brand Monitoring, Mention, or even Google Alerts can catch when people are talking about your content without tagging you directly.
These organic mentions often indicate the highest quality engagement.
Build Authority into Your Content Strategy
Creating a content strategy takes work, but the ROI is worth it.
When you align content with customer awareness levels, prioritize high-impact topics, and measure what matters, you stop guessing and start growing.
Your next step?
Build topical authority.
The more comprehensively you cover a topic, the more likely you are to show up everywhere that matters.
Including AI search, traditional search, social media, videos, and much more.
Read our Topic Clusters 101 guide to learn how to create clusters that boost visibility and conversions.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-07-15 13:32:572025-07-15 13:32:57How Brian Dean Would Launch Backlinko in 2025
Midway through the year is a good time to see how your SEO is holding up. Search habits shift, rankings change, and AI is reshaping how people find information. A mid-year SEO checkup isn’t about starting over. It’s a check-in to spot what’s working, what’s not, and what to adjust going forward.
Traffic and rankings: What’s changed since January?
Start your mid-year SEO review by checking how your site is performing, not just on the surface level, but deeper down. Look beyond overall traffic and into individual pages and search queries. What’s still working? What’s losing visibility? The goal is to spot slow shifts early, before they turn into bigger problems.
Organic traffic trends
Start with a traffic check in GA4. Compare your organic numbers from January to now, then narrow in on which landing pages have gained or lost ground. After that, use Search Console to see how impressions and clicks line up with the shifts. Look across different devices and locations, as you might notice mobile traffic dropping while desktop stays level.
As you review, think about what’s changed. Are certain types of content sliding? Is the homepage steady while deeper articles get less visibility? Has something in the layout or search results changed how people interact with your site? These patterns will help you figure out where to adjust.
Keyword movement and SERP features
GA4 won’t show you how keywords are doing. For that, use Search Console or Semrush, if you want a more detailed view. It gives you a clearer view of how your top queries are performing and whether their positions are trending up or down. Focus on terms sitting somewhere between positions five and fifteen. These are close to the edge and can shift either way with the smallest change.
Keep an eye out for new queries your site is now appearing for. Also, check if your content is showing up in features like video carousels, People Also Ask, or AI Overviews. These placements affect clicks, even if rankings stay flat.
If CTR is dropping, it might be because the answer’s already visible in the search result. That’s common with broad questions or terms that Google can answer directly with a snippet or summary. Some of these shifts started with recent algorithm updates. If you saw a change around that time, that might explain it.
Being on page one isn’t always enough now. What matters more is how your page shows up and whether it stands out next to everything else.
Where’s the gap?
Ranking alone doesn’t mean a page is performing well. Some are still showing up in search but aren’t pulling their weight anymore. Take a look at your top pages from Q1 and compare them to what’s performing now. If something dropped, check for changes. Did the URL structure shift? Was the copy updated? Did anything break during a migration or redesign?
Segmenting traffic helps spot patterns during your mid-year SEO checkup. Blog content might be holding steady while product pages quietly slip. Or maybe a location page that once performed well is now buried. Sorting traffic this way makes it easier to see where things are improving and where they’ve gone quiet.
And don’t ignore branded versus non-branded search. If branded terms are down, it may reflect lower awareness. If non-branded terms fell off, that usually points to stronger competition or a shift in search demand. Either way, those are signs to act on, not ignore.
What to do next in your mid-year SEO review
As you review performance, note content that’s lost traffic and look at how it aligns with current keyword trends. Some pages may need updates, while others might be better merged or repurposed. If certain pages are still ranking but getting few clicks, flag those, too, as there may be issues with title tags, metadata, or how the content is framed.
Also, look for signs of new search interest or shifts in consumer behavior that are driving unexpected traffic. Those insights can help guide your Q3 and Q4 planning. A detailed mid-year SEO checkup now helps prevent bigger issues later. Small drops or mismatches in intent can add up over time, especially if you miss the early signs. Use your data to make informed decisions, not just to complete a report.
Audit and refresh your content
Not all content holds its value over time. Some pages stop performing due to outdated content, and others never performed well to begin with. A mid-year SEO audit helps you figure out what’s worth updating, combining, or removing altogether.
Focus first on content that’s lost traffic or rankings. Use Google Search Console to spot declines in impressions and clicks, then compare that with GA4 engagement metrics. If a page ranks but no longer drives real value, or doesn’t match what users are looking for, it likely needs attention.
Google wants people-first content. So if your site relies on thin tutorials, vaguely rewritten definitions, or pages written more for search engines than real users, those pages may be dragging down your overall SEO performance.
When refreshing content, lead with clarity. Remove fluff, update stats, and make sure your answer matches the search intent. Don’t just rewrite, make the page genuinely better. In some cases, the fix might be cutting it entirely. If a page hasn’t contributed value or activity recently, rethink why it’s there.
Diversify and focus on video
Search results are more visual than they used to be. Video clips now show up in carousels, featured snippets, and AI responses. If your site is still relying on just blog posts, you’re missing opportunities to be seen.
Short videos, especially how-tos, demos, and explainers, can increase visibility on Google, YouTube, and Discover. They also help with engagement, keeping visitors on your site longer.
Start by turning high-performing articles into videos. Post them to YouTube, embed them on your site, and add basic schema markup. Just a few clear, well-structured videos can increase your presence in search results and help reach users who don’t want to read through long text.
Video doesn’t need to be expensive or overly produced. What matters is that it’s useful, focused, and easy to watch. During your mid-year SEO checkup, you might need to improve your video strategy.
Adapting to AI and zero-click searches
More users are getting answers directly on Google, without clicking anything. With AI Overviews becoming more common across search results, especially for question-based queries, your content needs to work even when there’s no obvious incentive to visit your page.
That means clear structure, clean markup, and highly readable content that makes it easy for Google to understand the core answer quickly. Place key information high on the page and use a strong title, meta description, and subheadings. Organize your content with scannable sections so it’s more likely to appear in featured results.
Don’t ignore FAQ or how-to formats, as these can still help Google identify your page’s purpose. Structured data reinforces clarity for both traditional search and AI-generated summaries.
Zero-click doesn’t mean zero opportunity. Content that’s referenced in AI answers or shown in SERP features can strengthen brand visibility, build trust, and lead to familiar users returning via other channels later.
What AI Mode means for search visibility
In addition to AI Overviews, Google is adding a feature called AI Mode. This is a new search experience built for more complex, multi-part queries. It pulls information from several sources and delivers a conversational response with helpful links.
Instead of listing links, AI Mode breaks down the query, runs multiple related searches, and returns one detailed answer. There’s less space for traditional rankings, but a chance for useful, well-structured content to be included. If your impressions are rising but clicks aren’t, your content may already appear in these summaries.
While AI Mode is still rolling out, it shows where search is likely headed. And it’s not just Google, as tools like ChatGPT (Search) and Perplexity show that AI-powered discovery is already expanding. As this grows, you might have to rethink how you see content. Learn how to optimize for LLMs using Yoast SEO’s tools.
Refresh your keyword strategy
Midway through the year is a good time to check if your keyword strategy still aligns with how people are searching. Start with Search Console and any SEO tools you use, and look for shifts in rankings, drops in CTR, or signs that user intent has changed. Some keywords may still rank but deliver less value, while others may be gaining traction.
Take another look at the SERPs. Are AI Overviews, snippets, or video results pushing your links down? If your content no longer fits the query, it may need a rewrite or a new format.
Also consider what’s surfaced since Q1. Seasonal queries, comparison searches, and longer questions might now be worth targeting. Even if they bring less volume, they often convert better. Use what you find to adjust your focus for the second half of the year.
Technical SEO clean up
Great content alone isn’t enough if your site’s technical side is holding it back. A mid-year SEO checkup is a good time to inspect the foundation. See how your site loads, how it’s crawled, and whether pages are being properly indexed.
Start with speed. Use Google’s Core Web Vitals tools to review page load performance. Fix common issues like oversized images, unnecessary scripts, or layout shifts that hurt usability. These things don’t just impact rankings; they also affect how users experience your site, especially on mobile.
Look at crawlability. Search Console can show you which pages aren’t being indexed, where crawl issues are popping up, or if valid content is being skipped. If strong content still isn’t performing, this could be why.
In your mid-year SEO checkup, you should also see your internal linking. Important pages should be easy to reach. If key articles or landing pages are buried under layers of clicks or orphaned entirely, Google’s crawlers (and readers) may never find them.
Finally, check out your structured data. Schema still gives your content a better chance of being understood by search engines.
A light technical review every few months helps keep things healthy. You don’t need to fix everything at once, but leaving small issues unsolved can turn into long-term performance headaches.
Monitor competitors and trends
Search isn’t static, and neither are your competitors. Even if your strategy hasn’t changed much since Q1, theirs might have. A mid-year SEO checkup is a smart idea to see who’s gaining ground, what kind of content is outperforming yours, and what shifts are happening in your space as a whole.
Start by checking who’s around you in the search results, especially for your highest-value keywords. Are the same domains showing up? Has a competitor overtaken you with fresher content, a better format, or a new angle? Sometimes it’s less about Google’s algorithm and more about someone else simply doing it better.
Use ranking and backlink tools to identify newer content that’s climbing. What’s different? Is it shorter, clearer, or more visual? Has it earned links or been widely shared? These observations can shape not just what you publish next, but how you structure and present it.
Whether you’re in an aggressive or stable position, awareness is part of strategy. Without reviewing what others are doing, you don’t have a clear view of what winning looks like right now or how quickly that picture is changing.
Set clear goals for the rest of the year
After reviewing performance, updating content, tightening technical issues, and refreshing keywords, the next step in your mid-year SEO checkup is setting focused goals for the rest of the year.
Keep them specific. A goal like “get more traffic” is too vague to drive clear action. Use what you’ve learned, whether that’s from rankings, audit results, or crawl reports, to define outcomes that are tied to your time, resources, and business needs.
Look for low-effort wins and long-term improvements. Fix pages that rank but don’t get clicks. Update content that dropped after an algorithm change. Strengthen internal links to help strong posts on the edge of page one move up. These small changes can improve results with less time than starting from scratch.
If AI features are reducing your traffic on top queries, consider focusing more on visibility than clicks. That might mean leaning into content formats that stand out in summaries, like FAQs or short-form video.
You can also set process goals: publish more consistently (maybe using workflow improvements from Yoast SEO’s Google Docs add-on), clean up old content, reduce crawl waste, or make reporting easier. These are just as important as traffic-focused targets, and they’re often easier to maintain over time.
Your goals don’t need to be dramatic. Often, refining what already exists brings more gains than chasing something new. Revisit your targets regularly and track your progress without overthinking it. Most importantly, stay flexible heading into Q4, when search activity and competition both tend to spike.
Workflow improvements also help, for instance, by integrating Google Docs and Yoast SEO
Do your mid-year SEO checkup
Search has changed a lot since January, and it’s not slowing down. A mid-year SEO strategy review gives you the chance to course-correct, refocus your efforts, and keep momentum going into the back half of the year.
You don’t need to overhaul everything. Just fix what’s broken, improve what matters, and make better decisions with what you know now. Stay consistent, track what shifts, and keep building.
First impressions stick, especially in UX. When we saw that new users of our Yoast SEO for Shopify app were skipping key steps or dropping off early, we knew our onboarding wasn’t working. Using journey mapping and service blueprints, we redesigned the experience to be faster, clearer, and more supportive from the start. Here’s how small, well-timed changes made a big difference.
We recently launched a redesigned onboarding experience to help Shopify merchants set up for success. Behind that update is a bigger story: how thoughtful UX decisions, team-wide alignment, and service design methods reshaped the user experience. And we mean that in the broadest sense, from discovery to giving users the feeling that the app is working for them and helping them succeed.
In this interview, we spoke with our UX designer, Tom Ottjes, who led the project to unpack that process. His answers will offer a closer look at the problems we needed to solve, the tools he used to communicate across teams, and the omnichannel changes that made the biggest difference.
Before you start reading, here’s a quick animation showing the various parts of the service blueprint we worked on. Of course, there’s much more, but we cannot show you everything.
From patterns to priorities
Before redesigning a single screen, the team needed a way to understand and communicate what wasn’t working. They needed to uncover what had to change to fix the experience for people in a way that also helped us achieve our company goals. That’s where service design tools, particularly customer journey maps and service blueprints, came in.
Customer journey mapping helped visualize what users were experiencing from discovery through installation and first use. It highlights not only the steps customers take but also where they become confused, hesitant, or drop off. Based on support conversations, surveys, and analytics, the journey map revealed several issues. One of those issues was a lack of early guidance, which led to missed configuration steps, among other things.
Before we moved on to action, we wanted to define success by determining KPIs. This is an essential step. It will help shape the direction of the service and experience you will be designing. Instead of viewing onboarding as just a UI problem, the service blueprint mapped every user action alongside the systems, processes, and people behind them. This included content, customer support, notifications, and working within Shopify’s own platform constraints.
Because it connects what’s visible to the user with what happens behind the scenes, a service blueprint became central to the project. It gave every team, from UX to development, support, and marketing, a shared reference point. By mapping each phase as its own blueprint, the team could prioritize quick wins while keeping an eye on a longer-term onboarding vision.
It turned a complex, cross-functional issue into something everyone could contribute to. The blueprint helped make improvements easier to design, build, and test in smaller, clearer parts.
A real example: Turning uncertainty into reassurance for larger stores
One of the more surprising and important insights from our service blueprinting process was about scale. We discovered that while the app felt fast and responsive for smaller Shopify stores, larger ones had a very different experience. For shops with tens of thousands of products and pages, the initial processing and indexing step could take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours.
The problem? We weren’t telling users that. Small stores would see their data reflected almost instantly. Large stores would land on a blank dashboard, with no indication that the system was still working in the background. From the user’s perspective, it looked like nothing was happening.
We addressed this with a series of small but intentional changes. First, we introduced a proper loading state with messaging acknowledging what was happening. Then, we added an email field to that screen, giving users the option to be notified when setup was complete. When they enter their email, they receive a confirmation message once everything is ready.
It’s a small detail, but one that shifts how the experience feels. Instead of confusion or doubt, users now get feedback, a sense of transparency, and a way to re-engage later. And for us, it’s a concrete example of why aligning the front-end and back-end through service design actually matters.
Meet the designer
Meet the UX designer: Tom Ottjes
This interview is with Tom Ottjes, one of Yoast’s UX designers. He led the onboarding redesign for our Shopify app and was co-responsible for designing the Yoast AI features. With several years of experience working across product and marketing, his approach centers on translating user behavior into actionable design. Much of his work focuses on simplifying complex flows, improving user guidance, and helping teams understand the customer journey.
Tom, what problem were you seeing that made this project a priority?
With our Yoast SEO for Shopify app, we strive to deliver real, tangible value to our users. That starts with understanding their experience from the moment they install the app. Through a combination of user surveys, interviews, support request analysis, and product analytics, we began to see clear patterns emerge.
There were three main friction points we kept hearing and seeing:
A lack of guidance: Many users simply didn’t know how to use the app effectively. They installed it but weren’t sure what to do next to optimize their store.
Unclear value delivery: We noticed that crucial steps, like completing the ‘Site representation’ settings, which unlock immediate SEO benefits, were often skipped. That told us users weren’t seeing the connection between setup actions and real results.
Hesitation to engage with the free trial: Users were wary of testing the app, unsure of what the trial included or whether it was truly risk-free.
All of these insights pointed to one thing: the onboarding experience wasn’t doing its job. It wasn’t guiding, reassuring, or demonstrating value early enough. We visualized all these issues in a detailed customer journey map, helping us to zoom out and see broader patterns. We found different user types, where they dropped off, and what confused them. That map became a key alignment tool and helped us frame the onboarding redesign as a top-priority project.
What would success look like for you from the user’s perspective?
From the user’s point of view, success meant feeling confident and supported from the very first interaction with our app. We wanted users to land in the onboarding flow and immediately understand two things: how the app can help them improve their Shopify store’s SEO, and what steps to take first to see results.
That meant offering a smoother, more intuitive experience. An experience that clearly communicated value upfront, provided improved guidance around initial setup steps, and highlighted key features. It should also assure users that trying the app was safe and worthwhile.
First, we wanted to help users quickly understand the full value of the app. In addition, we wanted users to complete key onboarding actions such as filling out their ‘Site representation’ settings and exploring core features relevant to their store. Emotionally, we aimed for a sense of clarity, trust, and motivation to continue.
Ultimately, if a user could say, ‘I know exactly what this app does, what I need to do, and I can already see it working for me,’ then we knew we were on the right track.
The new onboarding helps introduce the app and guides the user through the set up
Can you explain your service design process and how it helped the teams?
After mapping the current onboarding journey and identifying the key pain points, we knew we didn’t just need a better UI. We needed a more holistic service experience. That’s where service blueprinting came in.
We started by defining clear KPIs to measure the impact of our changes, such as completion rates for critical onboarding steps, time to value, and feature discovery. These metrics gave us a shared definition of success and helped shape the direction of the user experience.
Then we used the service blueprinting method to reimagine onboarding as a complete service. A service blueprint maps the relationships between people, processes, and touchpoints tied to a customer journey. It helped us visualize both what the user sees and everything happening behind the scenes to support that experience, from content strategy to customer support workflows to engineering requirements.
This systems-level view was essential in aligning multiple teams, like UX, development, marketing, and support. Everyone could see how their work connected to the user’s experience and where coordination was needed. It also helped us identify internal gaps, inefficiencies, or dependencies early, so we could design around them.
To move quickly and deliver value incrementally, we broke the optimized onboarding journey into phases, prioritizing what would have the most immediate impact for users. That approach lets us ship improvements faster while staying grounded in a long-term vision for the onboarding experience.
We approached the whole effort using a service design mindset. We zoomed out to understand the system users interact with, not just the screens they see. Service blueprinting helped us take what users were experiencing (empathy and insight), identify internal blockers, and structure releases around clear hypotheses. It wasn’t just about delivering onboarding, but about improving the service behind it.
How are you tracking whether it’s helping users get started faster?
From the start, we knew that redesigning onboarding wasn’t just about launching something new. We wanted to prove it made a difference. So, we defined clear KPIs to measure the impact of our changes. To make this measurable, we built the tracking infrastructure needed to monitor user behavior at each step.
But we didn’t stop at numbers. We also incorporated qualitative customer listening tools, things like in-app feedback, support conversations, and interviews. As we wanted to understand how users feel as they move through onboarding.
Are there still improvements to make?
Absolutely, because onboarding is never truly ‘finished.’ It’s an evolving experience, and we see it as a continuous opportunity to better support our users.
The next phase of our optimized onboarding journey will focus on deepening the guidance we provide, helping users go beyond setup and start making more meaningful improvements to their store. We’re looking at how we can better surface insights, suggest next steps based on context, and empower users to unlock even more value with confidence.
While I can’t share all the details just yet, I can say this: we’re not stopping at getting users through the door. We’re focused on helping them thrive once they’re inside.
Good things are coming. As always, we’re listening closely to our users to make sure what we build truly meets their needs.
Pro tips for getting started with service blueprinting
Thinking of using service blueprinting in your own work? Here are a few things that helped us:
Start with a real journey: Mapping is most useful when it’s grounded in actual user behavior. Use support data, interviews, and analytics to anchor the blueprint in real problems.
Define what “success” means upfront: Before mapping, align your team on what outcomes you’re working toward (e.g., faster time to value, fewer drop-offs).
Map front-end + back-end: Don’t just track what users see. Include internal systems, support workflows, engineering dependencies, and anything that influences the experience.
Keep roles visible: Show which team is responsible for which process. It keeps conversations focused and collaboration smoother.
Don’t overcomplicate: A blueprint doesn’t need to be a polished artifact. Start simple. The value is in getting teams aligned, not in how it looks.
Blueprinting doesn’t replace good UX research or design, but it’s a powerful way to connect them to the broader experience. If you’re working on anything cross-functional, it’s absolutely worth trying.
A shared understanding drives real change
This project wasn’t just about shipping a new flow. We wanted to design with a clear, shared understanding of our users and the processes that support them.
Our service blueprint turned out to be a great tool to align teams around a single goal: helping users quickly see the value of the Yoast SEO for Shopify app. Along the way, we uncovered friction, mapped dependencies, and built toward something more consistent, supportive, and effective.
Thoughtful onboarding is the start of everything that follows. By making those early minutes feel clear, calm, and grounded in real outcomes, we’ve not only improved setup times and reached our KPIs but also changed how we work, design, and listen together.
The work continues, focusing on feature onboarding, improved guidance, and even future WordPress experiences. Together, we’ll apply these lessons from now on. We’ll design by putting users first, build teamwork on transparency, and create experiences that guide, not just onboard.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-07-10 13:20:112025-07-10 13:20:11Redesigning onboarding for impact: A service design approach
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is quickly becoming one of the most important new topics in search.
As large language models (LLMs) change how users discover brands and make decisions, GEO helps ensure your content and brand show up in AI-generated answers — not just in traditional search results.
But GEO is just one part of a bigger shift.
We’re entering the era of Search Everywhere (in fact, we’re already in it).
Discovery is no longer confined to Google search results pages.
It’s happening everywhere users seek trusted information and recommendations.
And new data shows just how fast this shift is accelerating.
New research from Semrush predicts that LLM traffic will overtake traditional Google search by the end of 2027.
And our own data suggests that’s likely to be true.
In just the past three months, we’ve seen an 800% year-over-year increase in referrals from LLMs.
We’re seeing tens of millions of additional impressions in Google Search Console as AI Overviews reshape how Google displays answers.
If your brand isn’t adapting, you could soon be invisible online.
In this guide, I’ll explain:
What GEO is and how it’s different from SEO
Why you shouldn’t throw away everything you’ve already learned
The top techniques that will help you optimize your content for generative engines (and drive results for your business in the process)
What Is GEO and Why Does It Matter?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of creating and optimizing content so that it appears in AI-generated answers on platforms like Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
But GEO goes beyond content optimization. It’s a holistic approach that includes:
Publishing content in the right places where AI tools are most likely to discover it
Earning positive brand mentions across the web, even without direct links
Ensuring technical accessibility so AI crawlers can easily access and understand your content
Instead of focusing only on traditional rankings, you’re making sure your brand becomes part of what AI tools say when users ask questions.
These tools “generate” responses to queries in conversational language. While they can include links, the goal is to give the searcher what they need within the response.
So in GEO, your content needs to shape the conversation, not just try to win a click.
Why GEO Matters Now
Traditional Google search still dominates.
It’ll likely continue to drive most of your traffic in the near term.
But the way people discover information is changing — fast.
Success used to mean ranking at the top of the SERP.
Looking forward, there may not even be a “top spot.”
Instead, you need to become the top recommendation — the solution AI tools choose to recommend in their answers.
The data tells the story:
ChatGPT reached 100 million users faster than any app in history. And as of February 2025, it now has more than 400 million weekly users.
Google’s AI Overviews now appear on billions of searches every month — at least 13% of all SERPs.
And they appear for more than half of the keywords we track at Backlinko:
Generative engines are influencing YOUR audience too. So it makes sense to start optimizing for them now.
How GEO and SEO Work Together
Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight:
You might look at this guide and think,
“Isn’t this just SEO with a different name?”
And honestly?
In many ways, it is. But there’s a reason everyone’s talking about it.
Terms like GEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and AIO (AI Optimization) have exploded in interest — because they reflect a real shift.
And with all the acronyms flying around, it can be tough to know who to listen to.
We’re not saying GEO replaces SEO.
But it does help reframe your strategy for how discovery works now — across AI tools, social platforms, and new surfaces beyond traditional search.
From Traditional SEO to Search Everywhere
Evolving From
Evolving To
SEO = Google Search
SEO = multi-surface visibility (Search, AI/LLMs, social)
Success = ranking for keywords
Success = being found across Search + Chat
SEO is a siloed function
SEO is cross-functional + connected to product, brand, PR, and social
Keyword-first content planning
Intent and entity-driven topic planning with semantic structure
Backlinks to pass PageRank
Traditional backlinks plus more focus on brand mentions and co-citations
Traffic as a core KPI
Visibility, influence, and conversions across touchpoints as core KPIs
Technical SEO as the foundation
Technical SEO as the foundation (with additional focus on JavaScript compatibility)
That means there’s good news:
If you’ve invested in good SEO, you’re already a lot of the way there.
GEO builds on the foundation of great SEO:
Creating high-quality content for your specific audience
Making it easy for search engines to access and understand
Earning credible mentions across the web
These same elements help AI engines decide which brands to reference.
But here’s the difference:
AI engines don’t work exactly like Google.
That means some of your tactics (and what you track) need to evolve.
So let’s walk through how to do that.
7-Step GEO Action Plan
We’re still in the early days of understanding exactly how AI engines pull and prioritize content.
But one thing is clear:
You need to adapt or reprioritize some traditional SEO tactics for Generative Engine Optimization.
The first three steps below cover overarching best practices for GEO.
Steps 4-7 cover optimizing content for generative engines specifically (and how to track your results).
Step 1. Nail the Basics of SEO
As I said earlier, good GEO is also generally good SEO. But not everything you do as part of your wider SEO strategy is as important for generative engine optimization.
Let’s focus on what really matters for generative engines.
Make Your Site Easy to Read (for Bots)
Crawlable and indexable: If AI tools can’t access your pages, you won’t show up in answers
Fast and mobile-friendly: Slow, clunky sites hurt UX — and your chances of getting cited
Secure (HTTPS): This is now table stakes, and it builds trust with users and AI systems
Server-side rendering: Some AI crawlers still struggle with JavaScript, so use server-side rendering as opposed to client-side rendering where you can
Show You’re Worth Trusting (E-E-A-T)
AI wants trustworthy sources. That means showing E-E-A-T:
Experience: Share real results, personal use, or firsthand knowledge
Expertise: Stick to topics you truly know — and go deep
Authority: Get quoted, guest post, or contribute to well-known sites
Trust: Use real author bios, cite sources, and include reviews or testimonials
Note: We’re not suggesting these AI tools have any sort of “system” built into them that aligns with what we call E-E-A-T. But it makes sense that they’ll prefer to cite content from reputable sources with expertise. This provides a better user experience and makes the AI tools themselves more reliable. Also, download our Free Template: E-E-A-T Evaluation Guide: 46-Point Audit
Step 2. Build Mentions and Co-Citations
AI systems don’t just look at backlinks to understand your authority. They pay attention to every mention of your brand across the web, even when those mentions don’t include a clickable link.
Backlinks are still important. But this changes how you should think about building your wider online presence.
Audit Your Current Mentions
Start by auditing where you’re currently mentioned. Search for your brand name, product names, and key team members across Google, social media, and industry forums.
Take note of what people are saying and where those conversations are happening.
You’ll probably find mentions you didn’t know existed. Some will be positive, others neutral, and a few might need your attention.
Also run your brand name and related terms through the AI tools themselves.
Does Google’s AI Mode cite your brand as a source for relevant terms?
Does ChatGPT know who your team members are?
What kind of sentiment do the answers have when you just plainly ask the tools about your brand?
It’ll let you track your LLM visibility (a by-product of good GEO) in top tools compared to your rivals:
The tool compares your brand to your rivals in terms of AI visibility, market share, and sentiment:
And it’ll show you where your brand strengths are and where you can improve:
Want to track your brand’s AI visibility? Get a free interactive demo of Semrush’s AI Toolkit to see how you can compare to competitors across ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI platforms.
Keep Building Quality Backlinks
Just because mentions are more important than before with GEO, it doesn’t mean you should abandon traditional link building. Backlinks still matter for SEO, and they often lead to the kind of authoritative mentions that AI systems value.
There are a few different definitions out there of co-citation and co-occurence.
I’ll be honest: the definitions don’t matter as much as the implications. I’ve seen one source define co-citations as the exact thing another source calls co-occurence. So for this section, I’m just going to talk about what these are and why they matter, without getting bogged down in definitions.
The first important way to think of co-citations/co-occurences is simply the mention of one thing alongside another.
In the case of GEO, we’re usually talking about your brand or website being mentioned alongside a different website or topic/concept on another website.
For example, if your brand is Monday.com, you’ll pick up co-citations involving:
Your competitors (ClickUp, Asana etc.)
Key terms or categories associated with your business (like “project management software”)
Specific concepts or questions related to what you do (e.g., “kanban boards” and “how to automate workflows”)
In Monday’s case, there are hundreds of pages out there that mention it alongside ClickUp and Asana in the context of “project management tools”:
This suggests to Google and other generative AI tools that Monday and ClickUp are both related to the term “project management tools” and are both popular providers of this kind of software.
The other common way to think about co-citations is mentions of your brand across different, often unrelated websites. For example, Monday being mentioned on Forbes and Zapier would be a co-citation involving them.
To sum it up:
If two (or more) brands/websites are often mentioned alongside each other, AI tools will assume they are related (i.e., they’re competitors)
If a brand is often mentioned in the context of a particular topic, concept, or industry, AI tools will assume the brand is related to those things (i.e., what you offer)
If lots of different websites mention a particular brand, the AI tools will assume that brand is worth talking about (i.e., probably trustworthy)
Obviously, there’s a lot more to it, but this is a fairly basic overview of what’s going on.
How to Put This into Action
To build citations, co-citations, and co-occurences:
Look for opportunities to get mentioned alongside your competitors. When publications write comparison articles or industry roundups, you want your name in that list. These co-citations help AI systems understand where you fit in your market.
Participate in industry surveys and research studies. When analysts publish reports about your sector, being included gives you credibility (and any backlinks are a bonus).
Get involved in relevant online communities. Answer questions on Reddit, contribute to LinkedIn discussions, and join industry-specific forums. These interactions create mentions in places where AI systems often look for authentic, community-driven insights.
The goal is to become a recognized voice in your space. The more often your brand appears in relevant contexts across the web, the more likely AI systems are to include you in their responses.
Step 3. Go Multi-Platform
Going beyond Google is something top SEOs have been telling us to do for a long time. But AI has made this an absolute must.
Platforms like Reddit, YouTube, and other user-generated content sites appear frequently in AI outputs.
So, a strong brand presence on these platforms could help you show up more often.
The benefits here are (at least) three-fold:
Being active on multiple platforms lets you reach your audience where they are. This helps you boost engagement, brand awareness, and, of course, drive more conversions.
AI tools don’t just look at Google search results. They pull from forums, social media, YouTube, and lots of other places beyond traditional SERPs.
Being active on multiple platforms means you’re less exposed to one particular algorithm or audience. Diversification is just good practice for a business.
Brian Dean did an excellent job of this when he was running Backlinko. That’s why you’ll see his videos appear in Google SERPs for ultra-competitive keywords like “how to do SEO”:
We’re taking our own advice here. In fact, it’s a big part of why we launched the Backlinko YouTube channel:
Here’s some quick-fire guidance for putting this into practice:
People go to YouTube to learn how to do things, research products, and find solutions to their problems. This makes product reviews, tool comparisons, and in-depth tutorials great candidates for YouTube content.
Podcast content and transcripts are beginning to surface in AI results (especially in Gemini). Building a presence here is a great opportunity to grab some AI visibility.
TikTok and Instagram Reels reach younger audiences who increasingly use these apps for search. Short-form videos that answer common questions in your industry can drive discovery, and AI tools can also cite these in their responses to user questions.
AI tools LOVE to cite Reddit as a source of user-generated answers (especially Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode). To grow your presence on the platform, find subreddits where your target audience hangs out and share genuinely helpful advice when people ask questions related to your expertise. Don’t promote your business directly — focus on being useful first.
LinkedIn works similarly to Reddit for B2B topics. Publish thoughtful posts and engage in relevant discussions to help establish your voice in professional circles. These interactions can then get picked up by AI systems looking for expert perspectives.
Step 4. Find Out What AI Platforms Are Citing for Your Niche
What’s a powerful way to understand both what to create and what topics to target?
To simply learn what AI tools are likely to include in their responses to questions that are relevant to your business.
Start by directly testing whether/how your content appears in AI tools right now. Go to ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity and ask questions that your content should answer.
In the example below, Backlinko is mentioned (great), but there’s also a YouTube video front and center. And forums are appearing too. These are places we might want to consider creating content or engaging with conversations.
As you do this for your brand, pay attention to the sources they cite:
Are they commonly mentioning your competitors?
What platforms do they tend to cite? (Reddit, YouTube etc.)
What’s the sentiment of mentions of both your brand and your competitors?
As you do this, try different variations of the same question.
For example, you could ask “What’s the best email marketing software?”
Then try “Which email marketing tool should I use for my small business?”
Notice how the answers change and which sources get mentioned consistently.
In the example above, the first prompt mentioned MailerLite, which was absent in the list for small businesses. But the second prompt pushed Mailchimp to the top and mentioned three new options (Constant Contact, Brevo, and ActiveCampaign).
If you were MailerLite and trying to reach small businesses, you’d want to understand why you’re not being cited for that particular prompt.
Pro tip: Try it with different tools as well. They each have their own preferences when it comes to citing sources, so it’s a good idea to test a couple of them.
You can automate this process with tools like Profound or Peec AI. These platforms run prompts at scale, helping you understand how and where your brand appears. But they can be pricey.
That’s why I recommend you spend some time running these prompts manually at first.
By the way:
This isn’t just important for “big brands” or those selling products. You can (and should) do this if you run a blog, local business website, or even a personal portfolio.
For example, consultants and freelancers will find these tools often cite marketplaces like Upwork and Dribbble. If you don’t have a profile on there, you’ll likely struggle to get much AI visibility.
And if you’re a local business owner, you’ll often find specific service and location pages appear in AI responses:
This is useful for understanding the types of content you should be focusing on for GEO. Now it’s time to decide what topics to focus on in your content.
Step 5. Answer Your Audience’s Questions
The way people search with AI tools is fundamentally different from how we use traditional Google search. This changes how you should plan your content.
Traditional SEO taught you to target specific keywords. You’d create a page optimized for “healthy meal prep ideas” and try to rank for that phrase.
But what happens when people are instead searching for “what to cook for dinner when I’m trying to lose weight”?
The answer might involve healthy meal prep as a solution, but it’s a completely different prompt (not a search) that gets to that answer (not a SERP).
When you run these queries through Google’s AI Mode, you see two totally different sets of sources and content types.
For the “healthy meal prep ideas” query (which is a perfectly valid and searchable term), the focus is listicles, single recipes, and YouTube videos. And the format is categories (bowls, wraps, and sandwiches etc.) with specific recipes:
But for “what to cook for dinner when I’m trying to lose weight,” the sources are primarily lists, forum results, or articles specifically around weight loss.
In this case, the format of the answer is largely broad tips for cooking healthily and then some general cooking styles or meal types, rather than specific recipes:
As more users realize they can use conversational language to make their searches, longer queries will become more common. This makes this kind of intent analysis critical.
These longer, more specific queries represent huge opportunities. Most companies aren’t creating content that answers these detailed questions.
The more specific the question, the more likely you are to show up when AI systems look for authoritative answers. You want to own the long-tail queries that relate directly to your product or expertise.
But:
You obviously can’t reasonably expect to create content for every single long-tail query out there. So how do you approach this in an efficient way?
How to Choose the Questions to Answer
Start by listening to the actual questions your customers ask.
Check your customer support tickets, sales calls, and user feedback. These real questions from real people often make the best content topics — because they’re the same kinds of questions people will ask these AI tools.
Don’t have any customers? No problem.
Use community platforms to find these conversational queries. Reddit, Quora, and industry forums are goldmines for discovering how people actually talk about problems in your space.
Step 6. Structure Your Content for Generative Engines
AI systems process information differently than humans do. They break content into chunks and analyze how those pieces relate to each other.
Think of it like featured snippets but more granular, and for much more than just direct questions.
This means the way you structure your content directly impacts whether AI systems can understand and cite it effectively.
Note: A lot of what I say below is just good writing practice. So while this stuff isn’t necessarily “revolutionary,” these techniques are going to become more important as you focus on GEO.
One Idea per Paragraph
Keep your paragraphs short and focused on one main idea.
When you stuff multiple concepts into a single paragraph, you make it harder for AI systems to extract the specific information they need.
Also avoid burying important information in the middle of long sentences or paragraphs. Front-load your key points so they’re easy to find and extract.
And guess what?
It also makes it easier for your human readers to understand too. So it’s a win-win.
Use Clear Headings
Use clear headings and subheadings to organize your content logically.
Think of these as signposts that help both readers and LLMs navigate your information. And make sure your content immediately under the headings logically ties to the heading itself.
For example, look at the headings in this section. Then read the first sentence under each one.
Notice how they’re all clearly linked?
This is a common technique when trying to rank for featured snippets. You’d have an H2 with some content that immediately answers the question…
…and this would rank for the featured snippet for that query:
This is still a valid strategy for traditional search. But for GEO, you need to have this mindset throughout your content.
Don’t make every H2 be a question (this will quickly end up looking over-optimized). But do make sure the content that follows your (logical) headings is clearly linked to the heading itself.
Break Up Complex Topics into Digestible Sections
If you’re explaining a complex or multi-step process, use numbered steps and clear transitions between each part.
This makes it easier for AI systems to pull out individual steps when someone asks for specific instructions. And it’ll make it much easier for your readers to follow.
Also write clear, concise summaries for complex topics. AI systems often look for these kinds of digestible explanations when they need to quickly convey information to users.
Include Quotes and Clear Statements
Include direct quotes and clear statements that AI systems can easily extract.
Why is this worth your time?
Because pages with quotes or statistics have been shown to have 30-40% higher visibility in AI answers.
So instead of saying “Email marketing could be an effective channel for your business,” write “Email marketing generates an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent.”
Note: Don’t just flood your content with quotes and stats. Only include them when they actually add value to your content and are useful for your readers.
Use Schema Markup
Schema markup gives you another way to structure information for machines. This code helps systems understand what type of content you’re presenting.
For example, FAQ schema tells algorithms that you’re answering common questions. HowTo schema identifies step-by-step instructions.
You don’t need to be a developer to add schema markup. Many content management systems (like WordPress) have plugins that handle this automatically.
Make It Scannable
Use formatting like bold text to highlight important facts or conclusions and make it easier for readers to skim your content. This helps both human readers and AI systems identify the most important information quickly.
This has always been a big focus of content on Backlinko. We use lots of images to convey our most important points and add clarity through visualizations:
And we use clear headings to make our articles easy to follow:
The goal is to make your content as accessible as possible to both humans and machines. Well-structured content performs better across all types of search and discovery.
And if your content is enjoyable to engage with, it’s probably going to do a better job of converting users into customers as well.
Step 7. Track Your Visibility in LLMs
How often are tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini mentioning your brand?
If you’re not tracking this yet — you should be.
Tracking your visibility in AI-generated responses helps you understand what’s working and where you need to focus your efforts.
But where do you start? And what should you track?
Manual Testing as a Starting Point
Start with manual testing. This is the simplest way to see how you’re performing right now.
Ask the same questions across different AI platforms, like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google (both AI Mode and AI Overviews). Take screenshots of the responses and note which sources get cited.
Do this regularly, and you’ll start to see patterns in which types of content get mentioned and how your visibility changes over time.
Honestly though: you’re going to struggle to get a lot of meaningful data doing this manually. And it’s not scalable. Plus, so much of what an AI tool outputs to a user depends on the previous context, like:
Past conversations
Previous prompts within the same conversation
Project or chat settings
This makes it challenging to get truly accurate data by yourself. This is really more of a “feel” test that, in the absence of dedicated tools, can provide a very rough idea of how generative engines perceive your brand.
Use LLM Tracking Tools
For more comprehensive tracking, dedicated tools can automate this process.
Platforms like Semrush Enterprise AIO help you track your brand’s visibility across AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s AI Overviews.
It shows you exactly where you stand against competitors and gives you actionable steps to improve.
Competitive Rankings is my favorite feature. Instead of guessing why competitors might rank better in AI responses, you get actual data showing mention frequency and context.
Another option is Ziptie.dev. It’s not the most polished tool yet, but they’re doing some really interesting work — especially around surfacing unlinked mentions across AI outputs.
If you already have Semrush, then the Organic Research report within the SEO Toolkit does provide some tracking for Google AI Overviews specifically.
You can track which keywords you (or your competitors) rank for that have an AI Overview on the SERP. If you don’t currently appear in the overview, that’s a keyword worth targeting.
Tracking the keywords you do rank for in these AIOs over time can help you gauge the performance of your GEO strategy.
Why Talk to Your Boss (or Clients) About GEO?
You’ve seen the steps. Now you need a story.
GEO isn’t just a tactical shift — it’s a way to explain what’s changing in search without resorting to hype.
GEO helps you frame those changes clearly:
Traditional SEO still works
Your past investments are still paying off
But the bar is higher now
Visibility means more than rankings
Your brand needs to be mentioned, cited, and trusted across every channel
GEO gives you the framework to explain what’s changing and how to stay ahead of it.
You Need to Start Now to Stay Visible
This space is evolving fast. New capabilities are rolling out monthly.
The key is to start tracking now so that you can benchmark where you are and spot new opportunities as AI search matures.
Grow your presence by adding a GEO approach on top of your SEO efforts:
Continue optimizing for strong rankings and authority (AI still leans on this)
But now, prioritize content and signals that AI engines are more likely to reference directly
Want to learn more about where the world of search is heading? Check out our video with Backlinko’s founder Brian Dean. We dive into how search habits are changing and how you can build a resilient, multi-channel brand.
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Or, worse — they get skimmed, misunderstood, and ignored.
But knowing how to create an SEO report that demands attention can change everything.
It’s not just a performance recap.
It’s a strategic tool that helps you build trust with decision-makers. Win bigger budgets. And keep your SEO efforts on track.
In this article, you’ll learn how to:
Create SEO reports that people actually read (and act on)
Tie SEO performance to business goals
Highlight wins and uncover growth opportunities
Free resource: Download our SEO Report Template. It has ready-made sections for tracking key metrics, visualizing performance, and presenting clear next steps.
What Is an SEO Report and Why Is It Important?
An SEO report is a tool for measuring performance and shaping strategy.
It tracks key metrics like traffic, rankings, and conversions.
Then, connects them to business outcomes, opportunities, and priorities.
A strong SEO report helps answer:
What changed?
Why did it happen?
What should we do next?
For example, let’s say you run SEO for a workplace furniture ecommerce company.
You notice a spike in traffic and rankings for your category page on ergonomic office chairs.
Here’s how a useful SEO report would break that down:
It’s a clear, focused snapshot that distills the data into what improved, why it happened, and why it matters.
How to Create an SEO Report That Drives Results
Too many SEO reports dump data without insight.
Traffic, rankings, and top pages might look impressive — but they don’t tell the full story.
And without context, stakeholders are left guessing.
The best SEO reports connect the dots. They tie performance to business goals, spotlight what’s working, and make the next move obvious.
Here’s how to build one that actually drives results:
Step 1: Determine the Stakeholders
Before pulling data or building charts, get clear on who you’re reporting to.
Knowing your audience should shape your whole report, from the SEO stats you’re using to how you communicate them.
Ask yourself:
Who will read this?
What do they know about SEO?
Who will be making the decisions?
What decision do I want them to make?
And here’s one more that’s just as important:
Have I asked what metrics actually matter to them?
A quick conversation can surface priorities that no dashboard will show you.
From there, tailor the format, metrics, and language accordingly.
(This is where many SEO reports go sideways — too much data, not enough direction.)
Here’s a quick breakdown of how to match your audience to your data and format:
Stakeholder
What They Care About
What to Show
Format Tips
CMO / Exec
Revenue, ROI, brand authority
Conversions, organic-assisted revenue
Keep it short, visual, and business-focused
Marketing Team / Managers
Channel performance, goal tracking
Traffic trends, keyword growth, top pages
Include takeaways and next steps
Product Team
Feature discovery, UX gaps
Search query trends, on-page feedback
Highlight qualitative insights and opportunities
Small Business Client
Clear wins, reviews, local visibility
Local rankings, top queries
Use plain language and short summaries
For example, if your primary audience is a CEO or CMO, you probably wouldn’t lead with details about unindexed pages or on-page engagement time.
Likewise, a report for a small business owner with zero SEO background shouldn’t be packed with complex metrics or jargon.
They need simple wins, clear summaries, and next steps they can act on.
Pro tip: When your SEO report serves multiple audiences, prioritize what matters most to decision-makers — like ROI, growth, and performance. Then, layer in tailored insights for other teams (product, content, dev, etc.) in separate sections or an appendix.
How to Report to Non-SEO Audiences
Working with clients who don’t speak SEO?
You can help them level up their knowledge by translating industry terms into easy-to-understand language.
Add simple explanations to your reports and introduce new concepts one at a time.
Here are three ways you can do this in your SEO reports:
1. Include key takeaways to clarify complex points.
2. Add links to educational resources on SEO concepts.
3. Add short videos with explanations of the client’s data or performance.
Step 2: Decide Which Metrics Matter Most
Start with the key SEO metrics every report needs, no matter the audience.
Metric
Why It Matters
Conversions
Connects SEO to real business results. Key for proving SEO ROI.
Organic traffic + engagement (including click-through rates and average position)
Shows how well your pages attract and keep search visitors — great for spotting what’s working.
Organic impressions
Highlights search visibility and signals growth or dips in core topics
Keyword trends (rankings, top non-branded keywords)
Shows what’s gaining traction and where to focus next. Helps spot cannibalization or decay.
Backlink profile health
Keeps tabs on link trust and growth. Important for authority.
Technical health
Identifies site issues that hurt SEO. Vital for maintaining crawlability and indexability.
SERP features
Tracks special placements that boost visibility (e.g., featured snippets, video results, or shopping carousels)
LLM visibility
Shows brand mentions and citations in AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity — key for influence in AI-driven discovery.
You can find the majority of your must-have metrics in SEO tools like Google Search Console (GSC) or Semrush.
Add-On SEO Report Metrics
Once you’ve covered the essentials, you can layer in additional metrics depending on your team’s strategy and goals.
If you’re prioritizing:
Include metrics like:
User engagement
Scroll depth, bounce rates, dwell time, and GA4 engagement metrics
Topical authority
How well your content ranks for key themes
E-E-A-T signals
Mentions, expert authorship, branded searches, trust indicators (e.g., social shares)
Content library ranking efficiency
What % of your pages rank in the top 10 to guide pruning or reinvestment.
Further reading: Curious about some of these add-on metrics? Check out our guides on bounce rate and dwell time.
Step 3: Turn Raw Data Into Actionable Insights
Raw data doesn’t drive decisions — clear stories do.
Knowing how to create an SEO report means turning numbers into narratives.
It needs to clearly tell a story around these questions.
Is our SEO strategy working?
What changed?
Why did it change?
What should we do next?
One of the best ways to tell the story is through time-based comparisons.
Show how SEO performance has changed month-over-month (MoM), quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), or year-over-year (YoY).
Highlighting changes over time makes it easier for stakeholders to spot trends. And understand why they matter.
For most SEO teams, the challenge isn’t collecting data. It’s translating it into context stakeholders care about.
Raw numbers might make sense if you’re inside the tools every day.
But executives and cross-functional teams need more than charts. They need meaning.
The best reports go beyond what changed. They explain why —and connect the dots to business impact.
Like this:
Metric
Increase Might Mean
Decrease Might Mean
Organic traffic + engagement (CTR, avg. position)
Higher rankings or better-optimized content
Rankings drop or poor user experience (UX)
Organic impressions
More visibility in search
Lost rankings or SERP features
Keyword trends
New or improved keyword rankings
Declining rankings or outdated content
SERP features tracking
Gaining authority in SERPs
Dropped from features or lost relevance
Conversions
SEO traffic is converting better
Traffic mismatches or UX issues
Backlink profile health
More quality links or mentions
Lost links or declining authority
Translate percentages and numbers to what actually happened:
What new pages were published?
Did your development team ship technical fixes?
How many backlinks were earned?
Are algorithm changes or seasonal searches a factor?
Most importantly, link the SEO impact to business terms.
For example, let’s say your top product page jumped from position No. 9 to No. 3.
In the same month, inbound demo requests doubled.
That’s not just a ranking improvement. It’s a signal that higher visibility on the right terms is driving qualified traffic.
In this case, the takeaway isn’t just “rankings are up” — it’s that SEO is contributing directly to revenue growth.
Step 4: Showcase the Results
A great SEO report doesn’t overwhelm your reader — it guides them.
It frames wins. Flags issues. And makes the next move crystal clear.
Executive Summary
Start with a snapshot that shows where things stand.
The Executive Summary gives a high-level view of key metrics and overall performance trends.
So, stakeholders can get the big picture fast.
Keep it sharp and clear. Spotlight what’s working, what’s driving it, and where to go from here.
Performance Metrics
This section covers your core SEO performance data — like traffic, rankings, keywords, and backlinks.
Include context and key takeaways.
When showcasing trends, show the progress over time, not just one-off wins.
And use visuals as much as possible.
Charts, graphs, and annotated screenshots really can make your performance insights pop.
Next Steps
What needs to be tackled next?
Here’s your chance to include those thoughts for your stakeholders.
Include clear, actionable recommendations, like a fresh SEO audit or doubling down on high-performing content.
Appendix
This optional section includes deeper data for teams, stakeholders, and ongoing projects.
It helps keep the main report focused, while still delivering the context others may need.
Bonus move: Once your report is done, record a short walkthrough to present it. It’s a great way to highlight key takeaways, explain the big picture, and guide stakeholders through anything they might overlook.
Mistakes to Avoid in Your SEO Report
Even with the right data, your SEO report can still fall flat if it’s hard to interpret, misaligned with business goals, or missing a clear takeaway.
Here are some common mistakes to avoid — and how to fix them.
Reporting Data Without Context
Don’t just drop data into your report. Make it meaningful.
Show how it relates to business goals and your site’s overall SEO performance.
For every metric, briefly explain what it means, why it matters, and what action it might prompt your team or your client to take.
Surfacing Issues Without Providing Solutions
Reporting on every issue isn’t helpful unless it impacts your site’s SEO performance.
For example, say you note that a group of pages are experiencing index issues.
Include a hypothesis on why this is happening and how you might recommend fixing it.
Listing Every Keyword Ranking
A full list of keyword shifts (especially minor ones) can bury your most important wins.
Instead, spotlight high-impact keywords — non-branded terms driving traffic or tied to revenue pages.
Including Every. Single. Page.
Reporting on every page creates noise, not insight.
Focus on the top 10 pages for organic traffic, or spotlight the top page in each key topic cluster.
Ignoring Business Outcomes
Your report might show SEO progress. But, does it show business progress?
Tie your work to signups, revenue, pipeline, brand visibility — whatever matters to your decision-makers.
Telling, Not Showing
You shared the data. But did you explain the story?
Use visuals, comparisons (e.g., MoM or QoQ), and commentary to walk the reader through what changed, why, and what’s next.
Show the Impact. Earn the Buy-In.
SEO reporting isn’t just about checking a box.
It’s your opportunity to show impact, earn trust, and steer strategy.
Surface insights that get stakeholders aligned and excited about what’s possible.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-07-01 15:16:092025-07-01 15:16:09How to Create an SEO Report That Wins Trust (and Budgets)
In the last few years, we have seen loads of exciting developments in AI. New tools are popping up left and right, helping with a wide range of tasks. AI is finding its place in every market, from writing to keyword research to fact-checking. The rise of this phenomenon is undeniable. Let’s explore a few AI tools that can support your SEO efforts.
We’ve listed 12 tools that can help you with your SEO in different ways. That said, it’s important to maintain a healthy balance between AI support and human input. AI can help us greatly, especially with getting started and saving time on easy tasks. Authenticity and trustworthiness still matter, both for your audience and SEO.
Don’t let AI take over entirely or erase your unique perspective.. Don’t underestimate your importance in this process and always stay critical of the output. Check the tone of voice and the facts, and rewrite anything that feels off. In the end, this human element will get you to the top of the search results.
1. ChatGPT (Plus)
Let’s start with a tool you’ve probably heard of: ChatGPT. This is a text-based AI model that interacts with you in a conversational way to answer any question you have. Or fulfill any content request you have. This means ChatGPT can assist with a broad range of tasks.
Another great feature is the ability to tweak your request as you go. So if you ask ChatGPT to write an introduction for a blog post on a specific topic and the answer it comes up with is too long, you can then ask it to shorten it and it will do so. If you’re not happy with the tone of voice, you can ask it to change that. Or if you don’t like it at all, you can ask ChatGPT to rewrite it altogether. You can also craft more specific prompts to get better results from the start. This allows you to keep tweaking the text until you’re satisfied with it.
Screenshot of ChatGPT and the model options showing
If you use ChatGPT plus, which is the paid version, you can also use the dropdown at the top left corner to select a model fitted to your needs. As you can see, these other models give you more options. But the free version of ChatGPT can still handle most basic content requests.
2. Yoast SEO & WooCommerce SEO
Yoast SEO comes with several AI features. The most recent one is Yoast AI Optimize, which helps you improve your content based on the feedback you get—inline, where you are working. Yoast AI Optimize highlights suggested changes for certain assessments in the Yoast SEO Analysis, allowing you to easily apply or dismiss them. This ensures that the final decision always remains in your hands.
Yoast AI Optimize gives you inline suggestions and a one-click solution to improve your content
The second AI feature generates SEO titles, meta descriptions, and social snippets for you. It looks at the content already there and gives you a few options with the click of a button. This saves you the hassle of doing it manually and provides you with relevant titles, meta descriptions, and social snippets to increase your click-through rates.
Screenshot of the AI meta description generator in Yoast SEO Premium
The AI features are part of our paid plugin, Yoast SEO Premium. This comes with a yearly subscription plan, but an affordable one. We want to make our features available to as many people as possible.
Unlock AI features in Yoast SEO Premium
Get this feature and much more for your WordPress site with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin!
We’ve also added this feature to Yoast WooCommerce SEO a short while back. This helps you make your products stand out on the search result page and get those clicks to your website. So if you have an online shop and are looking to optimize your product pages, it’s worth taking a look at that product as well.
3. Jasper
Another tool you can use to produce content is Jasper. But it is more focused on producing marketing content like blog posts, social posts, email and website copy. Where ChatGPT targets a wider audience, Jasper focuses on people working in marketing and entrepreneurs who do their marketing themselves. Utilizing the AI tool works pretty similarly, where you put in a request and Jasper provides you with content specifically created for a newsletter or post (or something else).
It also allows you to upload a style guide or examples of your content so that it can learn your preferred tone of voice. In addition, you can also give it information about your company like the products or services you provide, your audience and even a campaign brief. Jasper uses all of this to understand the goal of the content you’re requesting and to create content that is on-brand and detailed. What’s cool about this tool is that it also comes in the form of a browser extension. Allowing you to use it while you’re working on your content in WordPress, Gmail and other places.
Screenshot of Jasper browser extension being used in Gmail
It’s good to know that Jasper works with a monthly (or yearly) subscription plan, so this is a paid tool. They have a few options you can check out and a free trial if you want to give it a try before subscribing.
4. Keyword Insights
A vital but time-consuming part of SEO is keyword research. That’s why one of the AI tools we’ve picked is focused on that specifically. You can use Keyword Insights to find new keyword ideas and cluster them. By filling in a keyword it gives you loads of related keywords and their search volumes. Keyword Insights also helps you categorize keywords by clustering them properly and it allows you to upload other files to get those keywords in there as well. It gives you a nice overview of all your keywords per cluster and all the relevant data to figure out which ones you want to work on. The tool actually uses an algorithm to quickly show you which keyword is the best choice at the moment.
An overview of related keywords in Keyword Insights
After you’re done with that, you can actually use the writing assistant to get started with writing. What’s cool about this writing feature is that it gives you an overview of the top headings of other websites that rank high on that keyword. Or it can even generate an outline for you. Which can be great inspiration to get started with the structure of your text. It also helps you write the text by suggesting relevant content for the article you’re working on.
Keyword Insights is a paid tool, that has several pricing options depending on your needs. A few of those options also enable team sharing, which comes in handy when you have multiple people working on your SEO. It has loads of interesting features to do keyword research in an organized way. But a very important sidenote is that it can be tempting to let the tool also do all the writing for you. Which might result in content that is far from original and authentic and will not get you that top result in Google. As it will be mainly based on what’s already out there. So make sure to check out the keyword features, but be mindful of how you use the writing assistant.
5. Semrush SEO Writing Assistant
Another writing tool powered by AI is the SEO Writing Assistant you can find in Semrush. This tool analyzes your text in terms of SEO, readability, originality and tone of voice. It gives you suggestions based on this analysis and also comes with a few features to optimize your text, such as the Rephraser, Compose and Ask AI. What’s great about the Originality section is that this helps you create content that’s not like everyone else’s, something you risk when using AI in your content creation. This can help you figure out whether you need to change your angle and it also checks your content for plagiarism.
The SEO Writing Assistant in Semrush
Another reason we’re mentioning this tool is because Semrush in general is a great tool for SEO. So having this option in there is a great addition to their set of tools. The SEO Writing Assistant is part of Semrush’s Content Marketing Platform, which is included with two of their three subscription plans. You can also sign up for a free trial to give it a whirl.
6. MarketMuse
When looking at AI tools that can help you elevate your SEO, MarketMuse is another one we want to mention. In short, MarketMuse is content planning and optimization software that comes with loads of SEO and automization features. The idea is that it puts everything you need in one place and automates content audits for you. Helping suggest what to work on next instead of guessing or speculating what does or doesn’t work.
The Topic Navigator section in MarketMuse
It can help you do keyword research, plan your content and write. All based on personalized data, as they analyze your website and also look at competitors in your field. Which can save you loads of time and help you make informed decisions. Without having to switch between different tools and documents or sheets. It’s all in one place. As most AI tools discussed so far, MarketMuse works with a monthly subscription plan and gives you a few options to choose from.
7. Originality.ai
The name might already be an indicator of what this AI tool can do for you. Originality.ai helps you fact-check your text and also checks it for plagiarism. Being trustworthy is an important factor in SEO right now, and will probably remain important, so you need to get your facts straight. And make sure you’re not accidentally committing plagiarism, a growing risk in today’s AI-heavy landscapes.. Funnily enough, it also comes with an AI Content Detector which is pretty good in detecting content written by AI. Even if it has been paraphrased.
The fact checker in Originality.ai
Originality.ai comes with a monthly subscription option and a pay-as-you-go option which gives you a bunch of credits to get started. Unfortunately, there is no free trial, but if you go to their website you can find loads of information (and some examples) of how the features work. There’s also a demo of their fact checker if you want to give that a try!
8. Grammarly
Grammarly is a tool that’s quite popular with the writers here at Yoast. It shows you when you’ve made an error when it comes to spelling and grammar, and works on different platforms and in different places. Which is very helpful when you write a lot of online text. Now that Grammarly also comes with the power of AI, it can do even more for anyone who writes online content.
Grammarly now comes with a generative text feature, which allows you to give it a prompt and get a draft right away. It also includes a rewrite feature to adjust the tone of your content. You can also teach it what your personal tone of voice is, so that it can give you specific suggestions that fit your communication style. Lastly, it can help you with brainstorming and outlines by giving suggestions based on your task at hand. It’s a neat little AI tool that you can use on the go.
Screenshot of Grammarly functionality, showing some of its AI features
Grammarly has a free plan, which gives you access to their basic AI assistance and 100 AI prompts per month. They have a few paid monthly subscription plans if you need more and want access to more prompts and advanced features.
9. Gemini
Gemini is Google’s generative AI chatbot. It’s designed to handle a wide range of tasks including text generation, image analysis, coding, and data processing. Integrated into tools like Google Docs and Gmail, Gemini provides users with loads of options to improve their content on the spot. It also integrates with Google’s AI Studio for prototyping and testing.
Gemini is designed to serve both casual users and developers. Through the Gemini web app (formerly Bard), users can interact conversationally with the model, ask complex questions, or get help writing code and documents. This app also offers Gems, premade or custom prompts that can be saved for future use and help you with specific needs.
The Gem manager in Gemini
Gemini offers a free and paid subscription. The free version of the Gemini web app gives users access to Gemini Flash, a fast and cost-efficient model suitable for everyday tasks. For more advanced capabilities, Google offers Google AI Pro, which provides access to Gemini Pro, integrations in Google apps, and a few other more specific features.
10. Perplexity
Perplexity AI is a free AI-powered search and answer tool. It presents direct answers backed by real-time web sources, making it especially useful for research, current events, and factual information. It uses a conversational interface similar to a chatbot, allowing users to ask follow-up questions and refine their search naturally.
One of Perplexity’s standout features is its focus on citations and transparency. Each answer is accompanied by linked sources, allowing users to verify information or explore the topic further. This makes it a valuable tool for professionals, students, and writers who need trustworthy results quickly. The platform also includes features like “Research,” allowing deep research on any topic.
Example of answer provided by Perplexity, showing the sources at the top.
Perplexity offers a free option that provides access to fast and accurate answers using its standard models, along with web-sourced citations. For users who need more powerful tools, Perplexity offers different plans depending on your needs. Pro is aimed at individuals looking to use a more powerful and up-to-date version of the tool. Sonar API gives developers API access for any custom applications or automations they might want. Finally, Enterprise Pro is the choice recommended for organizations looking to use this tool within the team.
11. Claude
Claude is a conversational AI designed with a focus on safety and transparency. Named after Claude Shannon, the father of information theory, this model excels at tasks involving text comprehension, summarization, creative writing, and code generation. What sets Claude apart is its training method that aligns the model’s behavior with human values by using a set of ethical guidelines.
Users can interact with Claude through a chat-style interface. It also supports uploads of various file types (like PDFs or CSVs) for direct analysis, making it a powerful tool for research, document review, and data interpretation. Anthropic’s Claude includes three variants, Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. Opus being the most advanced, particularly strong in reasoning and complex problem-solving tasks. Sonnet is also a great option for coding tasks.
Example of Claude being used to visualize data.
Claude comes with a free option and several paid options. The free version gives users access to Claude’s chat and allows them to generate code, create content and analyze text and images. When it comes to their paid plans, there are options for individuals looking to integrate Claude into their terminal or workspace. But also options for organizations or developers or businesses looking to get access to the API. I would recommend having a look at the options to see what would be a good fit for you.
12. NotebookLM
NotebookLM is an AI-powered note-taking and research tool developed by Google. It was designed to help users interact with their own documents using generative AI. It allows you to upload sources such as PDFs, Google Docs, YouTube-video’s or audio files, and then ask questions or generate summaries based on that content. Unlike other AI tools, NotebookLM uses the user’s uploaded material, which makes its responses more contextually accurate and personalized.
One of the standout features of NotebookLM is its ability to create structured summaries, highlight key themes, and generate helpful outlines based on the uploaded sources. You can interact with the model by asking detailed questions, getting explanations of terms, or generating content like FAQs or briefing docs. This productivity tool blends note-taking, research, and brainstorming in one interface.
The NotebookLM interface showing sources, the chat and other options.
As of now, Google offers NotebookLM for free. The tool is available to users in supported regions through their Google accounts and is still positioned as an experimental product.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-06-24 11:13:092025-06-24 11:13:0912 AI tools that will elevate your SEO game
