By Mara Brak
graphic by Search Engine Land
An article by Business Cosmetics commented that, “LLM SEO is becoming critical in shaping public discovery and this shift is already impacting industries like beauty.”
The Rise of LLM SEO
How many times have you first searched for outfit inspiration on Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest?
LLM SEO is slowly changing the game. For me, it happens almost every day. I still search for specific outfit pieces on Google, but more and more frequently I find myself turning to social media to confirm my choices.
Ulta will launch on TikTok Shop next week. By optimizing their online presence in 2025 across different ecommerce platforms, Ulta saw 11% growth last quarter. By keeping up with the changing times and launching their presence on TikTok Shop, Ulta is ensuring that they would continue to get cited by “AI-driven discovery loops that Gen Z and Gen Alpha use to find their products,” says a recent article by Personal Care Insights.
Customers can now ask for exactly what they want to an LLM like ChatGPT instead of trying various long-tail combinations to find something similar to what they have in their head.
My Personal Experience
I’ll be honest: I had a period of time where I was searching for new stores that had a specific style and decided to use ChatGPT, just so I could have all of my options in one place. When typing in my query, I simply said to give me the top 10 retail stores in the USA that had that specific style, regardless of price or location.
After viewing the websites, I realized I never would have found them on my own without ChatGPT. Even now, ChatGPT will remember what stores I like and suggest specific items for me to buy based on my past history.
When I am searching on Google, I can look back at my search history, but only to a certain extent. If I am looking for something I mentioned a year ago, I just have to hope that I remember it. Unfortunately, I generally don’t remember unless I bookmarked the website.
Staying on top of things may start to get difficult for large businesses, as it means their channels are starting to become quite fragmented. However, as long as they stay organized, it could mean a huge increase in profit. I do not think that Google’s hold on discovery will ever be anything but firm, but I do think that GEO will start to chip away at it.
2 Responses
This was an intresting read, it shows how important having AI recognize your website is for generating traffic. You would not have found some of those shops without it. Being recognized by AI is very important for a business and its growth.
This is really cool to read about! AI can be really useful, but it has to be done in a tactful manner and not just to produce large amounts of bad content. LLMO is an innovative way to see AI in SEO.