Most of the talk about AI optimization is focused on getting brands mentioned in AI Overviews (AIOs) and LLM outputs (which is a framework we’ll dive into later).
But there’s a whole extra opportunity to shape LLM outputs higher in the funnel.
Consider that many buyers now engage with LLMs at the beginning of their journey. They explore their pain points, ask for tips, and look for directional advice from AI that may ultimately lead them to making a purchase decision.
The goal of this framework is to nudge those conversations in your favor.
In other words, seed the LLM’s database with content and information that will influence the buyer’s journey and possibly send users in your direction as they continue their investigation.
This framework is, essentially, a high-tech PR strategy.
The goal is to establish a link between specific problems or pain points and your specific solution or product.
Then, distribute that information as broadly as possible — in a very concise and consistent way.
Here’s how to coin a few distinct solution statements and seed them in a public LLM (think ChatGPT) for a chance to have your brand surfaced in its search results:
- Create your seed content. This includes one or two unique phrases you will coin for each pain/solution statement you want to rank for. It’s important to keep the language identical everywhere you publish it.
- Publish in high‑authority, crawlable locations. This includes your website (It’s important your site is crawlable — no paywalls, etc.), guest posts on other authoritative sites, platforms like Medium, social media, etc. The more diverse, and quality, domains that feature the same phrase, the greater chance an LLM will pick it up when crawling.
- Use schema markup on primary pages containing seed phrases, because structured data usually fairs better in the crawling process. If you aren’t familiar with schema, start learning here. And in a meta moment, you can actually use ChatGPT to generate schema markup. Some development chops required for this step.
- Distribute. Include your seed statements on content-heavy forums like Quora, Stack Overflow, and Reddit. Encourage customers to reference your phrase in their own reviews, content, etc. Natural-feeling repetition will help LLMs find and prioritize your content.
- Implement SEO best practices — a clean and fast site, great content, abundant backlinks (more on these later). With ChatGPT at least, the LLM often cites the top organic search results, so ranking high for your coined seed terms is still critical!
Keep in mind that any frameworks designed to affect LLM outputs are based on theory and studies of correlation. It’s not an exact science and results are not guaranteed nor always consistent. In addition, not all models refresh their info all the time like Google does. So seeded content could take six months to more than a year to appear! And, as always, spammy practices won’t get you anywhere.
In Action: Wayne Morris
Using ChatGPT to look into strategies for upping pipeline velocity we came across an interesting term: “GTM debt.”
Wondering exactly what that meant in this context — and where it came from — we took to Google. And there, in both the AIO and a few times on the first SERP, we saw the same source popping up again and again.
The term appears to have been coined by Wayne Morris Consulting, who features it in their blog content, social posts, and has even built a lead capture form on their website offering a 30-minute GTM debt assessment meeting.
By seeding this unique coined phrase across the internet, Wayne Morris increased the chances of it being used in relevant LLM results. As well as the chances that a curious searcher would dive deeper into the term and come across their website as the key source.
In the end, seeding this term may help nudge users down a path which could ultimately win customers for Wayne Morris.
