SEO Test: We influenced major LLMs to position us EXACTLY how we want. We used consistent brand messaging in titles, site copy, LinkedIn + more:
Author’s Note: To get tips like this directly to your inbox, check out the newsletter in my bio. I’m also giving a webinar later today on AEO experiments as well. Going to be sharing some of the best ones we’ve seen from Ramp, Ahrefs + our own.
So this was a pretty cool test that I ran last for Nectiv. There’s a lot of chatter about how consistent brand messaging can improve your positioning + presence in AI search. I wanted to actually test it for our site. We have a pretty specific ICP that we worked against ($20M+ ARR B2B and technology companies). Could we get AI search to reflect that ICP directly?
I wanted to test this by making specific adjustments to the Nectiv site. I went through key owned + off site signals to make the adjustments. This included:
1. Home page title tag
2. Home page copy
3. About Us page copy
4. Our AI instructions page that’s been getting cited
5. My personal LinkedIn headline
6. The Nectiv LinkedIn page headline
7. Our Zyppy SEO profile
8. Our BuiltIn profile
As a result, within a week most major LLMs are defining our ICP for us directly in the response. The vast majority of prompts I pull now say that we work with $20M ARR + companies SOMEWHERE in the response.
So pretty awesome that now AI search will help define our ICP and we’ll be positioned in a way that’s a good fit for our brand. If we end up on a shortlist against other agencies, they’ll be a chance that AI will use our positioning to define who we’re a good fit for.
A big caveat is that since we’re not some huge Series D company, this was likely easier / faster to influence. We’re also not hugely multi-threaded so it’s easier to specifically pick the exact messaging we want. However, I think it shows it IS POSSIBLE to control your positioning and what AI search says about your brand.
