As SEOs, we are used to being adaptable to altering algorithms, so LLM optimization must be a easy extension of that course of.
To debate the trade debates surrounding the variations between web optimization and GEO and make clear whether or not they are the identical or completely different, I spoke with web optimization veteran Grant Simmons.
Grant has over 30 years of expertise serving to manufacturers develop and has spent many years targeted on which means, intent, and topical authority lengthy before LLMs entered the dialog.
I spoke with Grant about sign alignment, how Google’s newest continuation patents reveal the mechanics of LLM citations, and what SEOs are getting incorrect about topical focus.
“We discuss writing for the machines, however we’re actually writing for human want as a result of it’s all pushed by the immediate or the question.” – Grant Simmons
You possibly can watch the full interview with Grant on IMHO beneath, or proceed studying the article abstract.
Nice web optimization Is Good GEO
At Google Search Dwell in December 2025, John Mueller said, “Good web optimization is good GEO.”
I requested Grant what he thought have been the variations between optimizing for search engines like google and for machines, and if he thought there have been any overlaps.
Grant’s method echoes what John Mueller stated, however “Not everybody has been doing nice web optimization,” he defined. “Nice web optimization was at all times about constructing topical authority.”
He continued to say, “Basically, machines (whether or not it’s Google or whether or not it’s an LLM) have to perceive the underlying which means of the content material to allow them to current the greatest reply.
They’ve to perceive the question or the immediate, then they’ve to ship the greatest reply. So in that means, it’s very comparable.”
The place Grant sees divergence is in how the methods consider content material. Google has traditionally ranked pages, and even with passage rating, it nonetheless considers the web page and the website as a complete. LLMs function in a different way.
“LLMs are trying extra at that passage facet, you understand, one thing that’s easily extractable, one thing that has worth semantically associated to the question or the immediate. And so there’s that elementary distinction.”
Grant additionally pressured that nice web optimization has at all times been holistic, touching social media, PR, content material, and model messaging. Having model consciousness, brand visibility, and brand consistency across all channels is a big consider LLM illustration. And this is precisely the sort of work that the greatest SEOs do.
“We’re entrepreneurs. We must always ensure that, not simply from a standpoint of what we do in web optimization and GEO for our purchasers, which is connecting a necessity and intent to the services or products that satisfies that intent, we’re additionally doing the identical in our personal advertising. Now we have to perceive what our purchasers are on the lookout for.
“[GEO] is the identical [as SEO] for those who’re doing it effectively. It’s not the identical for those who weren’t. And naturally, there’s nuance.”
My ideas are that SEOs who’ve been in the trade the longest are experiencing much less disruption as a result of they’ve seen all of it before. They discovered to be adaptable in the early years when there was a lot flux as we progressed from a number of search engines like google to only one. Whereas for anybody new to the trade, they don’t have the identical background factors of reference.
Why Consensus Issues To Be Surfaced By LLMs
I went on to ask Grant about Google’s newest continuation patents, which describe two distinct methods that work collectively.
The primary is what Grant describes as a response confidence engine. This system evaluates whether or not a passage will be corroborated, whether or not the information has consensus throughout the internet.
“In the event that they return a passage they usually can corroborated that it is true, and after we say true, it’s true in the sense of a couple of particular person is saying it, that doesn’t imply it’s true, nevertheless it means the consensus is there,” Grant defined. “The consensus typically wins out.”
The second system is what Grant calls a linkifying engine. As soon as a passage has been confirmed by way of consensus, this engine determines whether or not a particular sentence or sub-element inside that passage, what Grant calls a “chunklet,” will be matched and linked to a supply.
“Consensus decides whether or not it’s surfaced in the first place. The linkify engine truly decides whether or not it’s linkable, whether or not a quotation is truly going to occur,” Grant stated.
Getting mentioned by an LLM is one factor. Getting an precise hyperlink again to your content material requires that the particular passage is each verifiable by way of consensus and uniquely attributable to your supply.
Golden Information Content material Wins
So, what sort of content material earns this sort of AI visibility? Grant described it as “golden information,” content material that is distinctive in some significant means.
“Typically, data-driven, your individual knowledge, your individual opinion that’s proof-backed, evidence-backed. Taking a special view of issues,” Grant stated. “However in the identical means of taking a special view, there nonetheless has to be some sort of consensus. If different individuals are agreeing with you, that is actually essential. Your content material wants the uniqueness and the data-driven facet, nevertheless it nonetheless has to align with the total consensus on the internet.”
Grant was additionally clear that whereas we frequently discuss writing for machines, the orientation should remain human-centered: “We discuss writing for the machines, however we’re actually writing for human want as a result of it’s all pushed by the immediate or the question.”
This stability between uniqueness and consensus is maybe the most actionable takeaway. Content material that merely restates what everybody else is saying gained’t stand out. However content material that takes a place with out corroboration elsewhere gained’t cross the confidence threshold to be surfaced. The candy spot is authentic, data-driven perception that others can and do validate.
The Largest Errors SEOs Make With Topical Focus
Once I requested Grant about the most typical errors he sees with topical diversification on pages, his reply was clear: attempting to be every little thing to everybody.
“When you consider intent, all of the sudden you perceive that pages have a proper to exist,” Grant stated. “I name it path to satisfaction. Understanding who the viewers is and what they want to discover, you might have to present a path to that satisfaction.”
Grant identified that the majority SEOs inherit current websites moderately than constructing from scratch. The temptation is to focus on the surface-level optimizations, similar to title tags, meta descriptions, and headers, with out reviewing whether or not a web page is truly targeted on a particular intent or whether or not it has what he calls “drift.”
“What they gained’t do is essentially evaluation the web page and perceive whether or not that web page is targeted on a particular intent or whether or not it has this drift,” Grant defined. “Cleansing out these outliers, matters that you simply’re overlaying while you don’t actually imply to, is basically diffusing what the web page means. These are the issues that I feel SEOs miss out on.”
This ties immediately again to LLM citability. If a web page lacks clear topical focus, it turns into tougher for AI methods to extract a self-contained passage that solutions a particular question. Tightening that focus isn’t simply good web optimization; it’s the basis of being seen in AI-generated responses.
Grant’s Technique Suggestion For 2026
I completed by asking Grant what he’s recommending to his purchasers proper now.
“Let’s double down on what’s working,” Grant stated. “LLM traffic is so small today that optimizing for LLMs is essential for the future however not for at this time’s metrics. Let’s enhance our web optimization. Let’s get to that nice web optimization stage. And as we’re doing that, we are incorporating the parts that can make it easier to present up for GEO, that can assist present up on these different surfaces.”
His focus is on nice content material, topical authority, uniqueness, data-driven approaches, citations, and digital PR. In Grant’s phrases: “Getting content material so good that LLMs can’t ignore you, Google can’t ignore you, and publications can’t ignore you.”
It’s the Steve Martin philosophy utilized to web optimization: “Be so good they will’t ignore you,” and, coincidence or not, the rule I’ve utilized for the final 15 years in web optimization.
Watch the full interview with Grant Simmons right here:
Thanks to Grant Simmons for providing his insights and being my visitor on IMHO.
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Featured Picture: Shelley Walsh/Search Engine Journal
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