As SEOs, we’re used to being adaptable to altering algorithms, so LLM optimization needs to be a easy extension of that course of.
To debate the business debates surrounding the variations between search engine optimisation and GEO and make clear whether or not they’re the identical or completely different, I spoke with search engine optimisation veteran Grant Simmons.
Grant has over 30 years of expertise serving to manufacturers develop and has spent many years centered on that means, intent, and topical authority lengthy earlier than 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 flawed 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 complete interview with Grant on IMHO under, or proceed studying the article abstract.
Nice search engine optimisation Is Good GEO
At Google Search Reside in December 2025, John Mueller stated, “Good search engine optimisation is sweet GEO.”
I requested Grant what he thought have been the variations between optimizing for engines like google and for machines, and if he thought there have been any overlaps.
Grant’s strategy echoes what John Mueller stated, however “Not everybody has been doing nice search engine optimisation,” he defined. “Nice search engine optimisation was all the time about constructing topical authority.”
He continued to say, “Primarily, machines (whether or not it’s Google or whether or not it’s an LLM) have to grasp the underlying that means of the content material to allow them to current the very best reply.
They’ve to grasp the question or the immediate, then they must ship the very best reply. So in that method, 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 location as an entire. LLMs function otherwise.
“LLMs are trying extra at that passage aspect, you recognize, one thing that’s simply extractable, one thing that has worth semantically associated to the question or the immediate. And so there’s that basic distinction.”
Grant additionally pressured that nice search engine optimisation has all the time been holistic, touching social media, PR, content material, and model messaging. Having model consciousness, model visibility, and model consistency throughout all channels is a major consider LLM illustration. And that is precisely the form of work that the very best SEOs do.
“We’re entrepreneurs. We must always make sure that, not simply from a standpoint of what we do in search engine optimisation 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 grasp what our purchasers are searching for.
“[GEO] is identical [as SEO] if you happen to’re doing it nicely. It’s not the identical if you happen to weren’t. And naturally, there’s nuance.”
My ideas are that SEOs who’ve been within the business the longest are experiencing much less disruption as a result of they’ve seen all of it earlier than. They discovered to be adaptable within the early years when there was a lot flux as we progressed from a number of engines like google to only one. Whereas for anybody new to the business, 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 method evaluates whether or not a passage might be corroborated, whether or not the data has consensus throughout the net.
“In the event that they return a passage and so they can corroborated that it’s true, and after we say true, it’s true within the sense of a couple of particular person is saying it, that doesn’t imply it’s true, but it surely means the consensus is there,” Grant defined. “The consensus usually 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,” might be matched and linked to a supply.
“Consensus decides whether or not it’s surfaced within the first place. The linkify engine really decides whether or not it’s linkable, whether or not a quotation is definitely going to occur,” Grant stated.
Getting talked about 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 Data Content material Wins
So, what sort of content material earns this sort of AI visibility? Grant described it as “golden data,” content material that’s distinctive in some significant method.
“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 method of taking a special view, there nonetheless needs to be some form of consensus. If different persons are agreeing with you, that’s actually essential. Your content material wants the individuality and the data-driven side, but it surely nonetheless has to align with the general consensus on the net.”
Grant was additionally clear that whereas we frequently discuss writing for machines, the orientation ought to stay 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 steadiness between uniqueness and consensus is probably probably 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 move the boldness threshold to be surfaced. The candy spot is authentic, data-driven perception that others can and do validate.
The Greatest Errors SEOs Make With Topical Focus
After I requested Grant about the most typical errors he sees with topical diversification on pages, his reply was clear: attempting to be all the pieces to everybody.
“When you concentrate on intent, all of a 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 should discover, it’s a must to present a path to that satisfaction.”
Grant identified that the majority SEOs inherit current websites reasonably than constructing from scratch. The temptation is to concentrate on the surface-level optimizations, resembling title tags, meta descriptions, and headers, with out reviewing whether or not a web page is definitely centered on a particular intent or whether or not it has what he calls “drift.”
“What they gained’t do is basically overview 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, subjects that you simply’re protecting if you don’t actually imply to, is basically diffusing what the web page means. These are the issues that I believe SEOs miss out on.”
This ties immediately again to LLM citability. If a web page lacks clear topical focus, it turns into more durable for AI methods to extract a self-contained passage that solutions a particular question. Tightening that focus isn’t simply good search engine optimisation; it’s the inspiration of being seen in AI-generated responses.
Grant’s Technique Advice 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 visitors is so small immediately that optimizing for LLMs is essential for the long run however not for immediately’s metrics. Let’s enhance our search engine optimisation. Let’s get to that nice search engine optimisation degree. And as we’re doing that, we’re incorporating the weather that may assist you to present up for GEO, that may 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 search engine optimisation: “Be so good they will’t ignore you,” and, coincidence or not, the rule I’ve utilized for the final 15 years in search engine optimisation.
Watch the complete interview with Grant Simmons right here:
Thanks to Grant Simmons for providing his insights and being my visitor on IMHO.
Extra Sources:
Featured Picture: Shelley Walsh/Search Engine Journal
