SEO in the LLM Era: Why Your Website Content Is Non-Negotiable

I've spent over 12 years in marketing across every stage you can think of: early-stage startups scraping together their first pitch deck, Series A and B companies finding product-market fit, well-funded growth-stage companies, and even unicorns and public companies. And I've watched how companies approach their website content evolve dramatically.

Here's the thing: companies have always created pages about their products and services. What we now call "product marketing" has always been important, or at least, smart companies eventually figured out it was important. Why? Because when potential customers land on your site, they need to find the information they're looking for.

If you've ever heard of the "skimmers versus diggers" framework, you know that diggers need detailed information to make decisions. They want to understand how things work, see proof points, and dive deep before committing.

The Old Pain Point (That Never Really Went Away)

Not every company invested in this content, though. Why? Because it's hard. Creating comprehensive website copy takes serious time and energy. It requires endless back-and-forth. Marketing teams often don't have complete information about technical features or implementation details. Product teams are too busy building. The result? Half-baked "About" pages and vague product descriptions that don't really tell anyone anything.

For years, companies could kind of get away with this. Sure, you'd lose some diggers, but skimmers would convert anyway if your landing page looked good enough.

Those days are over.

Welcome to the LLM Era

Now people are asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude (my favorite), Gemini, and others extremely specific questions about solutions for their exact needs. And this is where things get interesting, and potentially problematic if you haven't done your content homework.

If the internet doesn't have enough information about your company, your processes, your case studies, your customer stories, your workflows, and your actual implementation details, the LLMs face two major problems:

1. They can't recommend you when someone asks for a specific solution for a specific industry or use case. You simply won't come up as an option.

2. They won't portray you well even if they do mention you. Without detailed information, the AI will either share generic, unhelpful descriptions, struggle to compare you accurately against competitors, or (worst case) hallucinate details about what you do.

A Real Customer Journey Through LLMs

Let me show you what this looks like in practice. Imagine someone at a B2B SaaS company looking for a growth marketing partner:

Early Stage (Problem Awareness): Search: "What's the difference between a growth marketing agency and a traditional agency?"

At this stage, they're educating themselves. If you have detailed "How We Work" or "Our Approach" pages that explain your methodology, LLMs can surface your company as an example when explaining the differences.

Middle Stage (Solution Exploration): Search: "Growth marketing agencies that specialize in fintech SEO and work with Series A companies"

Now they're getting specific. If your site has detailed case studies, a clear "Who We Serve" section, and actual examples of fintech work, you'll appear in these results. Without it? You're invisible even if you're the perfect fit.

Late Stage (Vendor Evaluation): Search: "Compare Meaningful agency vs [Competitor X] for SEO and Webflow development, which has better results for tech startups?"

This is where comprehensive content becomes make-or-break. The LLM needs:

• Specific service descriptions

• Real results and metrics from case studies

• Client testimonials with outcomes

• Detailed information about your process and team

Without this content, the AI either can't make the comparison or makes it based on incomplete information, which rarely works in your favor.

Decision Stage (Final Validation): Search: "What do clients say about working with Meaningful? Any red flags or concerns?"

They're doing final due diligence. Companies with detailed customer stories, testimonials, and transparent information about their process appear credible and trustworthy. Companies without this content? The LLM can't provide reassurance, which plants doubt.

The New Content Baseline

More than ever, these pages aren't optional. They're essential:

• How It Works: A detailed explanation of your process, methodology, or approach

• About Us: Not just headshots and mission statements, but your story, expertise, and what makes you different

• Customer Stories/Case Studies: Real examples with real outcomes (not just logos)

• Product/Service Pages: Deep dives into what you offer and how you do it, not just bullet points

Having a small section on your homepage isn't enough anymore. You need dedicated pages that go deep. The LLMs need substance to work with.

The Bottom Line

The internet is now being read and interpreted by AI to answer people's most specific questions. If your content isn't there (detailed, comprehensive, and clear) you're essentially invisible to this new generation of searchers.

The companies winning in this new landscape aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest ad budgets. They're the ones who've done the hard work of documenting what they do, how they do it, and why it works.

So yeah, writing all that content is still a pain in the ass. But now? It's non-negotiable.

What's your experience with AI search? Are you finding the companies you need, or running into vague, unhelpful results? Would love to hear your take.