What is the inevitable evolution of LLMs and search?

Identify traffic-stealing competitors Find untapped keyword opportunities Create content that ranks higher sel logo search icon SEO » Article Share It’s clear to me that the current “LLM situation” is untenable. These platforms are offering a very expensive set of products with relatively unlimited access. At the same time, you have content creators and publishers in a state of panic as decreased traffic has become the norm.

Add to this that platforms ranging from Google’s AI Mode to ChatGPT lack clarity on how to monetize their products, and it becomes clear we’re kicking a can down the line, and sooner or later, all bills come due. The LLMs providing such broad access at no cost are unsustainable long-term. Content publishers offering their content to LLMs for free without traffic or other compensation in return is also unsustainable. It almost feels like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t moment.

This development reflects ongoing changes in how search engines evaluate and rank content, with implications for organic visibility strategies.

Those sorts of realities, while painful, encourage (if not demand) movement towards resolution. So, how does this all play out?

Market changes are coming, and, in my honest opinion, your marketing and SEO strategies are going to depend on it. But before we get to where we are now and how the LLM scenario will inevitably change, we first have to understand how we got here: Stock valuation (sounds boring, but I promise it’s not). The biggest “LLM event” with the greatest amount of impact for marketers wasn’t the launch of ChatGPT or Google Gemini. It was the announcement of Bing’s AI chat experience and its integration into Bing Search.