How to Influence AI Responses?
Have you noticed that when you interact with GenAI, you receive very agreeable answers?
It’s part of the algorithm. It’s trained through reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), where answers that are agreeable are rated highly compared to critical or accurate answers.
In extended chats with users, four out of five LLMs became significantly more agreeable over time. This is especially dangerous when the user tries to form political opinions, but the LLM mirrors the user’s opinions, creating an echo chamber with a warped sense of reality.
So, it’s understood that AI responses are influenced based on the user’s queries, but can external stakeholders influence the answers?
It would be a gold mine if they could. Similar to SEO, optimizing the answers of an LLM would be the next big thing. When Google Search dominated the market, marketers relied heavily on SEO, but now that Google Search is increasingly less used, companies are frantically trying to find ways to get themselves listed in GenAI answers.
Similar to SEO, there are some ways to get your products or company listed, but it’s much broader than how it used to be.
When companies solely depended on SEO, analysts had to use keywords, backlinks, metadata, and tailored titles based on keywords. But answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) vastly differ from their SEO counterpart.
To be listed in LLM answers, brands should be highly discussed across various forums. E-E-A-T is used as the primary filter: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Keyword matching alone won’t help with LLM answers. Here are some ways in which you can get listed in AI answers.
Recency bias
AI has a strong recency bias, so ensure you refresh all your webpages frequently, preferably once every few months. Update them with obvious information, like X tool is used for Y, so it can extrapolate information. Ensure that you mention important information about your product upfront and don’t bury it in the text. It should be communicated in the first line. This helps AI algorithms pick up your product or company information quite easily.
Credibility
It’s not enough just to be available on the internet; it matters where your company and product are being listed. If you’re discussed on Reddit, Wikipedia, or major publications, AI takes those seriously, and the chances of your company/products appearing in the answers are higher. Earning recognition from key third-party publications is key to being listed.
Crawlable content
When it comes to appearing in AI results, it also takes very tailored, AI-crawlable content to be featured. It has to be properly indexed, it should render without JavaScript, and the sites should also allow AI crawlers. Also, content should be structured (schema markup), and it should match whatever’s on the page.
A final word
Gone are the days when SEO was king. Now it’s AEO and GEO that are gaining more traction. It’s time we learn what it takes to appear in AI results and tailor our content based on that.
To do that, you should start by updating your webpages every few months, increasing your credibility by getting featured in third-party publications, producing AI-crawlable content, and you’re good to start with.
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