Smarty.Marketing's Recent LinkedIn Posts

Not a rare* sight these days: ⤴️ Rankings are up ⤵️ Organic traffic is down ⤴️ Branded traffic is up INVEST IN YOUR BRANDED TRAFFIC AND YOUR REPUTATION -> https://lnkd.in/gmQ95KJ3 *Actually, in most cases, rankings are also down, so maybe it is quite rare after all :)

Without questioning the ethical part of self-serving listicles (I always said, if it is done very well, why not), I just wish I had the guts to publish something like this on my site and list myself as #1 best solution 😅 Kind of jealous I cannot find this kind of confidence in me 👑 And while this listicle is notably well done, there's an obvious strategy here: ✅ They list their own solution #1 ✅ Their section is much more detailed than others ✅ They list smaller competitors (those that are not really seriously competing with them) Again, not saying this is wrong. This one ranks and gets cited by LLMs a lot. Whatever works, guys. I just wish I were that bold!

Here's my newsletter for more context: https://lnkd.in/gEbxFYKN Everyone is talking about how much Reddit is influencing AI answers (especially in ChatGPT and Gemini), but not many people realize how and what to do about that! [And yep, most businesses and marketers approach this WRONG!] Let's talk about the best ways to approach Reddit to gain LLM visibility while respecting the platform and its communities.

Can confirm! Only for our clients, it looks like it started recording Reddit sessions properly starting Feb 1!

ChatGPT has changed its fan-out strategy YET AGAIN, and it is going nuts! What I am seeing: 😱 Went from ~3 to 20 fan-outs 😱 Using SITE: commands all the time 😱 Finally learned about OR operator to save on search sessions (took a while lol)

Let me explain the most recent SEO for AI/LLM/GEO/AEO/SEO buzz (from Reddit discussions: 😎 "AI tracking is mathematically impossible": False unless you are tracking "Tastiest cookie in the world" type of prompts. 😎 "AI visibility / Reddit visibility playbook": Doesn't exist 😎 "SEO vs GEO: Where to focus": One doesn't exist without the other 😎 "My site is invisible in LLMs. How to create a good llms.txt file": You are looking in the wrong direction GIVE ME MORE 😅

Here's my newsletter for more context: https://lnkd.in/g3pAm3RK If there’s one huge change that LLMs brought about into the digital marketing space, it’s how brand should be looking at their organic search reputation.For years, customers would routinely research a brand in Google to see if it is trustworthy enough. Hardly ever did they use long tails or look beyond page #1 of Google. So the traditional reputation management task was to “clean up” page one for the major branded searches. With LLMs searching on your customers’ behalf, this has drastically changed and we don’t talk about that enough; let's change that!

I hate what AI (or rather, people using AI irresponsibly) is doing with social media. LinkedIn AI automation is insane. Facebook / Instagram is flooded with AI pictures and videos. Reddit (or rather poorly moderated subs) is drowning in AI-generated posts and comments. I have to wonder, are social media executives going to do anything about it? (Beyond encouraging it with native AI features ugh!)

THIS! THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF TOOLS THAT MAKE IT MUCH MORE DIFFICULT FOR BUSINESSES THAT ARE WILLING TO DO IT RIGHT! Also, the reason why mods are banning profiles left and right these days. Also, the reason why Reddit has introduced anti-bot filters and automods (both work well btw). On a side note, I cannot imagine a business founder who wouldn't care about their brand to the point that they entrust the brand's reputation to BOTS 😬 😨

Everyone is talking about using Reddit to improve LLM visibility. But how many businesses / marketers really understand how it works? Here's a quick outline, with actionable steps: 🏆

Tom Wells came out with a detailed (and more importantly) actionable guide on ecommerce optimization for ChatGPT feat Lily Ray Andre de Gaye Niklas Buschner (kind of offended that I wasn't invited 🤣 , so I stole the research into Peec's subreddit) https://lnkd.in/gXhxNFmD Here are the major highlights: Optimize your Google shopping feeds: ✅ Product titles: Descriptive, accurate, and matching how shoppers search. Include brand, model, and key specs, avoiding vague titles. ✅ Product descriptions: Include use cases (this is my favorite, and kind of not what we used to focus on in traditional SEO), features, and differentiators. Incomplete descriptions hurt your ranking. ✅ Feed hygiene: Keep your Google Merchant Centre feed accurate, complete, and error-free. ✅ Reviews and ratings: Star ratings and review counts influence Google Shopping rank. Review generation is not just a conversion tool; it affects discoverability. ✅ Monitor how you appear in Google Shopping and optimize over time. Outside of your site: ✅ Editorial and publisher placements: Best-of roundups, gift guides, and review articles on high-authority sites build the contextual signal that ChatGPT draws on. ✅ Comparison and affiliate sites: Ensure your products are accurately listed and positively reviewed on the major platforms in your category. ✅ Product PR: Getting products reviewed by journalists and content creators now connects directly to AI discoverability. PR and performance are no longer separate. ✅ Reducing negative sentiment: Patterns of negative coverage across multiple sources can suppress visibility. Monitor your products across review platforms and editorial sites, not just your own channels. ✅ +I'd also add Reddit sentiment management, which almost always skews UGC to be very negative.

A friend (a serial founder) asked ChatGPT about me, and the results are kinda amusing... This is 5/Auto mode, but it never searched, just pulled what it "thought" about me. Interesting how it caught the "not cheap" part but why EEAT? I never really talk about it apart from a couple of times I said the term was vastly misunderstood...

Inspired by recent claims from Airbnb, reporting their LLM traffic performed MUCH better than any other source (without giving any details), as well as recent developments (with Claude picking up in general popularity), I've looked at some of our clients' numbers. I saw very similar trends everywhere, so here's one screenshot. Overall: ⤵️ ChatGPT traffic is down, but still top LLM referral traffic ⤴️ Gemini traffic is picking up (tends to be #2 source) ⤴️ Perplexity traffic is up just a little bit (engagement rates are very comparable to Google) ⤴️ Claude traffic is up just a bit 🤏 Overall, all of these sources are not yet anywhere near the top. In this particular case, ChatGPT is #19 source beneath Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo!!! If you would like to check your sites (please do) and compare with what I am seeing, here's the regex I used to filter LLM traffic: .*(chatgpt|openai|perplexity|gemini|google\.bard|anthropic|claude).*

"Search Console’s Average Position, Explained" | Ann Smarty's terrific explanation is a must-read for anyone who has asked, "Why is my average SERP position so low in GSC?" https://lnkd.in/gxXdz_u3 #seo #ecommerce

Talking REDDIT AGAIN! Please share around! Thoroughly enjoyed this podcast. Great questions, deep expertise, cool stories... We talked for more than an hour! Lots of insights here: https://lnkd.in/g3V6z6Q9 👏 Why Reddit? Can any business ignore it? ❌ How Reddit marketing is both illegal and risky when done WRONG. ✅ How to do Reddit marketing right! 🏆 Moderators are real human beings: How to build your reputation the way that they like you! 💪 Success stories on how ethical Reddit marketing can fix all your problems! Thank you so much David Quaid and Edward Sturm!

So far, the biggest change in SEO is in organic search reputation management! It is no longer linear; managing the top 10 organic blue links for your branded searches is not enough! How many businesses realize that? Here's my new article to give you some idea on the scope of the problem, and provide tactics to implement asap! Subscribe!

Another great study! Stole it into my subreddit: https://lnkd.in/gpDV3et5

Just amazing... Building client strategies based on third-party statistics :) "We've moved Reddit down the priority list for clients..." It is much more diverse (and has always been, regardless of the noise). Unless your clients are all from the same niche with the same business model, I wouldn't be so bold as to prioritizing/deprioritizing the same thing for all of them :) For some of our clients, Reddit remains #1 source of truth in most LLMs (and organic Google). For others, it is much less important. It has never been flat. "It is better to focus on content you can control.." Ummm... If you build Reddit presence right, it does become "content you can control". Plus, whether it is Reddit or something else, you cannot control the sentiment with only your owned content. You need to go off-site, or it is just you talking about yourself ;)

WHY am I not seeing my page ranking anywhere, even though Google's Search Console is reporting position 1? One of the most common questions out there, and while there's no official explanation why it may be happening, I am clarifying the most likely scenarios in this flowchart. You are welcome

Having a space for real customer experiences in your branded subreddit can give you opportunities to be a proactive, present driver of the story that LLMs create about you. We have seen excellent results with this strategy that build over time! #Reddit #SEOforAI #DigitalMarketing #RedditReputation

Great question that many brands come to us with! When negative Reddit commentary is ranking for a specific keyword relevant to your brand in SERPs, are there any ethical ways to drive positive Reddit discussion and shift the narrative? Yes, but it's not a quick or easy process! Listen to Ann Smarty's answer here. We can help - we have decades of combined experience marketing on Reddit in proactive, ethical, and effective ways (before it was cool). Ask us how! https://lnkd.in/guyx-wPK #RedditMarketing #Reddit #LLMs