Is Ranking on LLMs Still a Snake Oil Service Sold by Agencies?
If you have been in digital marketing long enough, you know the industry is no stranger to fads. Every few years a new silver bullet pops up, something agencies claim will transform visibility overnight. Lately that shiny object has been “ranking on LLMs” (Large Language Models).
Some agencies position this as the next evolution of SEO. They point to structured data and schema as the golden rule to ensure your business is picked up by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude. Just a few months ago I saw pitches with lines like “LLMs reward structured schema—optimize now to future-proof your visibility.”
But let’s call it what it is. Much of this is snake oil wrapped in AI buzzwords.
The Schema Myth and the Tokenization Reality
Experts who actually work inside AI and NLP circles have been clear—structured data alone does not dictate how LLMs select content. Models rely on tokenization, the process of breaking down words and concepts into tokens. These tokens influence how language models interpret, retrieve and reconstruct knowledge.
So while schema markup helps organize web content (and has real value in Google SEO), it doesn’t magically translate into LLM visibility. In fact Ethan Mollick, a professor studying AI in business, recently pointed out that “LLMs don’t read websites the way search engines do—they learn patterns from massive datasets, not from schema tags.”
This gap between what agencies claim (“implement schema and you’ll rank in LLMs”) and how models actually work is where the snake oil thrives.
The Real Question: Do You Even Need to Rank in LLMs Yet?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Traffic from LLMs is still a trickle compared to Google.
Our own internal study across 30+ websites confirmed what many others in the industry have been whispering. Until Google placed tighter limits on scraping—famously linked to the np100 parameter around September 14—most AI engines were pulling heavily from Google’s own search results. In other words, if your SEO was strong, your AI visibility was strong too.
That means the best predictor of “LLM rankings” today is still good SEO.
And let’s not forget the nature of AI-driven answers. They overwhelmingly skew toward informational queries. Users asking “what is” or “how to” questions may interact with AI summaries, but when it comes to commercial-intent searches like “best lawyer in Vancouver” or “buy running shoes online,” Google remains the front door. For many customers—especially outside tech circles—Google is still the internet.
The Myopia of Tech-First Thinking
I sometimes think this push for “LLM optimization” comes from a kind of tech myopia. Digital natives and early adopters may prefer AI tools for search, but customers don’t exist in one homogeneous bucket. They come from diverse backgrounds, industries and levels of tech affinity.
For a business leader running a clinic, law firm or contracting service, leads are needed today—not in the hypothetical AI-first search environment of five years from now. Betting the farm on LLM rankings while neglecting proven SEO and performance marketing is risky at best and reckless at worst.
The Frenzy Isn’t Worth It
So should you rewrite all your content to chase informational long-tail keywords? Pay agencies to list you on AI aggregator directories? Invest heavily in PR “for LLMs”? Shift tone and cadence purely to adapt to hypothetical AI crawlers?
My answer is simple. No, not yet.
These changes often mean diluting commercial-intent visibility, the very lifeblood of lead generation. Unless you are a media brand that monetizes attention, sacrificing revenue-driving keywords in the name of “AI SEO” just doesn’t add up.
So What’s the Play for Businesses?
Here’s my take. Keep a watchful eye because this space is evolving quickly and agencies should be experimenting. Double down on what’s proven—solid SEO, technical health, high-quality backlinks and user-first content still drive results across both Google and AI engines. And beware of old wine in new bottles. Many so-called “AI SEO” services are just repurposed SEO tactics with a new label, sold without accountability. Unlike keyword rankings in Google, LLM visibility isn’t trackable in the same way, which makes it easy for agencies to sell promises they can’t prove.
Closing Thoughts
As founders we owe it to our clients and ourselves to separate signal from noise. Yes, LLMs will shape the future of search. But the reality on the ground today is that Google still dominates traffic and commercial intent. So my advice? Don’t burn down a great SEO strategy chasing shadows. Keep testing, stay curious, but beware of anyone promising to “rank you on LLMs” as if it’s a guaranteed service. Chances are, it’s the same snake oil pitch we have all seen before—just dressed up in AI clothing.
