LLM Visibility is a Brand Problem, Not an SEO Problem (And Founders Are Screwing It Up)

Hey Indie Hackers,

I've been grinding on getting my startup into LLM responses (you know, when ChatGPT or Perplexity actually recommends you instead of some faceless corp). Spent months tweaking SEO, schema markup, all that jazz. Zero wins.

Then it hit me: You can't "SEO" your way into LLMs. If your company only lives on your own site, AIs have no clue who you are. Technical SEO is table stakes—it doesn't build trust. LLMs crave external consensus: PR hits, partnerships, community chatter, third-party shoutouts. Brand signals, not backlinks.

Startups can't SEO their way into LLMs. Strong on-site game? Cool, but AIs ignore solo acts. They need the world talking about you.

Money won't buy AEO like it bought SEO. Founders love throwing cash at agencies to outspend rivals. Nope. LLMs reward rep, not ad spend. It's slower, grindier work—exactly why startups hate it.

Dumping AEO on SEO teams is a disaster. SEOs own tech and distribution, not street cred. Hand them "fix AI visibility" and watch them spam Reddit or churn listicles. Instant brand poison.

Brand teams control the LLM inputs. Consistent stories in reputable spots, killer partnerships, clear narratives—that's their jam. If they're chasing vanity press releases or internal fluff, AIs stay clueless about your actual product.

Budget where the responsibility lies. Brand drives AEO? Give them the dollars. Parking it under SEO starves everyone and dooms you.

Bottom line: You don't optimize into AI recs. You earn them by building a brand the market can't shut up about. Until we stop treating this like SEO 2.0, we'll keep failing.

Who's seeing this in their own builds? Brand folks in the house—how are you tackling it? Drop your wins (or war stories) below.