LinkedIn has always been the main driver of B2B acquisitions, but in the last few years, a new layer of funnel clout has developed: the platform’s influence on AI search citations.
LLMs are increasingly influencing the way B2B buyers find products and services, and LinkedIn has become a top source of this information. This means that if your brand is successfully optimizing its LinkedIn presence and content flow for AI search input, you will likely experience a corresponding bump in AEO-based discovery.
In our work with B2B clients (many of the fastest growing SaaS brands), we have divided this LinkedIn AEO program into three segments:
- Prepare earned media.
- LLMs feed strategic content.
- Invest after engagement that reinforces LLM signals.
Here’s how to approach each segment and the results you can expect.
1. Prepare earned media: website, company pages, and staff pages
If you need reasons to keep your website updated and your LinkedIn pages (both your company page and the pages of your top employees, such as content contributors and thought leaders) up to date, here it is: Doing so sends signals to LLMs that your brand is trustworthy and an authentic source of information.
Similar to Google sticking to EEAT for traditional SEO, LLMs pull signals from the brand’s earned media to measure credibility and trustworthiness. Content published on behalf of a brand by its employees and leaders can also have an impact on a brand’s reputation, as long as those writers promote their media.
On websites
Make sure your business address, contact information, product descriptions, about pages, and author profile pages are fully populated with good, accurate information.
On LinkedIn company pages
Focus on top-level positioning, your “About” section, and the products and services you offer, providing good, detailed descriptions of each.
This may seem basic, but it’s common for companies to go an inordinately long time without updating their LinkedIn pages, let alone posting. Take 30 seconds to measure if your page is really up to date or if it has missing messages that are part of appearing in the LLM notification. (For example, if your products and services are closely related to a certain industry, mention that industry in your introductory text.)
Also: Make sure your company’s executives and thought leaders also have your company and your position displayed on their profiles. Better yet, they should refer to the company if they’re willing to use their profile on their behalf – that’s just an asset that tells LLMs that your company is a real, authentic, and reliable source of expertise.
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2. Feed LLMs with valuable content
Just as a 100-word blog can be a great help to move the needle on organic discovery, a little content on LinkedIn has proven to have a huge impact on AEO visibility (according to a recent study our agency’s LinkedIn rep shared with us).
Specifically, 800 to 1,200 words of high-quality, original, diverse content appears to be a major target for driving AEO engagement. LinkedIn articles and newsletters are ideal forums for this length, as users open them expecting a deep dive and won’t naturally bounce like a Facebook user clicking “…more” on a post to see a bunch of text below.
Yes, carousels and videos are great for building engagement, and there’s every reason to embed them in newsletters and articles. But early signs are that LLMs actually like good, richly written content.
Dig deep: LinkedIn ads on a budget: How one playbook drove a $10 CPL
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3. Invest in construction after engagement
Additional research from our LinkedIn: LinkedIn posts with at least 10 quality comments and/or 60 reactions are particularly influential for LLMs. That makes sense, since social proof is a strong signal of authority, and it’s important to note that achieving this level of engagement doesn’t require a ton of extra budget.
Yes, you can promote company posts and use Thought Leader Ads (TLAs) and fan ads to build larger user bases. I almost always recommend TLAs to test brands whose employees do the work of putting out good, relevant content
It is a good practice to do this anyway – LLMs or not – in posts that get good organic traction and effectively talk about the company’s products, services, or position.
Our representative did not have precise data showing a correlation between advanced TLAs/posts and greater exposure to LLMs. However, since TLAs and optimized posts are promoted with organic posts, they serve as a basis for strong organic traffic.
Another limitation of LinkedIn that you should note about AEO is that engagement from profiles with less than 3,000 followers (again, this is from our LinkedIn rep) is often associated with LLMs because those profiles are seen as authoritative and reliable.
If you have any employees (including managers) above that limit, empower them to post on behalf of the business by helping them share information, proprietary data, and any effective tests or methods that have influenced positive results. (Although many companies choose not to ask for their hand in this last step, doing so is a great way to build a broad professional reputation.)
Don’t just limit yourself to employees, either: Consider fan ads to build your company’s fan base, and see if you can build partnerships with proven industry experts (guest blogs and video interviews are great for this) that will amplify your brand’s content. Just make sure that the content follows the thought leadership of the category above; Excessive promotional content and direct product messaging will not be very attractive to any audience, machine, or person.
Dig deep: LinkedIn’s new playbook taps creatives as the future of B2B marketing
Search AI increases LinkedIn’s influence in B2B
Now the AEO has to look closely at your performance across all channels, including Reddit and YouTube. If you’re in B2B and stuck with the field data you see on LinkedIn, zoom out and draw some resources to address the above systems. AEO’s impact is hard to measure, but it’s only growing as B2B users flock to LLMs.
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