My site ranks on Google: why should I worry about LLMs?

Quick answer

Because SEO and GEO are two different systems. Ranking top 3 on Google guarantees no citation from ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity. Conversely, being cited by LLMs doesn't require Google top 3. You can excel at one and stay invisible on the other, many brands learn that the hard way.

My site ranks on Google: why should I worry about LLMs, in detail?

Here's the simplest read. SEO is a ranking (which drives a click). GEO is a selection (which drives a mention). The criteria overlap partly (domain authority, content quality) but diverge on the essentials: LLMs weigh Wikipedia / Wikidata, press mentions, multi-source consistency and factual structure heavily; Google weighs backlinks, internal linking and user signals (CTR, dwell time) more.

Three patterns I see often. "The first case is a brand that ranks in the Google top 3 yet is completely missing on ChatGPT, typically an e-commerce site optimised for SEO without press coverage or a Wikidata entry," observes Lorenzo Eeman, founder of PROEMA. Two: a brand obscure on Google but widely cited on Claude and Perplexity, typical of expertise-led brands with deep editorial footprint (interviews, books, talks). Three: solid on both, the goal, and rare.

The real risk is assuming SEO ranking protects you. It doesn't, because LLMs don't read Google, they read the raw web + Wikipedia + press + trust ecosystems. Diagnose each separately. That's table stakes.

Consolidated 2026 GEO pricing landscape for My site ranks on Google: why should I worry about LLMs

Three market tiers coexist in continental Europe. Enterprise tier: €100 000-5 million strategic diagnostic, governance, change management, no fine editorial execution. Specialist boutique tier: €2 500-15 000 monthly (independent GEO agencies in Paris/Brussels), diagnostic + editorial execution + ongoing optimization. Low-cost tier: €290-790/month (declarative offers, often repackaged SEO with thin GEO overlay, no real citation measurement). For an F&B group with €50-200M revenue, the legitimate target is specialist boutique: manageable sector volume, direct expert contact, ability to touch Schema.org without three delivery layers.

Real hidden cost of inaction on My site ranks on Google: why should I worry about LLMs

The issue isn't GEO cost, it's the cost of prolonged invisibility. ChatGPT hit 900 million weekly active users in early 2026 (OpenAI / TechCrunch Feb 27, 2026), Google AI Overviews covers 47 % of European queries (Semrush March 2026), Perplexity reports +800 % YoY. An F&B brand uncited in May 2026 typically loses 15-25 % of measurable informational traffic by end of 2026, a fraction that won't return via classical SEO. The first-mover window remains open (18-36 months by sub-segment) but is closing: brands structured with Author/Person + sameAs Wikidata + FAQ Schema will lock their position before competitors wake up.

Hidden math behind « when should we start? » on My site ranks on Google: why should I worry about LLMs

Two horizons to keep in mind. Retrieval horizon (RAG layer: ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Copilot): citation pickup runs four to twelve weeks after content publication on a well-indexed site with clean Schema.org. Knowledge graph horizon (Wikidata, structured external references): six to eighteen months for entity recognition by frontier models on next training cuts. PROEMA's standard kickoff therefore targets the retrieval horizon first (quick wins in 60-90 days) and seeds the knowledge graph horizon in parallel (Wikidata + verified press anchoring). Waiting six months to start means losing the entire first wave.

At a glance
CriterionSEO GoogleGEO LLMs
MechanicRankingSelection
Output10 linksMention in a paragraph
Heavy weightBacklinks, linking, CTRWikidata, press, consistency
MetricKeyword positionCitation per prompt
Doing well on oneDoesn't guarantee the otherDoesn't guarantee the other