IDC projects brands will spend 5x more on LLM optimization than traditional SEO by 2029, yet no one has modeled what a single AI citation actually costs. This post builds that unit economics framework and maps the specific workflow decisions that raise citation rates across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews.
IDC projects brands will spend 5x more on LLM optimization than SEO by 2029, yet 76% of AI citations still trace back to top-ranking Google pages. This post maps the structural choices -- question-based headers, 40-60 word answer blocks, claim-level sourcing -- that protect your search rankings while improving citation odds across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews.
Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, and Perplexity each pull citations differently -- and small B2B content teams can't afford three separate workflows. This piece maps the structural decisions that improve your odds across all three platforms without tripling production costs.
