What this Leaked ChatGPT 2025 Strategy Doc means for SEO

*Here is a link to the full PDF

Open AI aims to corner the market on how people interact with the internet. They have a plan to evolve ChatGPT into a 'super-assistant' (their words) that can interact like a human. It will be a one stop shop for information, reserving a table, calling an Uber, buying a car, planning a vacation, and so on.

The plan was never to be a web app that people use to write emails, the plan is total internet dominance, and they are already well on their way.

They recognize the difficulty of achieving this, especially considering the competition:

Their strategy for combatting competition is similar to how web browsers work now, the users can pick their default. If they are able to achieve this, they create a user driven democratic process for which AI model is the most popular. And Open AI believes wholeheartedly that they have the best offering.

Chat GPT is now the fastest growing search engine. It has the advantage of being young and agile, while still having a massive user base capable of funding this next phase of development.

Personally, I think they are going to do it. Chat GPT is simply a better tool than Google for search. In time, people always transition to the better tool.

We have already seen massive SEO change brought by AI snippets and AI citation. Strategies are shifting to include LLM citation along with tradition search results. Impressions are high due to AI snippets, but clicks are becoming harder to get. A full transition into Open AI's vision of the internet will make these current disruptions feel tame.

We are potential stepping into a whole new era for search, and I do not think most high traffic sites are prepared. Ranking for LLM's can no longer be an after-thought or edition to an SEO strategy. LLM citation optimization needs to be at the forefront of content strategy.

Here are how this change in user behavior will impact SEO:

Go Niche and Add Data

I recently used Chat GPT to help calculate cost of living in Phoenix Arizona.

My prompt was simple, 'cost of living Phoenix'. This is the exact same prompt I would have used for a normal google search.

However Chat GPT did not use my search to find this information. Thanks to a new feature that shows you what it searched, the queries Chat GPT used were:

These are much more specific, long tail keywords and it shows in the results. These queries were focused on direct, data driven content that are relevant to the search. Keyword density and listicles be damned. The content that is winning is the one that provides the best information, not the one that is the most user friendly to read.

This formula will only continue to become more ingrained as AI search becomes more and more popular.

Integrating more conversational, specific, long tail keywords will push your content to the top of the pile for AI citation. To help find more long tail conversational keywords, I created a tool you can use here to generate these AI friendly keywords from your original keyword target:

Mix in New Kinds of Content

LLM's hate sales content. They see it as muddying the water and getting in the way of delivering clear and unbiased information. If you have to much sales content in the articles you want to rank in LLM's.

This does not mean a wholesale abandonment of CTA's and lead generators, but marketers must be aware of these elements impact on search. Mix in different more AI friendly content, along with your regularly scheduled lead generators. A few best practices to help maximize ai references are...

• Create a glossary of industry specific terms
• Create content that meets people in the problem solving phase
• Do not be afraid to publish ridiculously niche articles
• Make your keyword targets more conversational
• Make your content interactive

All of these combined will create a content stack that AI will find helpful.

Make New Things

The vast majority of content on the internet is recycled. This will not work for the AI internet. LLM's are masters at recycling content. They are not so good at creating truly original pieces.

When a user prompts, Chat GPT is looking for the best answer to user questions and then is summarizing that answer. It is not creating the answers themselves. That is (for now) still up to us. As the next phase of AI evolves, it will continue to use user generated content to support it's answers.

Creative solutions have never been more valuable. Content that is truly unique, will do well in LLM's because their is nobody else competing or recycling the same ideas.

Originality is king.

Open AI is actively working to change how we use the internet. The ripple effect this sends through the SEO world is already being felt, but the full tidal wave still hasn't hit.

First mover advantage will be massive.

If you'd like to talk more about preparing your SEO strategy for AI citations and LLM's, reach our here: