- Maddy Osman
- Sep 30
- 6 min read
Search behavior is changing, and tools like ChatGPT are rapidly gaining market share once dominated by Google. More than seven billion searches went to LLMs just last month, according to our AI search vs Google report. Yes, that’s more than seven billion in one month.
This means the marketing funnel, as we know it, is changing. Traditional informational content and SEO is sending fewer clicks through to websites, but those who click through tend to be more qualified customers.
Why should digital marketers focus on bottom-of-funnel content?
Bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) content was always an important part of a content marketing strategy. But it has more weight now that customers are using LLMs to inform buying decisions. (Related: How AI is changing eCommerce.)
People are now turning to AI tools to ask things like:
“What are the best tools to track brand visibility in AI search?”
“Which CRM integrates well with Salesforce?”
“[Your product] vs. [competitor]: which one should I choose?”
These are high-intent BOFU questions that users who are close to making a decision are asking. And LLMs are trained to surface helpful, high-authority content that matches this intent.
As many as 58% of consumers prefer using AI over traditional search for product or service recommendations, according to a 2025 survey by IT company Capgemini. If you want to be part of those conversations, you’ll need BOFU content.
On the flip side, as Kevin Indig said in his piece on adapting your content strategy for LLMs, “what is X” posts are over. Now that people can get that information directly from an LLM, there's no reason to visit your site for basic top-of-funnel queries. And if it’s super generic, LLMs have no reason to cite you for original information.
As a content strategist who works with enterprise tech companies, I’m noticing this shift firsthand. BOFU content is where I’m seeing the most interest from clients. It shouldn’t make up your entire strategy, but it’s certainly worth making a top priority if you want to gain AI search visibility.
With that in mind, let's explore how to optimize your bottom-of-funnel content to get recommended by LLMs.
How to succeed in AI search with BOFU content
Before we dive into specific BOFU content examples, let’s establish a few best practices.
Create buzz for your brand and products on third-party sites
First, it’s worth noting that LLMs will generally pull information from third-party sources to answer a general question about the best product in a certain category. So, if a user is looking for the best vitamin C serum, a list from Allure is more likely to inform the output than a list L’Oreal published on its own site.
But as the conversation progresses, LLMs will source information from brands to include more specific information about a product. That’s why, ideally, you want to have it all:
Press mentions
Positive reviews on forums like Reddit
BOFU content on your site
You can build authority signals in media mentions by:
Pitching yourself for inclusion on existing authoritative “top” or “best of” lists, or working with editors to be a part of new lists.
Highlighting awards and accreditations on your website. Include mentions of both popular awards (e.g., customer-voted “best of” awards) and industry awards from professional organizations.
You can also influence LLM visibility with a strategy for forums and review sites. This means…
Encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and high ratings directly on your website and online review sites like Capterra, G2, and TrustPilot.
Participating in relevant community forums where your brand, product category, or industry is being discussed. People often ask for product recommendations on forums like Reddit, Quora, Stack Exchange, and industry-specific boards. Being part of those conversations can give models context about your solution.
Publish BOFU content on your own site
Your owned content is important, too. And unlike third-party sites, you have full control over it.
Since the content you create on your own site informs LLM outputs later in the conversation, your BOFU content should anticipate follow-up queries and address related concerns.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customer: what do they want to know before making a purchase?
Then, use real-world language to address these concerns, because people use conversational prompts when phrasing questions to an AI chatbot. Optimize your content to reflect the way people talk about their problems, not just how they might keyword-search it. You can include sentences that reflect a user’s scenario in your FAQs or within your copy such as, “If you’re struggling with X problem, and you need a tool that can do Y, [Our Product] offers…”.
That way, when the LLM parses your BOFU pages, it sees that your content contextually matches the user’s request and is more likely to cite your page as a relevant source in its response.
And update your content frequently
Make sure your content is fresh and up-to-date and that any product updates are clear on your website.
In a study of 17,000,000 citations, Ahrefs found that LLMs have a clear preference for fresh content, even compared to Google search. Specifically, the average days since publication and average days since last updated were significantly lower for content cited by AI assistants versus organic search.
Fresh content supported by authoritative citations provides buyers with a more transparent and trustworthy path through the funnel. An often-cited 2024 study on generative engine optimization (GEO) found that adding citations, direct quotes, and statistics can increase a page’s visibility in AI-generated search results by up to 40%.
Bottom-of-funnel content examples you can optimize for LLMs
Here are some examples of BOFU content formats that are effective for LLM recommendations:
01. How-to guides
These are product-led blog posts, like “How to solve [specific problem] with [your product],” that show your solution in action.
When creating how-to content, structure your guides with clear, numbered steps and descriptive subheadings that LLMs can easily parse and extract. Include specific, measurable outcomes wherever possible. Instead of saying "improve your website performance," specify "reduce page load time by 2-3 seconds" or "increase conversion rates by 15-25%." This gives LLMs concrete data points to reference when recommending your solution.
Also consider creating both comprehensive long-form guides and shorter tutorials that address pain points. LLMs often pull from different content depths depending on the user's query complexity, so having both formats increases your chances of being featured in various response types.
02. Comparison pages
Comparison pages target people who have narrowed down their choices and want a direct comparison of two products. It’s been a solid SEO strategy for a while now, but it’s particularly useful for LLM visibility because it helps LLMs understand brand positioning relative to competitors. By implementing structured data throughout comparison pages, like comparison tables and an FAQ section, you’re helping an LLM better parse and recommend your content.
03. FAQ & support pages
Well-crafted FAQs can be a goldmine of BOFU content because they address specific, lingering questions prospects often ask before making a decision (pricing details, contract terms, integration process, etc.).
To make these pages more useful for LLMs, write your FAQs in plain language that mirrors how users phrase their questions and keep them up to date (remember: LLMs prioritize fresh content). That way, LLMs can recognize them as relevant answers when responding to user prompts.
Trying to understand exact phrasing is elusive at this point, because LLMs don’t share that data with us and the conversational nature of engaging with LLM chats is different from how searchers engage with Google. That’s okay. Don’t get caught up in the exact keywords.
04. “Best of” listicles
These are articles that list the top solutions in a category, often tailored to a specific use case. They're published by both editorial sites (like a travel site featuring the best hotels) and content marketers (like a corporate blog assessing competitors).
Major LLMs respond to prompts like “What are the best [product] for [need]?” by compiling options, often mirroring what a search engine would return. If your company is featured in authoritative “best of” articles on the web, an LLM is more likely to mention it. Make this a major focus of your digital PR efforts.
05. Case studies and success stories
Case studies are prime real estate for stats and measurable results, two things LLMs love. Did your email marketing software increase a client’s open rate by 500%? Or maybe your personal training services help runners cut an average of 30 minutes off of their marathon time?
The case studies format offers a space to highlight clear benefits of your products or services that can then inform LLM outputs the next time a potential customer is asking for help in your area of expertise.
