LinkedIn is increasingly integrated with search engines, meaning your long-form content and hashtags are now indexed and can appear in Google search results. This makes LinkedIn a key part of a broader "Always Everywhere Optimization" (AEO) strategy, not just a social selling tool.
Major platforms have shifted from being traffic sources to walled gardens. They algorithmically suppress posts with external links and provide answers directly in their UIs, forcing marketers to adapt to a world where driving traffic to their own website is no longer the primary goal.
Following SEO, App Store Optimization, and social virality, the next major distribution channel is AI answer engines. Product teams must now strategize how to get their brand, features, and knowledge base indexed and surfaced in AI responses, making AEO a critical growth lever for the modern era.
LinkedIn's algorithm now favors comments. By commenting with value-add content (like memes or insights) on popular posts, a company page can gain more impressions and followers than from its own feed posts. This "post within a post" strategy is highly effective for growth.
The paradigm is shifting from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). The content you post now on platforms like LinkedIn will be consumed by AI models to answer future user queries, making it a critical asset for long-term visibility and authority.
As feeds become saturated, relying on shares for discovery is insufficient. Your ideal followers are actively searching for solutions. Optimizing profiles and posts with keywords to answer their questions is a more reliable and underrated path to being discovered.
With 80-90% of AI-powered searches resulting in no clicks, traditional SEO is dying. The new key metric is "share of voice"—how often your brand is cited in AI-generated answers. This requires a fundamental strategy shift to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), focusing on becoming an authoritative source for LLMs rather than just driving website traffic.
LinkedIn's algorithm heavily weights when a user saves a post, ranking it higher than a 'like'. This action reportedly provides an 80% 'return on effort,' making it significantly more likely your future content will appear at the top of that user's feed.
LinkedIn shows impressions on comments, allowing marketers to prove ROI. A strategic commenting plan can now be a core part of a content strategy, sometimes yielding more reach than original posts. This shifts focus from just publishing to engaging with others.
LinkedIn now lets users see how many people save a post or send it in a private DM. These are strong signals to the platform's algorithm, indicating high-quality content. Focusing on creating content that encourages these actions can significantly boost organic circulation beyond simple likes and comments.
LinkedIn suppresses posts with external links. To drive traffic, create a text-only post and direct readers to your profile's 'Featured' section. There, you can place a clickable, visual link to your webinar, website, or product without penalty.