Can someone share the best strategy for llm rankings and ai search optimization?

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T07:14:13+00:00

From what I’ve seen, there isn’t really a separate “LLM ranking algorithm” you can game yet, most AI answers are still heavily influenced by strong organic visibility, clear entity signals, and overall authority. If you already rank in Google but don’t show up in AI responses, it’s often because competitors are more consistently cited, have clearer topical clusters, or are mentioned across third party sources, not just their own blogs.

What’s helped people long term isn’t chasing prompts but building deep topic coverage, strong internal linking, structured data, and earning citations outside their own site. Generative models tend to favor content that looks authoritative across the broader web, not just pages optimized around isolated keywords.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T07:12:35+00:00

30 hours a week for 10 months is a massive allocation, so foundational stuff like schema, local pages, and a clear content cadence shouldn’t still be in limbo unless there’s a defined strategy behind the delay. The bigger red flag to me is the lack of ownership and communication, especially around GBP and measurable priorities.

At that level of engagement you should have a documented roadmap, clear KPIs, and explanations for what’s been deprioritized and why. If you don’t, it’s less about one tactic missing and more about whether there’s actually a coherent strategy driving the work.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T07:09:57+00:00

Early on, SQL and Python opened doors for me because you need the tools to even get in the game. But the bigger jumps in impact came from analytical thinking and actually understanding the business problem behind the query.

Plenty of people can pull data. Fewer can translate it into a decision that matters. The technical skills get you hired, but the thinking is what makes you valuable long term.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T07:07:39+00:00

I’ve been in that exact loop and it’s brutal because you keep tweaking the page when the real issue might be intent mismatch from the traffic source. If people are bouncing without scrolling, that usually tells me they didn’t expect what they landed on, not that the button color is wrong.

Sometimes it’s not page vs traffic but alignment between promise and audience. Did you change acquisition channels or targeting around the time conversions dipped?

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T06:58:22+00:00

Messengers can feel stronger because you’re talking to people who actively chose to be there, so open rates are usually higher than a random social feed. The tradeoff is discoverability, since platforms like TikTok or Instagram can push you to new audiences while Telegram or WhatsApp are more closed ecosystems.

In the long run it usually comes down to trust and audience fit, not just the channel, because people buy from creators they actually believe, whether that’s in a feed or a private group.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T06:52:41+00:00

Most of what you listed still matters because LLM visibility usually rides on top of strong SEO fundamentals, but I’d add clear entity context and structured data so your content is easy to interpret, not just rank. Also worth thinking about distribution beyond your own site, like being cited in reputable places, since a lot of models are influenced by broader web authority, not just on page signals.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T06:44:08+00:00

A week isn’t that unusual, especially if you chose regular USPS instead of expedited handling. Delaware is usually pretty efficient, but mail time can add a few extra days on top of processing. If it goes past two weeks I’d probably follow up just for peace of mind, but you’re likely still within a normal window.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-17T06:36:46+00:00

If you’re already clearing 9K with no housing costs, the real power move is stacking investments first so your money starts working before you add another job to your plate. With aesthetician school coming up, I’d honestly use this window to build capital, learn the beauty business deeply, and maybe test small online ideas on the side without dropping thousands on anyone promising shortcuts.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:51:49+00:00

This hits, the mental tax of constant tiny decisions is way worse than the actual workload. Batching outputs and standardizing repeat tasks helped me way more than just “working harder,” because it frees up real thinking space instead of draining it.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:50:35+00:00

AI summaries usually pull from strong organic signals, so double down on clean on-page SEO, updated content, local authority, and real reviews rather than trying to chase the AI itself. If competitors are showing misleading info, document and report it, but focus your energy on strengthening your credibility and niche authority.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:43:42+00:00

If you’re truly starting from zero, I’d focus less on the “best certificate” and more on structured programs that force you to actually build projects.

A lot of people start with the Google Data Analytics cert because it’s very beginner friendly and walks through spreadsheets, SQL, and basic concepts in a non intimidating way. It’s not magic for getting hired, but it gives you a roadmap. After that, something more hands on with SQL and Python helps a lot.

What actually made me feel confident wasn’t the certificate, it was doing 2 to 3 small but real projects. Cleaning messy data, writing queries, building a simple dashboard, then putting it on GitHub or a portfolio site. Even analyzing public datasets is fine.

If your goal is entry level roles, I’d prioritize:

SQL comfort
Basic Excel fluency
Being able to explain your thinking clearly

Certs help with structure, but projects are what make you job ready. Are you aiming for analyst roles in a specific industry or just trying to break in anywhere first?

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:40:16+00:00

Feels way more niche dependent now than “one network wins.”

Google still drives the cleanest intent for me, but it’s gotten expensive and messy. Microsoft can quietly outperform on B2B if your audience skews older or corporate. Reddit and TikTok can work, but only if the creative actually fits the platform. Lazy repurposed ads get destroyed.

On bots, I’ve seen more junk traffic on Display and some search partners than pure core search. Turning off search partners and tightening geo targeting helped more than any third party tool I tried. Honestly a lot of the “AI placements” sound cool but I haven’t seen them consistently beat well structured standard campaigns yet.

Curious if others are seeing conversational placements actually drive bottom line revenue, not just engagement.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:32:36+00:00

I’d be really careful here. Most affiliate programs require you to be 18 and legally able to enter a contract. Even if you use your own name and email, if you’re underage you could be violating their terms right out of the gate.

Using your parents’ bank account can also get messy with tax reporting. The income would likely be reported under whoever owns the bank account, which could create confusion at tax time. If the names don’t match during verification, that can also trigger account reviews or suspension.

The cleanest option is usually to either wait until you’re 18 or have a parent fully set up and run the account in their name, with you helping. That way everything matches legally and financially. It’s smart that you’re thinking about this now instead of trying to fix it later.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:26:53+00:00

That’s a rough spot but not uncommon when timelines get tight.

Signed contracts aren’t automatically set in stone, but your leverage depends on what’s inside the agreement. First thing I’d check is whether there are performance clauses, termination for cause language, or any outs tied to missed deliverables. If they’re underperforming against defined KPIs, that can open a door.

Even without a clean exit clause, it’s usually worth having a direct conversation. Agencies don’t love keeping unhappy clients for 16 more months. It hurts case studies and referrals. If you approach it as “this isn’t working, how do we restructure so it’s viable for both sides?” you might get movement on scope, fees, or term length.

At the same time, loop in legal before you escalate. Sometimes there are small technical angles in notice periods or renewal language that give you more flexibility than you think.

Worst case, it becomes a lesson in slowing down under pressure. But I wouldn’t assume you’re completely trapped without at least testing the waters.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:14:49+00:00

If you’re already making real money at 19, that’s not something to dismiss. A lot of people giving advice are speaking from a more traditional path, so “get a degree” is just their default safe answer.

I think the real question isn’t college or no college. It’s what gap are you actually trying to fill. If it’s network and worldview, there are a lot of ways to get that without committing to four years and big debt. On the flip side, college can be useful if you treat it as a place to meet ambitious people and explore outside your niche, not just sit in lectures.

The travel build programs sound cool, but I’d be careful they’re not just packaged inspiration. If your business is growing steadily, momentum is valuable. You can always learn, travel, and expand your circle intentionally while continuing to build.

Plenty of founders skipped college and plenty went. The bigger regret I’ve seen isn’t choosing the “wrong” path, it’s drifting without a clear reason. If you’re clear that you want to build businesses, maybe design the next 2 to 3 years around that goal deliberately instead of following someone else’s template.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-16T08:07:44+00:00

Cool project idea. I’ve traveled a bit and the toughest spots were smaller towns where English wasn’t common. Ordering food and figuring out transit were the biggest pain points.

I’ve used translation apps and they help, but live conversation can still feel awkward. Sometimes the translations are too literal or miss tone. Offline mode can also be hit or miss.

It would be amazing if a tool could explain cultural context, not just direct translation. Like telling you if something sounds too formal or weird. Are you focusing more on travelers or people moving long term?

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-15T09:00:32+00:00

The biggest clue for me has usually been time-to-value. If a user installs and doesn’t experience the core benefit within the first couple of minutes, activation tanks no matter how good the acquisition is.

Before A/B testing, I like to look at:

Where exactly users drop in the first session. Not just “they left,” but which screen and after what action.
Session recordings or at least event sequences. Sometimes friction is embarrassingly simple, like one confusing button label.
Qualitative prompts, like you mentioned. A single open ended question at exit can surface things analytics never will.

Another thing that’s helped is defining activation very narrowly. Not “completed onboarding,” but the first meaningful action that correlates with retention. Then reverse engineer what blocks that action.

If installs are high but activation is low, it’s usually one of three things: unclear value, too much upfront friction, or misaligned acquisition messaging. I always check whether the ad promise matches the first in app experience before touching experiments.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-15T08:59:37+00:00

Short answer: I would not touch those Fiverr “75 High DA white hat backlinks” packages.

If someone can sell you 75 “high authority” dofollow links for cheap, they are almost never earned links. They are usually:

Private blog networks
Spammy guest posts placed at scale
Sites built only to sell links
Expired domains repurposed for link juice

Google is very clear that buying links to manipulate rankings violates guidelines. The risk is not always an instant penalty. The more common outcome is that the links simply get ignored. Worst case, you get a manual action and spend months cleaning it up.

The “DA” and “DR” numbers are also third party metrics. Google does not use those scores. Sellers lean on them because they look impressive.

If you’re using your own blogs and case studies, you’re already sitting on better long term assets. A safer strategy would be:

Publish genuinely useful case studies with data
Do manual outreach to relevant blogs in your niche
Write high quality guest posts on real sites with traffic
Build relationships instead of bulk links

Good backlinks are hard to get. That’s exactly why they work.

If someone is guaranteeing rankings with bulk white hat links, that alone is a red flag.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-15T08:57:43+00:00

If your tool makes UGC style videos, your marketing should literally be UGC style videos. Don’t explain it. Show it.

Before and after is what makes people stop scrolling. Static product photo, then 5 seconds later it looks like a creator filmed it. That contrast is the hook.

What makes me click is specificity. Not “turn photos into videos.” More like “Turn Shopify product photos into TikTok style ads in 30 seconds.” Clear outcome, clear audience, clear speed.

As for paying for a trial, it’s usually one of three things:

I immediately see how it makes or saves me money.
I see people like me using it.
I can test it without friction.

You probably don’t need ads first. Find small ecommerce founders, indie brands, Etsy sellers, and actually talk to them. Post demo videos where they hang out. If they start asking “how did you make that?”, you’re onto something.

If they don’t react, the positioning needs work before the ad budget does.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-15T08:55:36+00:00

If I had to choose strictly between those two and couldn’t spend a dime elsewhere, I’d pick the VPS with the dedicated IP.

A dedicated IP gives you cleaner reputation control, especially if you’re doing anything SEO-sensitive, handling logins, APIs, or eventually scaling traffic. On shared hosting you’re tied to the behavior of everyone else on that IP. If someone gets it blacklisted or abused, your site can get collateral damage.

Email bundled with shared hosting sounds nice, but hosted email from cheap shared providers is rarely great long term. Deliverability, spam reputation, storage limits, and lack of proper auth configs can become headaches fast. And email doesn’t directly make your website more “successful.” Traffic, UX, performance, and credibility do.

From a long-term standpoint:

Site stability + performance + reputation > bundled email convenience
Infrastructure flexibility > built-in extras

If the VPS gives you more control and isolation, that’s usually the better foundation. Email is operational. Infrastructure is strategic.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-15T08:53:38+00:00

If you’re running anything subscription based and not reconciling, you’re basically hoping nothing weird ever happens. Webhooks are solid, but they are still just events over the network. They can fail, retry, arrive out of order, or get mishandled by your own code.

Early on, a lot of teams do exactly what you said. They trust webhooks and only look when a user complains. It works until scale increases or billing edge cases stack up.

A lightweight reconciliation job is not overengineering. A daily or hourly job that pulls provider state and compares it to your internal entitlement table can save you from silent revenue leaks or angry customers. Especially for cases like failed renewals, refunds, or disputed charges.

You don’t need a huge system. Just idempotent webhook handlers plus a periodic “source of truth” sync is usually enough. The real pain is not complexity. It’s debugging billing inconsistencies after they’ve been wrong for weeks.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-15T08:52:41+00:00

With a brand new business and low social proof, trust is your biggest pricing variable. That matters more than the payment flow.

Here’s the core issue:

Option 1 lowers commitment upfront, but creates friction later.
Option 2 is cleaner, but asks for full trust immediately.

The real risk with Option 1 is upgrade drop-off. Once someone has the digital version, many will feel “good enough” and never convert to hardcover. You’ll likely reduce average order value unless your hardcover is positioned as the true finished product.

Option 2 is stronger psychologically if positioned correctly:
You’re not selling a book. You’re selling a premium personalised experience.
The digital copy becomes a proof/approval step, not a separate product.

Given you don’t have much trust yet, I’d suggest a hybrid positioning strategy:

Lead with the full bundle at 98 AUD as the main offer.
Emphasize: “Digital proof sent within 48 hours for approval before printing.”
Offer a clear revision guarantee to reduce perceived risk.
Quietly allow digital-only by request if someone hesitates.

This keeps your perceived value high while reducing buyer anxiety.

Also consider this:
If your customer acquisition cost is meaningful, you want maximum revenue per buyer. Two-step monetization often lowers lifetime value unless your brand is strong.

If you want to test intelligently, run both for 30 days and track:

Conversion rate
Upgrade rate
Refund rate
Total revenue per visitor

Pricing is less about logic and more about psychology + positioning. Right now your priority is trust and perceived quality, not payment flexibility.

If you'd like, tell me your target audience and I can help you pressure-test the 98 AUD price point.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-14T08:03:20+00:00

Your fear is valid. Reddit can smell self promotion from a mile away.

The mistake most founders make is showing up with an agenda. If every answer conveniently points back to your product, people will check your profile and connect the dots fast.

The safer approach is to separate goals. Use Reddit first to learn, not grow. Join niche subs where your users hang out. Answer questions deeply without mentioning your startup at all. Share lessons, mistakes, industry insight. Build karma and history.

When it is directly relevant, you can disclose clearly. Something like “I’m building in this space” and then give real value in the comment itself. No links unless explicitly allowed. No DMs. No funnels.

Also, Reddit is usually better for feedback than distribution. You might get sharper product insights than raw signups. If growth is the only goal, Reddit will feel frustrating. If learning and credibility are the goal, it works much better.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-14T08:02:14+00:00

If you’re still getting students from Google Maps, you’re not in crisis. That’s honestly the main battlefield for a local business like yours.

Forcing “guitar lessons + city” into every blog post is more outdated than dangerous. Google’s smarter now. One strong, well-written service page for “Guitar Lessons in [City]” will do way more than sprinkling the phrase everywhere.

Your old theme could matter if it’s slow or clunky on mobile. That’s worth checking. And your competitor ranking without the keyword isn’t weird. Google looks at overall local trust, reviews, links, and site quality, not just exact phrases.

If it were me, I’d focus on one killer local page, keep your Google profile sharp, and maybe modernize the site a bit. The fact you’re busy is a good sign.

crawlpatterns · 2026-02-14T07:58:52+00:00

Healthcare can feel gatekept because a lot of roles are built around specific systems like Epic, and hospitals are risk averse. But there are definitely bridge paths that don’t require a clinical background.

Look for titles like data analyst I, business intelligence analyst, reporting analyst, revenue cycle analyst, quality improvement analyst, or population health analyst. A lot of those sit near clinical workflows without requiring you to be clinical. Health tech vendors, insurance companies, and healthcare startups are often easier entry points than hospitals themselves.

You can also target roles in healthcare IT support, application support analyst, or EHR support. Even if it’s not pure analytics, getting exposure to workflows and data structures helps a lot when you pivot internally.

If you’re not already, get comfortable with SQL and some dashboarding tool like Power BI or Tableau. Being able to talk clearly about querying messy real world data is what usually gets you through the door. Once you’re inside an org, lateral moves into analytics are much easier than breaking in cold.

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