AI-Aware Citations: Mapping Brand Mentions to Every Funnel Stage

Transcript

1. AI-Aware Citations: Mapping Brand Mentions to Every Funnel Stage Pablo López DEPT® @pablolopezm | speakerdeck.com/pablolopezm
2. 2 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm A LOT OF THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN SEO not only the name
3. 3 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm USERS ARE EXPLAINING SCENARIOS WE ARE STILL TRACKING STRINGS *keywords
4. 4 @pablolopezm SIMPLE QUERY best ergonomic mouse AI-AWARE CITATIONS
5. 5 @pablolopezm SIMPLE QUERY ELABORATED QUERY best ergonomic mouse for wrist pain? AI-AWARE CITATIONS
6. 6 @pablolopezm SIMPLE QUERY ELABORATED QUERY CONVERSATION Iʼm a digital illustrator working 10 hours a day on a Mac. My wrist is starting to hurt. I need a silent, ergonomic setup that won't clutter my desk?
7. 7 70% 527% Increase in "Tell me about…" search structures YoY (2025) Increase in AI-sourced sessions YoY (Jan-May 2025) @pablolopezm Source: Google's Year in Search 2025 report Source: Search Engine Land AI-AWARE CITATIONS
8. 8 AI-AWARE CITATIONS USERS ARE NOW NURTURED INSIDE A CHATBOT @pablolopezm where the whole sales funnel can take place @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS
9. 9 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm AWARENESS PHASE I'm looking to escape the UK cold in November. I want somewhere with guaranteed sun that is no more than a 5-hour flight away. What are my best options? 1ST ITERATION
10. 10 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm EVALUATION PHASE Iʼm in between Tenerife and Sharm El Sheikh for a one-week trip in November. Our budget is £2,000 for two people. Which destination offers better value for 5-star all-inclusive resorts? 2ND ITERATION
11. 11 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm PURCHASE PHASE Iʼve decided on Sharm El Sheikh for the second week of November 2026. Which UK travel agencies are currently offering the best packages for 5-star resorts there that include flights? 3RD ITERATION
12. 12 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm SEO DOESNʼT LIVE IN A SINGLE DIMENSION ITʼS MULTI-PLATFORM *web
13. TRADITIONAL SEARCH USED TO FOCUS ENTIRELY ON WEB CONTENT 13 @pablolopezm ergonomic mouse AI-AWARE CITATIONS
14. LLMS USE MULTIPLE PLATFORMS TO PULL INFORMATION FROM 14 REDDIT WEB YOUTUBE @pablolopezm
15. 15 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm USERS DONʼT SPEAK IN KEYWORDS ANYMORE THEY PROMPT
16. 16 AI-AWARE CITATIONS IN THE AI ERA WE NEED TO RESEARCH PROMPTS @pablolopezm not just keywords So for us SEOs:
17. 17 AI-AWARE CITATIONS WE RESEARCH PROMPTS TO CHASE VANITY METRICS @pablolopezm we don’t
18. 18 AI-AWARE CITATIONS WE RESEARCH PROMPTS TO PREDICT THE EXACT WORDING OF EVERY USER @pablolopezm we don’t
19. 19 AI-AWARE CITATIONS WE RESEARCH PROMPTS TO BUILD TRADITIONAL KEYWORD LISTS @pablolopezm we don’t
20. 20 AI-AWARE CITATIONS WE RESEARCH PROMPTS TO MAKE SMARTER CONTENT DECISIONS @pablolopezm
21. 21 AI-AWARE CITATIONS TO DESIGN FOR THE RIGHT FUNNEL , CHANNEL AND SENTIMENT @pablolopezm Where is the user finding the content? Is the user ready to convert? Do they know your brand yet? How does the user feel about the content?
22. 22 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm BUT RESEARCHING PROMPTS COMES WITH A LOT OF PROBLEMS
23. #1 Search Volumes 23 PREDICTING PROMPT VOLUMES IS CURRENTLY IMPOSSIBLE MOST HIGH-INTENT PROMPTS HAVE A SV OF 1 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm
24. #2 Prompt Uniqueness 24 MAPPING EVERY USER VARIATION IS IMPOSSIBLE USERS PROVIDE UNIQUE CONTEXT, TONE, AND RESTRAINTS INTO EVERY QUERY AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm
25. #3 Generic Data 25 GENERIC PROMPT RESEARCH LACKS BRAND INTELLIGENCE AI REQUIRES TAILORED, 1ST-PARTY DATA TO UNDERSTAND YOUR SPECIFIC NUANCE AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm
26. 26 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm I CREATED A FRAMEWORK THAT SOLVES MOST OF THOSE PROBLEMS
27. @pablolopezm 27 BRAND GUIDELINES KEYWORD SEEDS GSC DATA PAA QUESTIONS SOCIAL SIGNALS PERSONAS [CATEGORY] [PAIN POINT] VARIABLE BEST FOR VARIABLE SEMANTICS A PROCESS THAT TRANSFORMS DATA INTO STEMS…
28. @pablolopezm 28 BRAND GUIDELINES KEYWORD SEEDS GSC DATA PAA QUESTIONS SOCIAL SIGNALS PERSONAS ERGO MOUSE WRIST PAIN BEST FOR …STEMS INTO PROMPTS… VARIABLE VARIABLE SEMANTICS
29. @pablolopezm 29 …AND EXPANDS THEM INTO REAL HUMAN PROMPTS MY WRIST HURTS WHEN IʼM ON MY LAPTOP FOR TOO LONG, CAN YOU RECOMMEND THE EXPANSION LAYER BRAND GUIDELINES KEYWORD SEEDS GSC DATA PAA QUESTIONS SOCIAL SIGNALS PERSONAS ERGO MOUSE WRIST PAIN BEST FOR
30. 30 AI-AWARE CITATIONS STAGE 1: THE BRIEFING STAGE 2: DATA DUMP STAGE 3: SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STAGE 4: STEM CREATION STAGE 5: PROMPT CREATION
31. @pablolopezm IT STARTS BY PROVIDING BRAND CRITICAL DATA 31 BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS SCOPE DATA SCOPE DESCRIPTION TONE OF VOICE USPs PAIN POINTS … PERSONAS HYBRID WORKER CREATIVE MIND IT EXPERT STUDENT … TOP COMPETITORS AI-AWARE CITATIONS PRODUCT CATEGORIES RELEVANT TOPICS
32. @pablolopezm 32 BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS AI-AWARE CITATIONS SECTION VALUE TARGET SHARE Market United States - Tone Conversational and human. Professional - Product Category Workstation Peripherals 0.5 Product Category Software 0.3 Product Category Connectivity 0.2 Strategic Themes Brand Relevance & Comparisons 0.25 Strategic Themes Sustainability 0.2 Strategic Themes Ergonomic Peripherals 0.55 Simplified version
33. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 33 AND I SET GUARDRAILS TO AVOID LLM HALLUCINATIONS BRAND TEMPERATURE FUNNEL TARGETS PERSONA TARGETS TECHNICAL BOUNDARIES BRANDED VS NON-BRANDED PROMPTS WEIGHT PER FUNNEL STAGE BALANCE OF PERSONAS QUESTION RATIOS, NUMBER OF PROMPTS PER STEM, MAX TOKENS TO USE, ETC. BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
34. 34 AI-AWARE CITATIONS STAGE 1: THE BRIEFING STAGE 2: DATA DUMP STAGE 3: SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STAGE 4: STEM CREATION STAGE 5: PROMPT CREATION
35. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 35 AIO RANKING KEYWORDS SEARCH VOLUME EST. TRAFFIC INTENT how to connect wireless keyboard 2400 166 informational how to connect wireless mouse 1300 291 informational how to pair keyboard 1000 224 informational how to connect mouse to laptop 1000 224 informational best headphones for work 1000 112 commercial ergonomics in the workplace 880 197 informational active noise cancelling vs passive 880 166 informational LONG-TAIL KEYWORDS WERE USED AS SEEDS BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
36. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 36 AIO RANKING KEYWORDS SEARCH VOLUME EST. TRAFFIC CATEGORY how to turn on keyboard light 5400 624 Keyboards how to turn on light on laptop keyboard 5400 100 Keyboards what is polling rate on a mouse 3600 329 Mice scroll lock on keyboard 2900 138 Keyboards what is mouse polling rate 1900 90 Mice how do you turn on keyboard lights 1600 624 Keyboards atx micro atx 1300 100 Microphones COMPETITOR DATA WAS ALSO CONSIDERED (KEYWORD GAPS) BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
37. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 37 SEED KEYWORDS QUERY EXPANSION (PAA) tips for remote work What are the best tips for successful remote work? remote work tools What tools do you need for remote work? how to pair keyboard How do I set my keyboard to pair mode? ergonomics in the workplace What are the 5 aspects of ergonomics in the workplace? active noise cancelling vs passive Can noise-cancelling headphones stop tinnitus? dongle pairing How to put bluetooth dongle into pairing mode? IN ORDER TO GATHER REAL DEMAND, I SCRAPED PAA FROM GOOGLE BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
38. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 38 GSC data Keywords Conversion data Competitor data PAA questions Reddit data Merchant data Social signals Citation data Digital PR data CRM integrations AND MANY MORE BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
39. 39 AI-AWARE CITATIONS STAGE 1: THE BRIEFING STAGE 2: DATA DUMP STAGE 3: SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STAGE 4: STEM CREATION STAGE 5: PROMPT CREATION
40. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 40 DATA INGESTED BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS THE AI MODEL ANALYSES THE DATA TO BUILD A SLOT DICTIONARY VARIABLES [CATEGORY] [AUDIENCE] [QUALITY] VALUES WEBCAM MICROPHONE HEADSET ANALOG KEYBOARD TRAVELER CREATOR PROFESSIONAL MAC USER STUDENT STURDY PORTABLE COMFORTABLE QUIET AI ANALYSIS
41. 41 AI-AWARE CITATIONS STAGE 1: THE BRIEFING STAGE 2: DATA DUMP STAGE 3: SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STAGE 4: STEM CREATION STAGE 5: PROMPT CREATION
42. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 42 [PRODUCT] HOW TO SET UP IN A [USE_CASE] WITHOUT TECHNICAL ISSUES? Briefing pain points Variables BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS VARIABLES ARE PROGRAMMATICALLY REPLACED TO GENERATE STEMS natural language
43. 43 BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
44. 44 AI-AWARE CITATIONS STAGE 1: THE BRIEFING STAGE 2: DATA DUMP STAGE 3: SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STAGE 4: STEM CREATION STAGE 5: PROMPT CREATION
45. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 45 HOW TO SET UP IN A WITHOUT TECHNICAL ISSUES? Variables [PRODUCT] [USE_CASE] BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS FINALLY PROMPTS ARE GENERATED FROM THE STEMS Prompt stem
46. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 46 HOW TO SET UP IN A WITHOUT TECHNICAL ISSUES? Variables A WEBCAM CONFERENCE ROOM FINALLY PROMPTS ARE GENERATED FROM THE STEMS Prompt output BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS
47. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 47 THE FRAMEWORK FINALLY ADDS A SEMANTIC EXPANSION BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS Expansion of the prompt semantics to provide more real-world context Iʼve struggled with wrist pain for months while working in the office, what keyboard would you recommend to help prevent this? PERSONA TARGETS Prompt generated based on the different data points gathered
48. @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS 48 ALL PROMPTS ARE THEN POLISHED AND CATEGORISED BRIEFING DATA DUMP SCHEMA SYNTHESIS STEMS PROMPTS PROMPT FUNNEL STAGE SENTIMENT BRANDED / NB Does the Pro Video Bar include AI auto-framing so I don't have to train managers to use a remote? BOFU Explanatory Branded Best split ergonomic keyboard for data entry TOFU Explanatory Non-Branded What is the best silent wireless mouse to avoid disturbing others? TOFU Explanatory Non-Branded How to customise the side buttons on my wireless mouse to undo and redo brush strokes in Photoshop? MOFU Instructive Non-Branded
49. 49 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm I USED THIS DATA TO AUDIT HOW AI WAS CURRENTLY SEEING THE BRAND
50. LLMS PRIORITISE HOW-TOs AND TECHNICAL CONTENT 50 @pablolopezm SETUP GUIDES EDITORIAL CONTENT TECHNICAL PAPERS WHY? LLMS PREFER CONTENT THAT HELPS THEM EXPLAIN HOW THINGS WORK
51. REDDIT CITATIONS HAVE A SKEPTICAL SENTIMENT AND ARE DRIVEN BY SUPPORT CASES 51 @pablolopezm /r/CommercialAV /r/peripherals How do I troubleshoot persistent latency on a 2.4GHz wireless receiver in a crowded open office? Does the Pro Video Bar's build quality actually justify the higher price point? AI-AWARE CITATIONS
52. ON THE OTHER HAND YOUTUBE CITATIONS ARE MAINLY DRIVEN BY PRODUCT DEMOS 52 @pablolopezm Which iPad stylus has the lowest latency for digital illustrators? AI-AWARE CITATIONS
53. ALL TOGETHER THE RESEARCH ALLOWED US TO DESIGN A HOLISTIC GEO STRATEGY 53 @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS CREATED A NEW LEARNING CENTER OPTIMISED REDDITʼS BRANDʼS PRESENCE LAUNCHED A SUPPORT VIDEO SERIES UPDATING BRAND PAGE ACTIVE IN THREADS RUNNING AMAs VIDEO STORYTELLING PRODUCT DEMOS INFLUENCER COLLABS 50+ GEO ARTICLES TAILORED TO GAPS AROUND USER NEEDS
54. 54 105% Increase in AI Overviews AND WE ALREADY GOT SOME RESULTS 801% Increase in Referral Traffic (from LLMs) Q1 2026 vs Q1 2025 @pablolopezm AI-AWARE CITATIONS
55. 55 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm AI DOESN'T RANK PAGES IT SYNTHESISES EVIDENCE
56. 56 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm GENERIC STRATEGIES GET GENERIC RESULTS TRUST YOUR DATA
57. 57 AI-AWARE CITATIONS @pablolopezm THANK YOU, BRIGHTONSEO! LETʼS CONNECT