Key takeaways:
- AEO leaders are auditing their top LLM citations per prompt and influencing the source sites directly. The play is no longer “publish more authoritative content.” It’s identifying which third-party sources LLMs are already citing, then working with those sources to update what they say.
- Credentialed authorship and proprietary data may be higher-leverage AEO assets, especially in expertise-driven categories. Our members are paying closer attention to whether named experts, credentialed authors, proprietary research, infographics, and how-to videos are more likely to be cited than generic marketing copy.
- Reputational risk is becoming a stronger internal case than sentiment scoring. Risk framing — misinformation, compliance exposure, and brand-narrative drift — is helping AEO leaders make the case for more resources.
“The reputation surface area for enterprise brands is expanding. Owned content still matters, but members are increasingly finding that AI-generated answers are shaped by third-party sources — review sites, forums, publishers, social platforms, and credentialed experts. The work is shifting from simply publishing the story to understanding which sources AI systems are using, then working backward from there.” — Will White, Senior Membership Director for the AEO Board
During our inaugural AEO Board Founder Summit, our members shared insights on auditing their top LLM citations per prompt and influencing third-party sources directly. We’ll take a look at their top takeaways, plus the quiet retirement of sentiment scoring in favor of risk framing.
Where Your Brand Story Actually Lives within AEO Systems
AEO Board members described a quiet inversion of brand work. The traditional model — publish authoritative content, earn organic visibility — still applies, but it’s no longer load-bearing on its own. AI engines are increasingly building their answers from third-party sites, social platforms (especially LinkedIn and Reddit), credentialed authors, and review aggregators.
One member’s audit found that only 3% of the citations powering LLM answers about their brand were created by their brand. Another reported that 90% of LLM sources for their portfolio were third party. Members emphasized that these source patterns vary significantly by industry, product category, and prompt type, which is why several teams are starting with prompt-level citation audits rather than broad channel assumptions.
“Asking each brand market to come up with the top five citations that come up for their prompt library, then working with those third-party websites on how they can adapt — that became the work.”
AEO Leaders are Influencing LLM Citations, Not Just Publishing the Story
Members report being focused on identifying and influencing the third-party sources LLMs are already pulling from. They’re auditing their top citations per prompt, then opening direct conversations with the partner sites — trade publications, review aggregators, analyst databases — to update inaccurate information at the source.
Several teams are watching credentialed authorship more closely, especially in regulated or expertise-driven categories where named experts, medical professionals, analysts, or technical authorities may carry more weight than anonymous brand content. Others are starting to think about their thought leadership content and PR strategies around citation-worthiness, treating earned media as an AEO surface rather than a separate channel.
Risk framing also appeared prominently in the brand-reputation conversation. One regulated-industry member called out the reputational risk of LLM’s aggregating misinformation about their products, adding that it demanded escalation; another tied AEO inactivity to compliance exposure.
Members were candid that sentiment scoring — once a foundational reputation metric — is being deprioritized; LLMs blend pros and cons in the same answer, leading to untrustworthy results.
About the AEO Board and Assemble
The AEO Board is an Assemble community, which helps senior leaders at enterprise companies make better, faster decisions through trusted peer insights.
We selectively share highlights from confidential member conversations like this one to help leaders understand how peers are navigating fast-moving, high-stakes moments.
If you’d like to learn more about the conversations happening inside the AEO Board, or how members engage with peers during moments of uncertainty, please contact us.
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