What it’s and how you can keep away from it

Repositioning your online business helps you keep related as markets shift.

For instance, possibly you are a marketing consultant who used to specialise in one service and have since expanded right into a broader follow. Or possibly you are an organization that started off serving small companies and have since moved upmarket to enterprise. 

Both means, repositioning takes time and prices cash. So as soon as you’ve got carried out it, you want individuals to really find out about it.

However here is the catch: Extra individuals now use LLMs to find out about merchandise, and companies and if a chatbot repeats your previous positioning, prospects will go away with the unsuitable concept of what you do and who you serve.  And so they might by no means go to your web site to get the precise data.

I name this the LLM positioning lag. It’s successfully when your positioning has modified, however LLMs have not caught up. And as you will see from actual examples, this lag can have an effect on companies for longer than you would possibly count on.

In the present day, we’ll take a look at the results of a positioning lag, what causes it, stroll by means of some actual examples, and canopy how you can keep away from it.

What occurs when your positioning in LLMs is outdated?

When your positioning in LLMs is outdated, customers asking about your {industry} or enterprise will not get correct data when AI-generated solutions talk about your model. 

That is a much bigger downside than it would sound: The portion of shoppers who changed serps with generative AI for product and repair suggestions went from 25% in 2023 to 58% in 2025, in keeping with Capgemini. Which means a rising share of your prospects are forming their impressions of you based mostly on data that does not essentially mirror your newest positioning. 

Let’s say you used to promote accounting software program for small companies, however you’ve got since pivoted to enterprises. If an enterprise purchaser asks AI for the perfect accounting software program and your model is listed as a small-business software, they’ll assume you are not constructed for his or her wants and skip you.

And it isn’t simply first impressions on the road. Agentic commerce (the method of AI brokers making purchases on behalf of customers) is rising. With out correct data, you would possibly lose out on gross sales. 

Why LLMs get positioning data unsuitable

LLMs get positioning data unsuitable about your online business for 3 fundamental causes: 

Repositioning not mirrored within the mannequin’s coaching information

When your repositioning is not mirrored within the mannequin’s coaching information, the LLM is working from an outdated image of your model. 

Rebrands, new product strains, and market expansions that occurred after the coaching cutoff is probably not in there in any respect. 

A mannequin can generally shut the hole by looking the net — however provided that it decides the query wants it, or if the consumer explicitly chooses the net search perform. Left on autopilot, many fashions nonetheless default to coaching information. 

Inconsistent details about your online business

If totally different sources on-line describe your online business otherwise, LLMs gained’t know which supply is appropriate.

Your personal web site would possibly mirror your present positioning whereas your social media profiles mirror totally different positioning. Plus, third-party lists, previous interviews, or overview websites might even have outdated data. When an LLM encounters sufficient conflicting data, it has to determine which model to belief. And it may not be your model.

Years of previous positioning outweigh a latest change

Years of previous positioning can outweigh a latest change as it may be tough to beat an intensive file of your previous model.

LLMs be taught from what has been beforehand printed about your online business. For those who described your self a technique for a decade, that is years of potential evaluations and authoritative citations that you will need to now override. 

The longer the previous narrative ran, the broader that hole. Your new positioning will be correct and properly documented and nonetheless be outnumbered. Till sufficient new content material builds up, an LLM might hold leaning on the model it has seen most frequently. 

Actual examples of the LLM positioning lag

I made a decision to see what sorts of firms the positioning lag affected, and I discovered that it ranges from massive enterprise merchandise to particular person consultants.

As the next examples present, even well-funded visibility efforts do not assure that an LLM will catch as much as your new positioning straight away.  

Hotjar

Hotjar was a behavioral analytics software (suppose heatmaps and session recordings) that Contentsquare acquired in 2021 and formally merged with by July 2025.

But, once I requested ChatGPT for the perfect heatmapping software program, Hotjar was second on its checklist with no point out of Contentsquare. 

Hotjar’s web site redirects to a web page on Contentsquare’s web site, however the desk above has no clickable hyperlink. Customers are unlikely to discover a hyperlink elsewhere, like within the search outcomes, so few will attain Hotjar’s previous web site organically. Which means anybody asking this query walks away considering Hotjar remains to be an unbiased product, with no concept it is now a part of a much bigger platform.

That is a model consciousness downside for Contentsquare, since Contentsquare paid to amass Hotjar’s identify recognition and buyer base. 

But when ChatGPT retains recommending Hotjar as its personal factor, none of that consciousness transfers — prospects evaluating heatmapping instruments inside an LLM don’t find out about Contentsquare and the entire different instruments they provide.

Contentsquare even made the acquisition extremely seen throughout its web site and communications. Since 2021, a few of their publishings embody: 

• A number of press releases asserting the acquisition  
• A number of weblog posts detailing the acquisition
• Devoted help paperwork for Hotjar clients
• Social media content material like YouTube movies 
• A touchdown web page for these trying to find Hotjar

Nevertheless, ChatGPT nonetheless references Hotjar as an unbiased product with no point out of Contentsquare multiple 12 months after the official merger. 

Blue Apron

Blue Apron is a meal supply service that was purely subscription based mostly for over a decade, however they reframed in August 2025 and now embody a pay-as-you-go mannequin together with a subscription to attraction to a broader market. 

Nevertheless, ChatGPT didn’t point out the pay-as-you-go mannequin once I requested about Blue Apron. 

To announce the top of requiring a subscription, Blue Apron:

• Made the official announcement on a nationwide talkshow (Good Morning America) that was then picked up by main information shops like ABC Information, Yahoo, and CNET
• Produced commercials to advertise the brand new mannequin
• Supplied interviews to the press
• Repositioned the messaging on their homepage

That is a nationwide press push, paid media, and a homepage rewrite — about as a lot visibility as a repositioning can get. But ChatGPT doesn’t point out that subscriptions are not required, which can alienate potential clients who don’t need to subscribe. 

Duolingo

Duolingo is a studying app that originally centered solely on instructing customers new languages. In the present day, customers can be taught math, music, chess, and over 40 totally different languages. 

I requested ChatGPT for the perfect apps to be taught one thing new. It beneficial Duolingo just for language studying, and advised different platforms for topics like math and science.

Duolingo launched math in 2022, music in 2023, and chess in 2025. Throughout that point, Duolingo has:

• Made product bulletins at Duocon (their free digital occasion)
• Revealed weblog posts about their new merchandise
• Up to date their app description within the app retailer to incorporate mentions of math, chess, and music
• Reworked their homepage to say chess and math
• Revealed press releases for brand spanking new merchandise

That is an ongoing marketing campaign throughout a number of product launches. But ChatGPT nonetheless describes Duolingo as a language app solely, the identical positioning it held a decade in the past. 

Peep Laja

Peep Laja is an entrepreneur who based CXL, Speero, and Wynter. Peep turned extensively often known as a CRO knowledgeable by means of CXL, however he left CRO to concentrate on enterprise technique round 2016.

After I requested ChatGPT who I ought to comply with to find out about CRO, Peep was the primary particular person on the checklist, with no point out of his present firm, Wynter. 

Peep has additionally posted about this on LinkedIn. In actual fact, I used to be impressed to dig deeper into the positioning lag after seeing Peep’s publish.

Entrepreneurs may not have the finances for an orchestrated PR marketing campaign like Blue Apron, however Peep’s digital footprint nonetheless exhibits a constant, long-term effort towards repositioning:

• His LinkedIn profile and private web site each checklist Wynter, not CXL, as his present firm
• He persistently publishes LinkedIn content material on B2B technique
• He has printed a e-newsletter and hosted a weekly podcast on B2B technique — not CRO — for years
• He is talked overtly about transferring on from CRO since 2016

Regardless of all of that, ChatGPT nonetheless leads with Peep’s decade-old status. 

Methods to see what LLMs affiliate along with your model

See what LLMs affiliate along with your model by utilizing a software that analyzes AI solutions at scale.

Semrush’s Notion report offers you an in depth evaluation, so you understand how totally different AI platforms understand your model.

Enter your web site into the Notion report and scroll to the “AI Function Descriptions” part to see what options AI associates along with your model. You may consider each non-branded and branded questions.

Click on the quantity within the “Solutions” column for a given row to learn particular solutions and uncover extra particulars. 

You’ll need to concentrate on correcting any data that isn’t correct. We’ll present you the way to try this within the following part.

Methods to hold model data correct in LLMs

Protecting model data correct in LLMs takes coordinated motion throughout PR, content material, and model monitoring. 

Announce modifications with PR

Asserting modifications with PR creates a citable information occasion that offers AI platforms a contemporary, dated supply to reference. 

Your announcement ought to make the change specific. Clearly state what your organization does now, who it serves, and the way that differs out of your earlier positioning. This provides AI methods a transparent file of each the previous and new variations of your online business.

Listed below are some suggestions for :

• Publish the press launch by yourself web site. This provides you a supply you management and ensures there is a canonical model of the announcement that clearly displays the change.
• Distribute your press launch by means of a wire service. This provides different publications the chance to choose up and republish the announcement.
• Ask commerce publications to publish a narrative about your pivot. Respected publications can reinforce your new positioning and carry topical authority for AI methods.
• State your new positioning clearly and persistently. Do not make readers or journalists piece collectively what modified. Use the class, viewers, and outline you need related along with your model.
• Clarify what modified and when. A transparent timeline helps distinguish your present positioning from the one which appeared in older protection.
• Deal with PR as the start line, not all the technique. A brand new announcement creates a contemporary sign, however it nonetheless has to compete with older content material and third-party sources that reinforce your earlier positioning.

Replace previous content material

Updating previous content material removes outdated claims LLMs would possibly nonetheless depend on.

When updating content material to mirror your new positioning, ensure you:

• Audit content material for mentions of your previous class, product identify, or service mannequin
• Replace or redirect pages that not mirror present positioning and add a brief clarifying assertion close to the highest of high-traffic legacy pages to make sure each readers and AI methods see it
• Discover authoritative websites nonetheless referencing your previous positioning and request an replace 

One strategy to discover outdated, authoritative mentions on different web sites is by reviewing your backlinks (hyperlinks from exterior websites pointing to your web site).

Begin by coming into your area into Semrush’s Backlinks software. 

Click on “Backlinks.” Discover any hyperlinks that use outdated anchor textual content (the clickable a part of a hyperlink), comparable to incorrect product names, by scanning the “Anchor and Goal URL” column or utilizing the search bar.

Prioritize updating hyperlinks from websites with the best authority first, since these have the best impression.

Hold messaging constant site-wide

Protecting messaging constant site-wide minimizes conflicting alerts that may push LLMs towards outdated data. 

Your web site ought to give AI methods a transparent, repeated description of what you do at the moment. Not a number of variations of your online business relying on which web page they discover.

Comply with the following pointers:

• Test your homepage, about web page, product pages, and footer for outdated descriptions
• Use constant terminology to your class, merchandise, and companies. Do not use totally different phrases for a similar factor throughout totally different pages.
• Replace inner hyperlinks and anchor textual content. Outdated terminology can proceed reinforcing your earlier positioning even after the vacation spot web page has modified.
• Replace your meta descriptions (textual content that describes your web page) and title tags. Inconsistent metadata can ship the identical blended alerts as inconsistent copy.

Hold enterprise listings present

Protecting enterprise listings present issues as a result of LLMs usually reference exterior sources to get details about manufacturers. 

Make certain your online business data is correct in every single place you’ve a presence — Google Enterprise Profile, LinkedIn, G2, Crunchbase, Wikipedia, social media, and any industry-specific directories.

Semrush’s Itemizing Administration software handles this at scale. It syncs your online business data throughout directories from one dashboard, so a positioning replace does not imply logging into dozens of platforms individually.

Construction firm pages for LLM extraction

Structuring firm pages for LLM extraction makes your positioning simpler for AI methods to know, quote, and cite. 

Apply these practices to your homepage, about web page, product pages, and every other pages that comprise details about your model:

• Hold sections self-contained — AI methods retrieve excerpts reasonably than full pages, so a piece should not rely upon context from elsewhere on the web page
• Use headings that match how individuals really ask about your online business and services or products
• Reply headings with the copy that follows

This is a earlier than and after of how heading plus physique copy might look on an About web page:

The second model names the class, states the present viewers, and dates the shift — three issues an LLM can pull straight into a solution. The primary offers it nothing to quote.

Monitor what LLMs say about you 

Monitoring what LLMs say about your model on a recurring foundation helps you see inconsistencies earlier than they unfold. 

Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit permits you to monitor what LLMs say about you and your opponents, so what’s incorrect and the place opponents are incomes mentions the place you aren’t.

For instance, the Visibility Overview report exhibits you the way your mentions and citations are rising inside LLMs. And the matters/prompts you seem for.

You may as well use this report back to see your “Matter alternatives” (the matters the place your opponents are showing however you aren’t).

Lacking alternatives is simply as unhealthy to your model as inaccurate data. It means you will not even be a part of a related dialog. 

Click on “Monitor all prompts” so as to add the prompts you discover to the Immediate Monitoring software, so you possibly can monitor your efficiency. 

For manufacturers with multi-market or multi-brand wants, Semrush’s Enterprise AIO presents monitoring that’s scalable and suited to complicated wants. 

Prepared to indicate up precisely in LLMs?