Your LinkedIn posts have a new audience.
And no, I don’t mean that person from your old job who watches every post but never lets on they've seen anything.
I mean AI.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Copilot or Google AI Mode a business question, they’re not scrolling through ten tabs till they find what's good - they get one neat, tidy answer built from sources the tool thinks are worth citing.
LinkedIn is increasingly one of those sources.
Meltwater analysed 9.5 million AI citations across six major models and found LinkedIn was the second most-cited source overall, behind YouTube.
So your next post could do more than land in a few feeds.
It could help answer a future client’s question before they even know your name.
What the research found
People are getting cited more than company pages
Around 75% of LinkedIn citations came from individual profiles. Company Pages made up the other 25%.
A few months ago LinkedIn talked up the importance of relevance and it seems it's flowing into AI.
AI seems to favour people with clear experience, a clear point of view and enough proof behind what they say. It looks at signals like job title, company and industry background, then pays attention when that person keeps showing up with useful thoughts on the same subject.
You don’t need a massive following to get mentioned either. Your job is to make it easy for people, and now machines, to understand what you know, what you're about and why you know your stuff.
Clear structure wins
Articles and plain-text posts made up 83% of cited LinkedIn content. Every top-cited article in the study used bullet points or numbered lists. Most used clear headings too.
(If only LinkedIn would give us bloody good formatting tools!)
If your idea is useful, don’t hide it inside a giant paragraph. Give it a heading. Break it up. Name the thing you’re talking about. Help the reader find their place.
But don't go crazy on turning everything into a list. That gets boring fast. And although you may turn LinkedIn on, you're going to turn off all your followers.
Useful content gets the nod
The most-cited posts were practical.
Ranked lists of tools and vendors made up 54% of cited content. Buyer guides, comparisons, decision frameworks and how-to content also performed well.
Alll the stuff that makes content lead to a sale: Human, relatable, helpful.
These are the questions people are already asking AI before they buy:
- Which tool is right for a small business?
- How do I choose between option A and option B?
- What should I ask before hiring a service provider?
- What are the best options for my specific situation?
Hint: A helpful content plan starts there.
What does your ideal client ask before they’re ready to contact you?
Specific beats generic, every time
AI tools are more likely to cite content with names, numbers, examples, pricing, trade-offs and firsthand experience.
So don't be afraid to include real-life examples, your stories and back things up with research if it strengthens your case.
Freshness matters
Almost half of the cited content in the study was published within the previous three months. Only 12% was more than a year old.
Your older content still has value. It shows the depth of your experience and helps people get a feel for your body of work.
But one excellent post from 2024 can’t be expected to keep carrying the team forever.
AI is looking for current information. Your audience is too. So get posting.
So, what does this mean for your content?
You need to share useful ideas in a way that makes your expertise clear, credible and easy to find. Remember the buyer's journey, and what will be useful by including the questions your best clients are already asking.
Worth reading:Meltwater’s full report on how LinkedIn content wins in AI search and LinkedIn’s summary of the research.
p.s. I'm updating my LinkedIn training pack to incorporate this latest move.
Let me know if your team needs a refresher training on how to write for LinkedIn.
