A UK-based SEO consultant has launched a new service on Hacker News aimed at optimizing website structures for Large Language Model (LLM) crawlers. The pitch, posted on September 21, 2026, specifically targets visibility within AI-driven search tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, moving beyond traditional Google-centric SEO tactics.
The Shift to AI-Native Visibility
The core value proposition rests on the assumption that LLMs parse and prioritize web content differently than traditional search engines. By auditing site structure, the service claims to ensure that key information is accessible and easily synthesized by AI models during query generation. This reflects a growing trend where 'Answer Engine Optimization' (AEO) is becoming a distinct discipline from classic SEO.
Market Positioning and Reception
Despite the niche focus on AI search integration, the Hacker News thread has seen limited initial engagement, with the post currently holding a low score and zero comments. This lack of traction may indicate that the developer and tech community remains skeptical of SEO services pivoting to AI, or that the technical depth of the audit process has not yet been sufficiently demonstrated in the public forum.
Key Takeaways
- The service explicitly targets ChatGPT and Claude as primary visibility channels, bypassing traditional search engine metrics.
- It represents a commercialization of 'AI SEO' or AEO, a field still largely defined by experimental best practices rather than standardized tools.
- Initial reception on Hacker News is tepid, suggesting that the tech community is waiting for more rigorous proof of efficacy from AI-focused SEO vendors.
The Bottom Line
While the premise of optimizing for LLM retrieval is technically sound, this service risks being seen as buzzword-heavy SEO repackaged for the AI era without proving it can actually influence model outputs.