Why LinkedIn is probably the missing link in your plan

 

When I say LinkedIn, what’s the first thought that comes to mind? Dull? Boring? Irrelevant? Perhaps even “I’ll update my profile when I’m planning to leave the company next year”. For many people, that’s the sum total of what LinkedIn represents and for the first ten or so years since it was launched, I felt the same way. But what if I told you that LinkedIn is probably one of the easiest ways to change the trajectory of your brand or your career? Here’s how:

LinkedIn is more important than you realise

I’d bet good money that you have either been asked about your AI strategy or that some version of AI utilisation is a KPI for your year-end review. Every business wants to “get in on the action” and show how they are integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into their businesses. And no other department in the business world is feeling the weight of expectation like Marketing.

We’ve all read headlines or heard conference speakers proclaim that “SEO is dead” and that GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is now king. Although SEO still plays a role, it is true that GEO is where the battleground has shifted. Quite simply, if your brand is not indexing on GEO and if you have no firm plan to get it there, you are in for a world of pain. No one “Googles” anymore. Instead, everyone “Puts it through Claude” or “Asks GPT”.

But have you ever paused to think where these LLMs get their data from? The answer might surprise you. By January of this year, Promptwatch cited LinkedIn as the number three source of info for LLMs such as GPT, second only to Wikipedia (Yikes) and Reddit. Fast forward to April and LinkedIn’s citations have more than quadrupled to almost draw even with Reddit according to Semrush.

That means that if you’re ignoring LinkedIn, you are ignoring the number 2 (possibly even the number 1) source of credible citations for LLMs. This applies to your business, the brands you are managing and indeed to you, as an individual. So even if you ignore your brand and think about your own career for a second, let this sink in: according to SHRM’s 2025 Talent Trends research among organisations using AI in HR, 44% use it to review or screen resumes and that number is skyrocketing. So if you want that dream role in 3 years’ time and LLMs can’t find you or vet you, good luck…

Ignoring LinkedIn would be like ignoring Google in the early 2000’s.

LinkedIn is less competitive than you might think

Ok, so you can see the logical and compelling reasons to sit up and take note of LinkedIn but you might be thinking it’s too late to get in and make a splash. I mean, everyone else in your peer group might be years ahead of you and you have no hope to ever catch up to someone with a network of 10,000 vs your 500 connections, right? Wrong! LinkedIn is not the intimidating prison yard you imagine it to be:

The 90-9-1 rule

Firstly realise that among the billion LinkedIn profiles, you can divide all of its users into three simple groups:

• 90% – The Lurkers – those who simply scroll, observe, perhaps even judge, and then leave. And let’s be honest, that is most of us…
• 9% – The Engagers – those who might post when they get a new job or leave a one word “Congrats” comment on someone else’s announcement. I.e. light touch engagement only.
• 1% – The Creators – The teeny tiny group of individuals who post regularly and drive ALL the conversation. They are the ones who almost exclusively benefit from the platform in terms of monetised gains.

So by simply showing up consistently, you will already be ahead of 990,000,000 other users. Talk about a head start!

The algo shift that has changed everything

Then there is the infamous LinkedIn Algorithm update of September 2025. You may have heard of it or you may not but most headlines would have gone something like this: “LinkedIn’s new algorithm has killed the old LinkedIn”. Sounds depressing, right? Well it isn’t. This algo update simply signals that LinkedIn’s finally caught up to Meta and TikTok and shifted their algo from network-based social media content distribution toward subject, or persona, based content distribution.

Ok, so what does that mean? Well it means it has joined the party and is now mostly serving users posts based on the interests they have and not just posts from people they know. To mega influencers who have 500,000 LinkedIn followers this was a tough blow but to the regular LinkedIn user it levels the playing field. With a good content strategy and by consistently showing up, you can have as much impact and reach as someone with THOUSANDS of followers. I have seen this myself and have ran the numbers. Some of my earlier posts when I only had 2,000 followers, did as well as the average post of a creator with 30,000. This could be true for you, tomorrow if you decided to have a go.

But how does one even go about this?

Right, so LinkedIn is objectively valuable and you can see that it is less competitive than you thought. But how do you unlock success on this platform? Here are 7 suggestions to get you going:

1. Define your key message: LinkedIn optimises for focus and subject matter expertise. So the more single-minded you are and the less random your content, the greater the reward.
2. Stick to your message: Consistency is key to most things. Consistency builds brands, it builds careers and it definitely builds LinkedIn impact. Those who post regularly (and don’t give up after 3 months) are the ones who win.
3. Curate your profile: Do the work and build a profile page that clearly shows who you are, what you do and what your content is all about. Leave as many signals for AI scrapers to pick up as possible.
4. Algo warm-up works: Always spend a bit of time warming up the algo before you post. This means engaging with other posts, commenting on them and answering comments on your previous posts.
5. Use commenting as a superpower: It works for algo warm up, it works to help distribute your content and it can be your best reach tool. I have had well timed comments that took me two minutes to write but gave me 100 000+ impressions per comment… It can be that easy…
6. Make your content portable: Create content that people can give you a point of view on. Content that people will save. Content that people will send to others. If the algo sees your content as portable, it will distribute it far wider than you can imagine.
7. Be as human as humanly possible: Never use AI to write your posts or comments and remember; optimising for the algo is one thing but also optimise you content for humans. Be authentic and have your own point of view.

 

In conclusion

I have seen first-hand what LinkedIn can do to transform a career. In fact, I have built my entire business around it. Not in years, but in months. I have also seen the impact it had when I ran this in my previous role as a marketing director in an FMCG business. A bit of focus, some consistency and ZERO paid spend all come together to create impact you never thought possible. So what’s holding you back from trying this, today?