Programmatic SEO + LLM link building
I’ve been testing a combo lately that’s surprisingly effective: programmatic SEO tied with LLM-based link building. It’s fast to execute, easy to scale, and hits both humans and large language models the right way. Here’s the practical breakdown of how I run it.
1. Programmatic SEO setup
I build multilingual, actually useful content clusters. These are vibe coded on Cursor, built with Next.js, and hosted on Vercel for performance.
The setup lives on a subdomain, so it doesn’t interfere with the client’s main instance. You still get the domain rating (DR) benefit from the main domain, which means you can publish a lot of content without risking a negative impact from Google.
Each piece of content follows this structure:
- Table of contents for easy scanning
- Clear hierarchy of headings
- Internal linking between related articles
- Readable sections for both humans and LLMs
The keyword combinations come from Ahrefs, as LLMs are scraping Google anyway. So feeding it data that already performs well just makes sense.
2. LLM link building workflow
Once the programmatic setup is running, I do weekly link building based on LLM references. I use Peec AI to track prompts that list citation sources and use that data to get backlinks.
My workflow:
- Competitor link → Create a better version of that page.
- Generic blog link → Email them and ask for a backlink.
- Social source (Reddit, Quora, etc.) → Drop a relevant comment.
It’s low-effort, high-impact. Over time, you start appearing in both organic and LLM-generated outputs.
3. Why this combo works
Most SEO strategies focus on either pleasing Google or trying to “hack” AI visibility. This one does both, because eventually LLM SEO is just SEO.
- Programmatic SEO gives you scale and structure.
- LLM link building gets your content into AI-readable contexts.
- Combined, it builds both authority and discoverability.
And since everything runs on a subdomain, you can experiment freely without worrying about tanking your main site.
4. Tool stack
- Cursor for fast iteration
- Next.js + Vercel for deployment
- Ahrefs for keyword and SERP data
- Peec AI for prompt tracking and citation discovery
- Reddit + Quora or whatever social pops up in TOP10 for contextual backlinks
5. What’s next
I’m planning to automate more of the LLM link-building flow - probably using a lightweight agent setup that identifies new citation opportunities automatically. But even manually, this works.
If you’re running an SEO-heavy or content-driven SaaS, this combo gives a serious edge without bloating your workflow.