Crush LinkedIn In The AI Era—Without Coming Off As A Douche
There’s a fine line between thought leadership and vanity posts. And in the AI era, that line just got clearer. If you’re using LinkedIn like a digital megaphone for your ego—or worse, as a dumping ground for corporate brags and pitches—AI isn’t just ignoring you. It’s actively promoting the voices of competitors who get it.
Here’s how to crush LinkedIn the right way in 2025—with substance, strategy, and soul.
1. Stop Posting to Impress—Start Posting to Inform
The Old Move: Self-congratulatory posts about promotions, awards, or “exciting news” that offer zero takeaways for your audience.
Why It Dies Now: AI search and smart users alike sniff out fluff. If your content is all applause, no insight—it goes nowhere.
The New Play: Lead with value. Share lessons learned, frameworks you built, or mistakes you made. Teach something. Inform over impress. Help people win—and they’ll remember who showed up.
Why You Won’t Like It (But Need It): Your ego loves the spotlight. But your spotlight doesn’t convert—your usefulness does.
2. Stop Treating LinkedIn Like a Stage—Start Using It Like a Studio
The Old Move: Broadcasting into the void and hoping for likes.
Why It Dies Now: LinkedIn’s algorithm—and AI search—rewards engagement and real dialogue. If you’re not listening, you’re losing.
The New Play: Treat your profile as a conversation starter, not a TED Talk. Ask smart questions. Respond. Comment. DMs are the new follow-ups. Create content people want to talk about, not just scroll past.
Why You Won’t Like It (But Need It): It’s easier to talk than listen. But trust is built in DMs—not through likes.
3. Stop Recycling Trends—Start Creating Originals
The Old Move: Jumping on trending topics with generic takes.
Why It Dies Now: AI sees derivative content for what it is: noise. It values uniqueness, depth, and authorship that brings new ideas into the feed.
The New Play: Develop your own think tank. Coin terms. Share case studies. Publish ideas first on your blog or site, then serialize on LinkedIn. Show you’re not just part of the conversation—you’re shaping it.
Why You Won’t Like It (But Need It): Original thinking takes effort. But you can’t fake depth.
4.Stop Posting Daily Just to Stay Visible
The Old Move: Quantity over quality. Posting every day like it’s a LinkedIn fitness challenge.
Why It Dies Now: AI and humans both downrank garbage. You don’t earn credibility by flooding feeds—you earn it by saying something that lands.
The New Play: Post when you have something real to say. Develop a rhythm, not a routine. Quality creates gravity—don’t dilute it with filler.
Why You Won’t Like It (But Need It): Silence might feel like failure. But thoughtfulness beats noise—every time.
5. Stop Treating LinkedIn as the Final Destination
The Old Move: Publishing everything on-platform. No links. No off-ramps. No ownership.
Why It Dies Now: AI search doesn’t index LinkedIn posts with the same authority as owned content. And your best work ends up buried.
The New Play: Build a content flywheel. Start with deep, structured content on your site. Use LinkedIn to syndicate, drive traffic, and spark conversation.
Why You Won’t Like It (But Need It): Virality is seductive. But without ownership, your audience is just rented attention.
6. Stop Sounding Like Everyone Else
The Old Move: Buzzword bingo. “Authentic.” “Disruptive.” “Purpose-driven.” Safe, corporate-speak that sounds exactly like the next post.
Why It Dies Now: AI search is getting good at identifying unique voice, tone, and semantic signals. So is your audience.
The New Play: Write like a person. Not a press release. Use stories. Be bold. Inject personality. The more “you” it sounds, the more it sticks.
Why You Won’t Like It (But Need It): Standing out means risking being disliked. But fitting in means being ignored.
Bottom line? You unique brand voice is your last competitive advantage.
The new now isn’t about likes.
It’s about legacy.
Don’t chase the feed—build the brand.
