Why would it be LLM-assisted when maps of what sites link where are part of the core WWW infrastructure? Google made a trillion dollar business out of that.
I occasionally read these articles and wanted to know what sources they use, besides websites like The Daily Caller, to back up their claims. I noticed this some time ago and remembered it. But it took me a while to find the article again. ;)
Plot twist: it started as a network of weighted links, but, after hitting a certain complexity level, it became self aware and now it’s only trying to live its life in peace and not to be noticed.