The search engine landscape is changing fast, and Google’s AI Overviews are shaking things up for how businesses get seen online. This new AI-driven approach presents both challenges and opportunities for marketers trying to understand the new rules of the game.
AI Overviews are now showing up in a significant chunk of mobile searches, and a recent study looked at what factors might be helping brands get featured. The findings might surprise you, as they suggest that mentions of your brand across the web could be three times more important than traditional backlinks.
Key Takeaways
- Brand Mentions Reign Supreme: A large study found that branded web mentions have a much stronger correlation with AI Overview inclusion than traditional backlinks.
- Backlinks Losing Ground? Traditional link-building strategies might be becoming less effective as Google’s AI systems seem to prioritize brand authority signals differently.
- Unlinked Mentions Matter: Even mentions of your brand that don’t include a link could carry more weight in AI rankings than many traditional backlinks.
- Measure Your AI Visibility: Tools exist to help you understand how visible your brand is in AI-driven search results and identify areas for improvement.
- Integration is Key: Successfully optimizing for AI search requires collaboration between SEO, PR, content marketing, and social media teams.
What the Study Found
Ahrefs analyzed 75,000 brands to see which factors most influence whether a brand appears in AI Overviews. They used a method called the Spearman correlation coefficient, which looks at the relationship between different ranking factors and AI Overview inclusion. The results showed a clear hierarchy:
| Ranking Factor | Correlation Score |
|---|---|
| Branded Web Mentions | 0.664 |
| Branded Anchors | (High) |
| Branded Search Volume | (High) |
| Backlink Quantity | 0.218 |
| Ad Traffic / Ad Cost | (Very Low) |
This suggests that while backlinks still play a role, they might not be as important as simply being mentioned across the internet. Think of it like getting puzzle pieces for the Mona Lisa; you might not have the whole picture, but you can start to see the overall image and understand the direction you need to go.
Understanding Google’s AI Mode
For those new to the topic, Google’s AI Mode is a search option available in the US. It’s like toggling for images or news on your Google feed, but it provides an AI-generated answer to your search queries. It’s essentially Google’s own large language model, similar to ChatGPT or Gemini, integrated directly into the search experience.
The Rise of Digital PR and Brand Building
Many experts are noticing a trend: digital PR and building your brand’s overall presence online are becoming increasingly important. This isn’t just about getting backlinks anymore. It’s about how often your business is mentioned on news sites, forums like Reddit or Quora, and other online platforms, even if those mentions don’t include a link.
This shift makes sense when you consider how Google might be trying to understand brand authority without relying solely on links. Since many publishers don’t link back to sources anymore, Google has had to find other ways to gauge a brand’s trustworthiness and authority. This includes analyzing mentions and discussions across the web.
Why This Matters for Your Strategy
This change in focus from backlinks to brand mentions is a good thing for several reasons. It moves away from some of the less helpful practices that emerged when backlinks were the primary focus, like
