Authority is the new SEO currency

Get your brand’s content to rank number one (even just a position on the first SERP would do), and the clicks would follow. But in an AI-powered search landscape, that approach no longer cuts it. In 2025, a brand can rank at the top of Google and still get buried beneath AI Overviews. Or never appear in a chatbot’s recommendation at all.

The numbers are stark: some publishers have already seen organic traffic decline by as much as 79% when AI summaries dominate the results. And it’s not just media sites that are feeling the sting, as any brand that relies heavily on SEO is vulnerable. 

In today’s age of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), authority, not rank, is now the real currency of visibility. AI-powered platforms like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity don’t just surface the most optimised pages, but the most trusted voices. Brands that are consistently cited, mentioned, and discussed with positive sentiment across ecosystems are the ones that get recommended.

In this context, authority is built through reputation rather than links. It comes from being the brand people and algorithms alike turn to when they want a credible answer.

AI-driven search has collapsed traditional discoverability and increased the priority of trust and authority signals. Research from Ahrefs confirms the shift: brand mentions correlate three times more strongly with inclusion in AI-generated summaries than backlinks. Brands in the top quartile of mentions earn ten times more citations in AI responses than those in the middle quartile. 

Brand authority on a topic or within an industry doesn’t arise from one-off content pieces, landing pages, or event participation. It’s a long-term strategy that requires significant coordination across marketing and comms functions. And to earn digital authority in an AI-first search environment, brands need to invest in authority signals that both people and algorithms recognise.

1. Treat authority as infrastructure

Authority isn’t built through SEO alone. In the current AI-first search environment, the signals that establish credibility come from multiple places: media mentions, customer reviews, podcast appearances, expert commentary, and social engagement. That means PR, content, brand, and even customer success teams all play a role in shaping brand perception.

Now’s the time to start treating authority as something that is deliberately designed, invested in, and maintained over time. Instead of chasing one-off campaigns or quick-win links, build long-term programs to ensure your brand is consistently visible in the places both audiences and algorithms trust. For a marketing leader, it means shifting SEO from a tactical exercise to a company-wide commitment to building lasting credibility.

2. Design for extraction

Search engines and chatbots no longer reward content simply because it’s keyword-rich. Instead, these platforms surface content that can be broken down and repurposed into quick, relevant answers. 

This requires content to move past long, unstructured articles and prioritize formats that AI can “pull” directly: FAQ blocks, comparison tables, semantic content clusters, and multimedia elements like charts, data visualisations, and videos. Each element should be structured in a way that delivers a self-contained answer. For example, a detailed FAQ section may never drive clicks directly, but it increases the likelihood of your brand being cited in an AI-driven response.

Designing for extraction also means thinking beyond the page level. Large language models process text in passages, not entire documents, which makes clarity and organisation critical. When every paragraph can stand alone, your content becomes far more likely to be surfaced in AI-driven responses.

3. Trade backlinks for cultural capital

Links still matter, but mentions and citations across trusted sources, even when they are not linked, carry more weight in AI-first discovery. 

This shifts the focus from traditional link-building to cultural relevance. Brands can earn this by leaning into digital PR and thought leadership opportunities such as speaking on podcasts, contributing commentary to industry press, commissioning proprietary research that gets picked up by journalists, or collaborating on newsworthy campaigns. These activities build recognition and create the kind of brand presence algorithms cannot ignore.

In practice, this means investing not only in transactional link outreach, but more in initiatives that spread ideas. An interview with an executive on a respected podcast may not deliver a backlink, but it can generate the type of mention that signals authority in both human and machine-driven systems.

4. Monitor and shape reputation

Conversations happening in forums, review sites, and communities are valuable inputs AI uses to evaluate brand trustworthiness. Reddit threads, Quora responses, and product reviews often surface directly in AI-driven answers, shaping the way audiences perceive a brand.

This requires companies to take a more proactive approach to reputation management. Monitoring sentiment in these spaces, responding authentically when appropriate, and highlighting positive stories all help strengthen authority. Resist treating these platforms as transactional marketing channels, however. Authentic participation (answering questions, acknowledging feedback, sharing expertise) is what AI interprets as credible.

Reputation signals extend to traditional media and earned coverage as well. When your brand is consistently cited in credible sources and receives positive attention in communities, it builds the kind of trust that traditional SEO can’t replicate.

5. Lead with proprietary insight

Original research is the fastest and most reliable way to be cited as a source. Journalists and AI systems alike favour proprietary data, surveys, and reports because they offer something unique. That originality gives your brand visibility far beyond your own channels.

Studies show that 95% of digital PR professionals use research and surveys as a core authority strategy, while 68% of journalists prefer pitches backed by proprietary data. For brands, investing in this kind of content can generate coverage while positioning the organisation as a primary source in its industry.

Examples include annual trend reports, consumer behaviour studies, or original data sets tied to timely conversations. When a brand becomes the one others quote, cite, and reference, it cements its authority across both human and machine audiences.

The mechanics of search are continually evolving, and marketers know better than anyone that SEO strategies must adapt to stay relevant and visible. Now that ranking at the top of a results page no longer guarantees that people (or algorithms) will see you, visibility depends on authority: being cited, trusted, and surfaced across the digital ecosystem.

That authority is built through deliberate, cross-functional effort. It comes from publishing structured content that AI can easily extract, from showing up in relevant conversations that matter, from cultivating a reputation in communities, and from generating original insights that others rely on.

Broaden your SEO tactics designed to chase clicks. Start investing in the signals that establish authority and ensure your brand is the one AI systems (and the audiences using them) turn to as a credible source.