The Three Tiers of Brand Mentions in AI Search (and How to Build Them)

Out of all the trust signals in SEO, none have risen in importance more than brand mentions.  Why? In short, the search landscape is becoming more sophisticated, especially with the rise of AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews.  The large language models (LLMs) that power these tools are able to fully understand human language, including context and relevance. As a result, they’re able to use a brand’s online mentions to infer:

1. What they do
2. Who they serve 
3. Whether they’re credible 

This is a stark shift from how Google’s algorithm used to operate. In the past, backlinks were the dominant trust signal since the algorithm heavily relied on the link graph (a representation of all the hyperlinked web pages online).  While backlinks are still extremely important, advances in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) have also made brand mentions a critical visibility factor. Moreover, your brand mentions will impact your visibility on AI tools, whether they contain links or not.  At this point, marketers have already begun to notice this shift.  What’s not commonly discussed is that there are three tiers of brand mentions, and they each impact your visibility differently. High-impact mentions are the most powerful, but medium and low-impact brand mentions also contribute to your brand’s perceived authority.  The best part? You can use all three to strategically boost your online visibility and ward off the competition. Here’s how. 

Why Brand Mentions Matter in AI Search 

A study by Ahrefs found that the three most important AI visibility factors were brand mentions, branded anchors, and branded search volume: In other words, your brand’s online presence means everything to LLMs.  Not only do brand mentions help establish trust and authority on AI search tools, but they also reinforce named entity recognition (NER).  NER is a process LLMs use to identify and distinguish things like people, places, and organizations.  Put simply, for LLMs to cite you for prompts related to your niche, they have to recognize you as an authoritative entity within that niche.  How can you earn this recognition? By getting other websites in your industry to frequently mention your brand.   For example, let’s say you’re in the fintech space and provide a financial SaaS product. If LLMs see your brand mentioned on industry-leading sites like FinTech Magazine, Finextra, CNBC FinTech, and fintech coverage from Reuters, they’re more likely to identify you as an established fintech brand.  If these sites mention your product in a positive light, LLMs will start to associate your entity with credibility and reliability.  If you nail other trust signals, like strong reviews, AI search tools may start to actively recommend your product for relevant prompts (like, ‘what are the best fintech tools’).  Also, if LLMs notice fintech websites frequently mentioning and linking to your ultimate guides, videos, learning hubs, and free tools, they’ll view you as an authoritative source worth citing for informative prompts.  Basically, brand mentions can help you achieve visibility at each stage of your sales funnel.  Whenever another website mentions and links to your content, it helps you capitalize on prompts at the top of your funnel.  If other websites are singing your product’s praises, you’re more likely to receive AI recommendations, helping you seal the deal at the bottom of your funnel.  Here’s what ChatGPT has to say about it: Also, you should develop deep content clusters to establish topical authority. These are ‘clusters’ of content that cover related topics with lots of depth. They consist of a pillar page (The Ultimate Guide to Photography) and interlinked cluster pages that dive into subtopics (How to White Balance Your Camera).  LLMs pay close attention to topical authority, so the more authoritative content you have, the stronger your brand’s entity recognition becomes. 

The Three Tiers of Brand Mentions (High-Impact, Medium-Impact, and Low-Impact) 

Now that you know why brand mentions are such a critical trust signal, it’s time to learn about the three tiers.  Not all brand mentions are on an equal scale.  For instance, a brand mention on a major news site like CNBC will carry way more clout than a brand mention on Reddit.  However, both will contribute to your brand’s entity recognition and authority.  While the Reddit mention may be minuscule compared to the CNBC mention, it can still add context, diversity, and volume to your entity profile.  If you’ve spent any amount of time building backlinks, you likely know that it’s important to have a balanced, natural-looking backlink portfolio. Too many backlinks of the same kind can appear spammy or too thin. To Google, a truly reputable brand will accrue all sorts of backlinks, like links coming from social media profiles and Reddit comments.  Lower-grade backlinks, like those from directories, forum comments, and social media, don’t impact visibility as much as editorial backlinks, but they’re still integral for establishing a healthy backlink profile.  Well, brand mentions work in the same way.  Think about it like this:

• High-impact brand mentions (major news sites and media outlets) establish credibility and authority
• Medium-impact brand mentions (niche blogs, podcasts, partner sites) establish relevance 
• Low-impact brand mentions (forums, Quora, social media) establish authenticity and real-world presence 

Each tier contributes to a rock-solid entity profile that contains natural, multi-dimensional reputation signals. 

High-impact brand mentions (editorial PR, top-tier online publications) 

These types of brand mentions are the crown jewels, but they’re also the most difficult to earn. High-impact brand mentions come from the most respected publications in your niche. Going with the fintech example from before, high-impact websites included Reuters, Finextra, and CNBC FinTech.  Granted, you can also earn high-impact mentions from respected niche publications, so they don’t always have to be super mainstream. For example, in the digital marketing space, a branded mention from Search Engine Land would be seen as high-impact by LLMs.  Industry roundups (Top 10 Fintech Tools) and relevant academic references (like getting a shoutout from a .edu) are also fair game for high-impact brand mentions.  Remember, these types of mentions are crucial for cementing your brand as an authoritative source and credible business.  They may take a lot of time and money to earn, but they’re the strongest needle movers for AI search AND traditional SEO. High-impact brand mentions influence entity linking, authority, and brand legitimacy. 

How to build high-impact brand mentions 

Digital PR is the perfect marketing methodology for earning high-impact brand mentions. Here are some of its most effective techniques:

• Networking with journalists through HARO and Qwoted. Responding to journalist queries is a great way to earn brand mentions and backlinks on highly trusted online publications. HARO and Qwoted both offer ways to connect with journalists, but they take different approaches. HARO sends an email blast 3 times a day, while Qwoted has a dashboard and the ability to browse journalist queries whenever you want. 

• Creating original research and thought leadership content. Nothing attracts backlinks and brand mentions like original industry research. As long as you pick a relevant topic, other websites in your field will jump over themselves to quote you and link to your research. 

• Newsjacking trending stories. Savvy PR professionals know that there’s always a way to interject a client’s brand into a story. This is the philosophy behind newsjacking, which involves making your brand a part of a trending news story. You could offer expert commentary, make a lighthearted joke on social media, or create reactive content like an infographic.  

Want to earn high-impact brand mentions without the stress? Sign up for our Digital PR services!

Medium-impact brand mentions (niche blogs, trade journals, local news outlets) 

While they aren’t as powerful as high-impact mentions, medium-impact brand mentions are easier to earn and orchestrate at scale.  They’re also important for establishing niche relevance, so they’re worth targeting.  Here’s where smaller niche blogs, trade journals, and local news sites enter the picture. Mentions on these types of sites show breadth and consistency, both of which are necessary for a strong entity profile.  Expert panels, Q&As, and Reddit AMAs are all excellent targets for medium-impact brand mentions, and they will help normalize your brand’s association with key topics. 

How to build medium-impact brand mentions 

Some classic link-building tactics come in handy here, like:

• Guest posting. Posting guest articles on related blogs is fantastic for earning medium-tier brand mentions and backlinks. 

• Blogger outreach. Reaching out to relevant blogs and websites for link placements and guest spots can yield great results. 

• Industry partnerships. Partnering with related websites can fuel repeated backlinks and brand mentions. 

• Being active in the community. Contribute to Reddit posts, be open to AMAs, and stay vigilant for community roundup articles. 

Don’t have the time or patience for outreach? Check out our Link Outreach services to earn backlinks and brand mentions.

Low-impact brand mentions (forum comments, directory links, etc.) 

The main benefit these mentions have is that they establish volume, as they aren’t authoritative on their own.  These types of mentions exist in forum comments, user-generated content (UGC), and business directories.  While they aren’t visibility powerhouses, they’re still mentions of your brand online, and they contribute to your entity profile. 

How to build low-impact brand mentions  

We’ll be honest, you shouldn’t spend much time actively building low-impact brand mentions. In fact, most of the time they’ll happen entirely on their own (like a Reddit user deciding to mention your brand).  However, there are some simple optimizations you can make that will increase the number of low-impact mentions you receive, such as:

• Optimizing business directory profiles 
• Actively participating in community discussions on forums and social media 
• Encouraging customer reviews that mention your brand 

These optimizations are relatively quick and easy, and they can yield other benefits, like increasing audience engagement and generating more reviews. 

Closing Thoughts: The Three Tiers of Brand Mentions 

To reiterate, brand mentions are an absolutely crucial trust signal in AI search. They improve visibility, reinforce entity recognition, and increase the likelihood that AI search tools will cite your content and recommend your products.  At the same time, it’s equally important to build a balanced, diverse entity profile by building a mix of high-impact, medium-impact, and low-impact brand mentions.  Do you need help earning more brand mentions to improve your AI visibility? Book a free call with our expert team so we can develop the perfect strategy for your needs!