Are backlinks still a ranking factor in 2025?

Backlinks remain an important authority signal, but AI-driven ranking now prioritizes topical expertise, consistency, satisfaction of user intent, and trust over quantity alone.

How does AI measure authority differently from traditional SEO?

AI search systems evaluate authority by looking at topical depth, engagement signals, publication consistency, and online reputation, in addition to backlinks and citations.

What content factors most influence AI visibility in 2025?

Unique, helpful content published regularly, with strong technical SEO, structured data, and clear demonstration of subject expertise, has the biggest impact on AI ranking.

Do I need schema markup to rank in AI search?

Yes—while it is a smaller direct factor, schema markup aids both traditional and AI search by making page context clear for machines, which can improve citation and eligibility for AI results.

How do AI and Google decide what to cite in 2025?

Content is cited when it demonstrates depth, clarity, recency, and real expertise, with corroborated signals from reviews, mentions, backlinks, and a consistent publishing record.

Beyond SEO Backlinks: How AI Search Ranks Authority in 2025

Michele Biaso
Aug 25
4 min read

Updated: 11 hours ago

Updated September 2025

Why backlinks are no longer the only signal of trust

Backlinks used to be the gold standard of SEO. If a high-authority site linked to you, Google gave you a boost.

Agencies built entire strategies around that one metric.

But in 2025, the rules have changed.

AI search now looks beyond links. Tools like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude weigh your content’s clarity, credibility, and context.

Mentions without links, consistent citations, and content that’s structured to be quoted all help build authority.

If your strategy still stops at backlinks, you're behind.

What does backlinking look like in the era of AI Search?

Backlinking is no longer about building link farms or trading guest posts.

In AI Search, authority comes from:

Mentions: Does your brand or content get referenced by name in credible sources, even without a hyperlink?
Citations and retrieval: Is your content indexed, structured, and clearly authored so answer engines can retrieve and cite it in summaries?
Consistency: Do your cornerstone blogs and FAQs show up in the places AI checks for context?
Entity authority: Are you consistently tied to a topic or industry in a way machines recognize?

Links are still important, but they are only part of a much bigger authority map.

Why mentions matter more than ever for SEO

Mentions help engines understand that your brand is part of the topic.

While links remain important, recognized brand references in credible contexts can support entity signals that improve how your answers are discovered and cited.

AI doesn’t just crawl links. It scans language and relationships. Being named, quoted, or referenced builds authority even if no one clicks through. That is how AI decides whether your voice is credible enough to surface.

What do embeds mean in AI systems?

Think of “embeds” as making your content recoverable and quotable inside AI answers.

When your blogs and FAQs are well-structured and clearly attributed, AI systems can retrieve them from the web and include them as linked citations in the generated summary.

That means:

Your structured content can literally shape the answers people hear from voice assistants
Your brand positioning can travel further than your website, showing up in ChatGPT or Perplexity results even without a traditional backlink
Evergreen resources and FAQs matter more than thin content, because they are more likely to be cited and reused

This is why your content engine is the new distribution system.

How do AI answers choose sources to cite?

AI systems synthesize an answer and include links to relevant pages that demonstrate clarity, authority, and relevance. If your content is structured and complete, it increases the chances of being chosen as a source.

How do you build authority for AI mentions and embeds?

To be recognized by AI systems, you need content that is:

Clear and structured so it can be cited directly
Consistent across platforms so your authority compounds
Linked internally so your topical clusters are obvious
Proven through examples so your answers feel credible to both humans and machines

Think of it as building an ecosystem, not chasing a single link.

Why our content engine is built for mentions and embeds

At Imagine Social, we don’t just build blogs.

We build content engines designed to show up everywhere authority is measured.

Our approach means:

Cornerstone blogs and FAQs that are structured to be cited by Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT
Topic clusters that make your authority clear to both algorithms and readers
Content written in your voice so when AI pulls an answer, it sounds like you, not like generic filler
Systems that compound visibility by turning one blog into FAQs, video scripts, carousels, and social content

Backlinks are not gone. But the brands winning AI Search are the ones building systems that create mentions and embeds at scale.

Book a mini-discovery call to start the conversation or read about our content engines.

About the Author

Michele Biaso is President and CEO of Imagine Social Media and founder of the Girl’s Guide to AI. With over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and AI strategy, Michele helps businesses leverage technology and social media for sustainable growth and standout branding. Connect with her on TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram.

FAQ: Mentions, Embeds, and AI Backlinking

Do backlinks still matter in 2025?

Backlinks still matter in 2025, but they are no longer the only signal of authority. AI-driven search engines now weigh context, entities, and citations in generated answers, which means mentions and structured content can reinforce your authority alongside traditional links.

What is the difference between a backlink and a mention?

A backlink is a clickable link from one website to another, while a mention is when your brand, content, or name is referenced without a link. Search and AI systems scan both, and consistent mentions in credible sources can strengthen your reputation and entity authority.

How do AI systems decide which content to cite in answers?

AI systems choose content to cite based on clarity, authority, and structure. Content that answers questions directly, is well-formatted with headings, and is connected to related posts is more likely to be cited than thin, keyword-heavy pages.

What does “embed” mean in AI search?

In AI search, an “embed” means your content is indexed and structured so it can be retrieved and cited in AI-generated answers. This makes your FAQs, blogs, and guides part of the raw material AI uses to build trustworthy responses.

How can small businesses benefit from mentions and embeds without chasing backlinks?

Small businesses can benefit by creating cornerstone blogs, FAQs, and resources that are clear, credible, and consistent. Local press mentions, customer reviews, and structured content engines all create authority signals that AI and search engines can surface even without thousands of backlinks.

What type of content is most likely to be cited or mentioned by AI?

Evergreen, structured, and authoritative content is most likely to be reused in AI answers. FAQs, detailed guides, and cornerstone blogs that solve real problems are more likely to be cited than generic posts written only for keywords.

How do I make my brand more “mentionable” for AI systems?

You make your brand more mentionable by being consistently part of the conversation. That means publishing high-quality resources, showing up in local or industry news, collaborating with credible partners, and ensuring your answers are clear enough to be quoted directly by search and AI tools.