In the traditional SEO era, public relations (PR) and link building often operated as separate disciplines. Today, as search evolves into Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), those boundaries have merged into a single strategic objective: securing meaningful brand mentions on authoritative, highly-linked pages.
PR and Authority: How Highly-Linked Pages Drive AI Visibility
Building AI visibility increasingly resembles building an online reputation. In earlier models of search, visibility could be achieved through strong on-site technical optimization. In contrast, AI-driven discovery systems infer authority by observing what trusted sources say about a brand across the web. When respected publications, widely referenced pages, and influential platforms consistently discuss a brand, AI systems are more likely to surface it as a credible recommendation.
Why Highly-Linked Pages Matter
Evidence suggests that where a brand is mentioned can be as important as how often it is mentioned. Research analyzing Google’s AI Overviews has identified a strong correlation (ρ ≈ 0.70) between AI citations and mentions on highly-linked pages, which are defined as pages with a large number of referring domains. In other words, the more respected and connected your referring page is, the more likely AI is to pick up on your brand.
In practice, highly-linked pages function as trust amplifiers, signaling to AI systems that the surrounding information reflects consensus rather than isolated opinion.
This relationship reflects how Large Language Models (LLMs) form associations. LLMs are predictive systems that learn authority through patterns of word co-occurrence: they notice which words and topics often show up together, particularly on pages the Internet already treats as credible. When a brand repeatedly appears alongside specific topics on prominent sites, the model increasingly associates that brand with subject-matter expertise in that domain.
Importantly, these mentions do not always need to be hyperlinked. AI systems can interpret unlinked textual references when building contextual understanding, meaning that reputation signals extend beyond traditional backlink mechanics.
This emphasis on third-party validation builds directly on our earlier analysis of why branded web mentions correlate strongly with AI visibility, showing that authority is not just accumulated through sheer volume of mentions, but through endorsement by already trusted sources.
Targeting the Right “Voices” for Different AI Engines
Not all authoritative pages influence every AI systems the same way. Citation behavior varies by platform, making it necessary to tailor PR efforts based on which AI assistants matter most to your audience.
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Google AI Overviews
Google’s systems frequently draw from community-driven and reference-oriented sources, including Reddit, Quora, Wikipedia, and YouTube. User-generated discussions and highly-linked pages play an outsized role in how Google AI Overviews are synthesized. -
ChatGPT
ChatGPT demonstrates a stronger reliance on established journalistic sources. Major news outlets and recognized media brands such as Reuters, the Associated Press, and Forbes tend to appear more frequently than community forums. -
Perplexity
Perplexity often surfaces niche, international, and specialist publications. If you’re in a technical or industry-specific space, or you’re trying to reach a global audience, this is where those smaller publications start to matter.
These tendencies reflect observed citation patterns and may evolve as models and data partnerships change, but they provide a practical roadmap for prioritizing outreach.
Strategic Actions for Building Off-Site Authority
Because a large majority of AI-cited sources are unique to specific platforms, generic, one-size-fits-all SEO approaches are no longer sufficient. Each platform has its own set of favorite sources, so you need to build relationships with the outlets that each AI trusts. Sustainable AI visibility depends on building a brand that relevant highly-linked pages choose to reference.
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Digital PR and Thought Leadership
Secure inclusion in “best of” lists, industry rankings, and expert roundups. These formats are frequently preferred by AI systems when generating recommendations. -
Earn Brand-Rich Anchors
While unlinked mentions are valuable, brand-rich anchor text still correlates meaningfully with AI visibility. These links help reinforce associations between a brand and its area of expertise. -
Collaborate with Already-Cited Domains
Identify which third-party sites AI systems already reference for your target topics, and prioritize those outlets for contributions, reviews, or data sharing. This concentrates effort where AI trust is already established. -
Publish Original Research
Primary data and proprietary research are especially valuable to AI systems. When authoritative publications reference your original studies, visibility compounds: your data is cited, and your brand rides the credibility of the publication that shared it.
Conclusion
Securing AI visibility is increasingly a function of modern brand building. Rather than relying solely on what a brand claims about itself, AI systems observe how often and where other sources validate that brand across the web. By ensuring your reputation appears consistently on influential, highly-linked pages, you increase the likelihood that AI systems will surface your brand in their answers. That’s how you build authority today.
Leela Adwani
AI Visibility Researcher and Editor