Tag: brand mentions

The mention economy: AI search visibility is decided on websites you don't own

By Sega Cheng · July 17, 2026

AI engines assemble recommendation shortlists from listicles, review sites, YouTube, and Reddit, not from brand domains. The evidence for treating earned media as the core AI search strategy.

AI Search GEO AEO earned media brand mentions AI Citations

Backlinks Got Demoted in AI Search

By Sega Cheng · June 27, 2026

While backlinks still play a role in search engine retrieval, recent data shows that brand mentions now correlate far more strongly with AI search visibility. This shift requires a new playbook focused on crawlability, passage extractability, and earning editorial mentions across the web.

SEO backlinks AI Search AI Overviews brand mentions GEO AIO AISEO AEO