Why Backlinks Still MatterFor SEO and AI Search

How backlinks contribute to authority

Links help search engines discover pages and understand relationships between them. Google’s guide to its ranking systems still includes link analysis and PageRank. The value of a link therefore extends beyond the visitors who happen to click it, although there is no public formula for calculating what an individual placement will contribute.

Google also explains that its generative search features rely on core Search ranking and quality systems. This is a sound reason to continue investing in established SEO work, including earning relevant links, when you want to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Google’s explanation does not tell us the weight assigned to backlinks when choosing sources for a particular answer.

“Authority” needs some care here. A publication may be respected within its industry without having an especially high score in an SEO tool. Conversely, a large website can publish a weak page. Domain Rating, Domain Trust and Authority Score are useful third-party measurements, but they are not the scores an AI assistant has publicly confirmed it uses.

For this guide, authority means having a credible basis for being consulted on a subject. Relevant links can contribute to that standing, alongside the work itself and what others say about it.

What the research says about backlinks and AI search

There is now evidence worth discussing beyond the familiar argument that links have always mattered to Google. The studies below examine different outcomes, so their figures should be read within each study rather than combined into a single ranking of AI-search factors.

Referring domains and ChatGPT citations

In November 2025, SE Ranking studied 129,000 domains and 216,524 pages, using responses to 100,000 prompts. Its predictive analysis identified referring domains as the strongest factor associated with citation frequency in its ChatGPT dataset.

Sites with up to 2,500 referring domains averaged 1.6–1.8 citations, compared with 8.4 for sites with more than 350,000. A referring domain is a separate website linking to yours; many links from one website still count as one referring domain.

This is evidence of an association between established link profiles and citation frequency. It is not a target of 350,000 domains for a smaller business, or a forecast of what acquiring another link will achieve. The study used a predictive model, rather than an experiment that added links while holding everything else constant.

Authority scores and AI mentions

Semrush’s October 2025 study of 1,000 domains compared backlink-related measurements with visibility across five AI experiences. Authority Score and AI mentions had a Pearson correlation of 0.65 and a Spearman correlation of 0.57. These coefficients describe how the measurements vary together; they are not percentage increases in visibility.

The relationship was weaker when the outcome was AI share of voice: 0.23 and 0.36 respectively. Authority Score also combines several measurements, so this result cannot isolate the contribution of backlinks. It supports the case for established websites tending to appear more often, without showing which part of their wider reputation caused that appearance.

Brand references often show a stronger relationship than link volume

In December 2025, Ahrefs compared 75,000 brands across ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews. Branded web mentions correlated with visibility at roughly 0.66–0.71. Branded anchor text, where a link names the brand, also showed positive correlations: 0.628 for AI Mode, 0.527 for AI Overviews and 0.511 for ChatGPT. Raw backlink metrics were much weaker.

Ahrefs measured whether brands appeared in answers, which differs from measuring whether a particular page was cited as a source. Its sample also selected domains with a Domain Rating above 40 and a highest-volume keyword with at least 800 monthly searches. The findings therefore need care when applied to a new or little-known business.

A backlink, a mention and an AI citation do different jobs

This distinction matters when you commission PR or review an AI-visibility report. A brand recommendation, a source link and a visit to your website are separate results. Decide which would help the business and keep them separate in reporting.

A recent October 2026 preprint by Mahe Chen and Nick Koudas, covering 158,099 answers and 468,037 citations, also distinguishes source retrieval from brand knowledge. In their analysis, which pages ChatGPT retrieved explained much more variation in citations than page properties did. Their findings help explain why being retrieved as a source and being named as a brand need separate attention. The paper is a preprint and does not demonstrate a causal effect from backlinks.

Which backlinks are worth earning?

Start by reading the page that would contain the link. Who uses it? What does it help them understand? Would a reader have a reason to follow the reference to your website? These questions often tell you more about a potential placement than the domain’s headline score.

A small industry association might maintain a useful resource page for exactly the people you serve. A much larger publication might offer a paid article in a section that has little connection to its usual readership. The larger domain deserves no automatic preference.

The surrounding text matters as well. A link supporting a specific finding gives the reader a clear reason to visit the source. A company name dropped into an unrelated paragraph offers much less context. Descriptive anchor text is helpful when it belongs naturally in the sentence; prescribing the same keyword phrase for every placement is difficult to justify editorially.

Look beyond one metric before committing money or time. Check the publisher’s recent work, whether the proposed page fits it, the placement terms and the audience you hope to reach. For an existing link, examine the referral visits and enquiries it produces where you can measure them. A placement can be useful to the business even when you cannot demonstrate a ranking change.

Give another publisher something worth referencing

A publisher needs a reason to send readers to your website. Start with something your business can contribute: original data, a case study, a useful calculator or an explanation that is difficult to find elsewhere.

Make the work easy to assess and cite. Explain where the data came from, identify the author and dates, and keep qualifications beside the findings. A small customer sample can still be useful if readers understand its limits.

Before creating another page, look at what you already have. What would help someone researching this subject? My guide to earning natural backlinks without outreach explores how to develop that into a resource other writers can use.

Help the right people discover the work

Contact people already covering the subject. Explain which finding helps their readers and link to the evidence. If a publication already mentions your research or tool without linking, ask whether it could add the original source. The writer decides whether it belongs.

For paid placements, Google recommends rel="sponsored"; nofollow is also acceptable. These links can still bring relevant visitors, but should not be sold as guaranteed ranking credit.

Be wary of packages promising a fixed number of high-score links. Ask where they will appear and why those publications would include them. Google’s link-spam policy covers paid links intended to manipulate rankings, excessive exchanges and automated link creation.

Tools for monitoring backlinks

Search Console is a useful starting point for your own website. A dedicated backlink tool adds competitor research and more ways to investigate new or lost links.

Each tool discovers and updates links differently, so totals will vary. Use one consistent source to track changes and inspect valuable links directly.

Assess the work beyond the backlink count

Review which publications linked, the pages they chose and whether those links brought relevant visitors or enquiries. Check organic visibility too, while accounting for other changes such as a rewrite or better internal links.

For AI search, use a consistent set of questions and record the platform and date. Track source citations separately from brand mentions. One favourable answer is too little evidence to judge a campaign.

A warning score alone is not a reason to disavow links. Google says most sites do not need its disavow tool; its guidance concerns substantial artificial links alongside a manual action or the likelihood of one.