As AI overviews and generative search disrupt how information is discovered, backlinks have taken on a renewed importance. They remain the strongest indicator of credibility, guiding AI systems toward trustworthy sources. The brands that invest in earning high-quality, contextually relevant links are the ones most likely to be cited in AI-driven answers.
If you’ve been working in SEO for any length of time, you’ve probably felt it. The quiet but unmistakable transition that AI search has brought to how visibility is earned. Over the past year, as we’ve helped clients navigate their SEO and content strategies, this change has dominated nearly every discussion. The questions are not restricted to just rankings, keywords, or even CTRs. They’re about survival in a new kind of search ecosystem.
During strategy calls, monthly reviews, and proposal discussions, we’re hearing the same concerns repeated across industries:
These aren’t theoretical questions. They reflect a real uncertainty that marketers are grappling with - an unease born from seeing long-standing SEO rules suddenly feel less predictable. For years, backlinks were the bedrock of search authority, the measure of trust that propelled brands up the rankings. But when AI generates summaries and citations directly in search results, many are asking whether those same signals still hold weight.
What clients expect today is clarity. Not just data, but direction. They want to understand how to remain visible when clicks are vanishing, when “ranking” no longer guarantees traffic, and when AI appears to be curating answers instead of users choosing them.
From our vantage point, we can see clearly that backlinks still matter. In fact, they may matter more than ever. What’s changing isn’t their importance, but how they contribute to credibility and inclusion in AI-generated answers.
Even as Google experiments with AI Overviews and zero-click answers, the underlying engine that determines credibility hasn’t been rewritten. It has been refined. Backlinks remain one of the strongest indicators of authority, trustworthiness, and topical relevance.
When an authoritative website links to yours, it signals to search engines (and now to AI systems) that your content is credible enough to be referenced. That vote of confidence helps algorithms understand not just what your content is about, but how much it can be trusted.
Google’s leaked internal documentation in 2024 confirmed what many SEO professionals suspected: links continue to play a core role in determining visibility. Metrics such as SiteAuthority and link quality still underpin how content is assessed, particularly in the context of E-E-A-T - Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
AI systems, including those powering Google’s generative search features, are trained to cite reliable, verifiable sources. Strong backlink profiles make that verification process easier. The more credible domains that vouch for your content, the more likely AI models are to treat your site as a trusted source worth referencing.
A decade ago, link-building was often about scale. The more links, the better. Today, AI and advanced ranking algorithms have made that approach obsolete. Quality, context, and relevance now define what makes a backlink valuable.
Here’s how this refinement plays out:
In fact, recent studies show that 75% of pages cited in Google’s AI Overviews also rank within the top 12 organic results. This correlation shows that improving your backlink profile remains one of the most effective ways to boost your chances of being cited in AI-generated summaries.
AI doesn’t “read” the web the way humans do. It learns patterns of credibility from massive datasets, connecting signals like backlinks, mentions, and structured data to determine what’s trustworthy.
When your brand or content is referenced by multiple respected domains, it strengthens entity recognition, which is AI’s understanding of who you are and what you’re known for. Over time, this recognition shapes how your expertise is categorised and which queries you’re associated with.
So when someone searches for a topic in your domain, and AI compiles an overview, it’s far more likely to select your site if it’s consistently validated through backlinks and mentions across authoritative sources.
In other words, backlinks aren’t just improving rankings anymore, they’re teaching AI who to trust.
Traditional SEO aimed to get your site among the top ten blue links. But AI search has redefined the playing field. The question now is: can your brand become the answer?
Google’s AI Overviews and similar features are built to reduce clicks by surfacing instant summaries. This means visibility isn’t about position, but about citation. You want AI to reference your brand as a source when constructing its answer.
Backlinks play a critical role in this process. AI Overviews tend to favour established domains with a strong network of credible links. The richer your backlink profile, the stronger your site’s perceived authority, and the higher your chances of being cited.
You need to position your site as a recognised authority that AI systems turn to when they need to validate a fact, explain a concept, or support a claim.
So, what does effective link-building look like now? Here’s how to future-proof your strategy:
AI systems prefer concise, high-confidence content blocks. Think 40-60 words that directly answer a query. Structure your articles with these “answer-ready” sections that make it easy for AI to extract and reference key insights.
Build topical authority signals around your brand by earning links and mentions from trusted sites within your niche. The goal is to connect your brand to specific areas of expertise in a way that algorithms can recognise and categorise.
Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can now predict high-value link opportunities by analysing competitor profiles, trending topics, and backlink gaps. Use them to target credible publishers and build meaningful relationships for digital PR and guest content.
A well-placed link within an in-depth, relevant article is worth far more than one buried in a footer or sidebar. Focus on natural integration within valuable, researched content. Quality partnerships, collaborations, and media mentions all count.
Track not just link counts, but citation frequency, brand mentions, and AI Overview appearances. These are the new KPIs that indicate real authority in a generative search world.
When we talk to clients today, one thing is clear - the definition of visibility is changing. And from what we’ve seen, backlinks haven’t lost their power. They’ve simply taken on a deeper role that goes beyond SEO metrics and into trust itself.
You’re no longer just optimising for a search engine; you’re optimising for a machine that reads, reasons, and responds. That demands a more strategic, reputation-driven approach to authority building.
Dofollow backlinks from authoritative, relevant sources remain pivotal to how trust is quantified online. But beyond metrics and rankings, what truly matters is how your content and reputation intersect. The future belongs to brands that are not only found but referenced by both humans and machines.
Your goal is no longer to climb a results page. It’s to become the name that appears in the answer.