OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into more than a chatbot. The company’s latest update lets users access third-party apps (e.g., Spotify, Canva, Zillow, Expedia) directly inside conversations.
Why we care. This shift could make ChatGPT a high-intent marketing channel, reaching 800 million users where they’re already engaging – in chat.
How it works. Users can call apps by name (“Figma, turn this sketch into a diagram”) or ChatGPT can suggest them automatically based on context – like surfacing Booking.com when discussing travel.
Apps act like actions, not separate tools, within ChatGPT’s conversational flow.
OpenAI calls this a step toward a “conversational operating system” – one interface where users access software and services.
What they’re saying. Nick Turley, ChatGPT’s product lead, described the goal:
“If we can evolve ChatGPT the right way… maybe you’ll be spending a lot of time in ChatGPT. But it won’t feel like you’re in a chatbot.”
The marketing angle. This platform play could turn ChatGPT into a valuable discovery and conversion engine for brands. Some potential upsides for marketers:
Massive reach: 800 million users. Apps appear at the moment of intent.
Contextual discovery: Brands show up naturally as users describe needs — not through search.
Interactive experiences: The Apps SDK supports visuals and dynamic UIs. Zillow can show listings with maps; Canva can design in chat.
What’s next. More brand integrations are coming – including Target, Uber, Peloton, and Instacart. Developers can start building now; OpenAI plans an app store and publishing reviews later this year. Apps meeting high design and functionality standards will get higher visibility.
OpenAI also hinted at “agentic commerce” – one-click transactions powered by AI. It already tested in-chat Etsy shopping for U.S. users and is hiring for ad tech and attribution tools.
The big picture. This evolution opens new paths to brand interaction, contextual engagement and possibly commerce – all within a single, AI-mediated interface. This gives marketers a chance to meet consumers where they act, not just where they search.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-07 17:13:142025-10-07 17:13:14ChatGPT becomes a platform for apps – and maybe marketing
Omnichannel marketing is a way to make your brand feel the same everywhere: website, email, ads, social, SMS, app, and in-store. People can start on their phone, switch to a laptop, and buy later without friction.
Why is this important?
Your customer doesn’t think in channels. They see one brand. If your ads, emails, site, app, and store don’t match, money slips through the cracks. Omnichannel marketing closes those gaps and moves more people to buy.
But how many more people are buying from omnichannel campaigns versus single-channel campaigns?
A lot, actually.
An Omnisend study found the purchase rate of omnichannel marketing campaigns to be 287% higher than single-channel campaigns.
Creating a seamless experience for your customers means better brand perception and higher revenue. It’s a real win-win.
This guide walks you through omnichannel marketing strategy benefits, best practices, and examples. By the end of it, you’ll understand what goes into creating an omnichannel campaign that drives results.
Key Takeaways
Omnichannel marketing creates a seamless customer experience across every touchpoint, including website, email, ads, SMS, social, app, and in-store.
Brands using an omnichannel strategy saw purchase rates 287 percent higher than single-channel campaigns in one study.
Unlike multichannel marketing, omnichannel connects your data and messaging across platforms so everything works together, not in silos.
Benefits include better customer experiences, stronger brand recognition, more personalization, higher loyalty, and increased revenue.
To get started, map your customer journey, centralize data, integrate your channels, and follow clear brand guidelines for a consistent feel.
What Is Omnichannel Marketing?
Omnichannel marketing is a marketing strategy that seamlessly integrates all of a business’s marketing channels to create a cohesive shopping experience for each customer.
As customers move through the sales funnel, an omnichannel strategy ensures all touchpoints seamlessly speak to each other so that no matter where a potential customer makes contact with your business, it feels like the same channel.
Here’s how it looks in practice.
A customer might check out a product on a brand’s website. They decide they’re not yet ready to make a purchase, but then they’re met with ads for that product across different social media channels. They can easily click through and buy the product, even though it’s not the same channel they initially used to shop.
This is what omnichannel looks like on a small scale. At enterprise scale, the same idea gets bigger. Your teams share a single customer profile, so service reps, store staff, and ads all see the same context. POS and ecommerce pull from the same inventory. Loyalty rewards apply online and in-store. Buy online, pick up in store just works.
That’s an omnichannel marketing strategy: connect data and creative across channels so customers move forward, and your revenue does too.
Omnichannel Marketing vs. Multichannel Marketing
Before we dive deeper into what omnichannel looks like, let’s talk about how it differs from a similar tactic called multichannel marketing. Both obviously occur across different channels. But they work slightly differently.
Omnichannel marketing uses multiple channels, but it ensures that all channels are integrated seamlessly, creating a connected experience. Meanwhile, multichannel marketing just occurs across different channels, treating them more as separate entities than trying to build an interconnected ecosystem.
Multichannel is useful for quick reach and simple campaigns. Think one-off promos, early tests, short cycles, or when tools and data are basic.
Omnichannel is best for cross-device shoppers, syncing online and in-store experiences, and longer, more complex customer journeys.
Bottom line: start with multichannel, then shift to an omnichannel marketing strategy when you’re ready to connect data and deliver one continuous experience.
Why Omnichannel Marketing Is Important
Your buyers don’t stick to one platform. They search on Google, watch a review on YouTube, see a Reel, ask ChatGPT for a product comparison, click an email, price-check on Amazon, and walk into a store. If you only optimize for organic search, you miss the moments that push customers to act.
Omnichannel marketing lets you show up at key points in the customer journey and connects those touchpoints so the experience feels cohesive. Your ad matches the email. The site matches the app. The cart follows the customer across devices. Service and store teams see the same history. That consistency builds trust and cuts friction, which leads to more sales.
An omnichannel marketing strategy also spreads risk. If one channel slows down, you still have paid social, SMS, marketplaces, and retail working together.
It improves measurement, too. Shared data tells you which mix drives first purchases, repeat orders, and higher order values.
People discover, compare, and buy across many platforms. Brands that coordinate messages and data across those platforms win more often. If you’re serious about growth in today’s digital world, build an omnichannel marketing strategy so your brand is clear, consistent, and present at every step.
Benefits of Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing has a number of benefits. These advantages can provide your business with better results and happier customers.
Think of omnichannel marketing as the glue that holds your entire shopping experience together.
Improved Customer Experience
Omnichannel marketing focuses on creating an interconnected experience no matter where your customers are interacting with your business. Because of this, it creates a seamless customer experience that’s vastly better than if the different channels couldn’t speak to each other.
Here’s what that means for customers: progress carries over (carts, wish lists, support tickets), and context follows them from device to device. If they ask a question on chat, your email workflow resurfaces it. If they browse a size in the app, your site remembers.
Abandon cart emails are great examples of omnichannel marketing in action. A customer visits your website and adds an item to their cart. They leave your site without completing the purchase. That action is sent to and triggers an ‘Abandon cart’ workflow in your email marketing platform.
They receive an automated email with the item in their cart and some encouraging words and/or a discount to get them to complete the purchase.
An omnichannel marketing strategy reduces repeats, dead ends, and mixed messages so buyers feel understood and move forward faster.
Better Brand Awareness
Creating a consistent experience across platforms (including in-store) makes it easier for customers to recognize your brand. Plus, as more people have positive omnichannel experiences with your brand, they’re more likely to share it with their friends and family, boosting word-of-mouth referrals and awareness.
Consistency is a key component of a strong brand strategy. When people see the same appearance, messaging, and offers across channels, recall and trust in your brand grows. Pair that with targeted campaigns across search, social, and marketplaces, and your brand shows up more often for relevant terms with the same look and promise.
Personalization
When your marketing channels speak to each other, you’re presented with even more opportunities for gathering customer data that can be used to personalize experiences across all channels, and not just the ones they’ve used before. This personalization is just another way to improve the overall experience with your business, making it easier for customers to work with you.
Use customer actions, like product views, cart adds, and website searches to customize messaging. Recommend items that fit past behavior, pause promos after a purchase, and nudge at the right time (not just more often). Keep consent and preferences front and center.
Done well, omnichannel personalization feels like help, not hype.
Customer Loyalty
As customers discover how easy it is to work with your business, they’re more likely to stick around and continue to buy from you again and again. Why bother finding a competitor if your business has created such a seamless shopping experience?
Loyalty grows when every interaction feels smooth and familiar. Connect rewards across store and online, recognize returning customers, and close the loop on issues fast.
Use lifecycle triggers, like welcome, re-engagement, and win-back, to stay relevant without spamming. The easier you make repeat buying, the less tempted people are to price-shop elsewhere.
Competitive Advantage
Just like we mentioned, there’s no need for customers to shop around and test out your competitors if you’ve provided such a great shopping experience. Omnichannel marketing gives you a major competitive advantage, fueling more of your target audience to head straight to you rather than others in your industry.
Most teams still run channels in silos. You’ll move faster because your data, inventory, and messaging are already in sync. Creative can be reused, offers are consistent, and measurement is clearer. That speed compounds into lower costs and better customer outcomes, an edge that’s hard to copy without a true omnichannel strategy.
Higher Revenue and Conversion Rates
Naturally, if people are sharing their positive experiences, sticking around longer, and ultimately having a great relationship with your brand, you’re going to reap those benefits in the form of higher revenue and conversion rates. Which is the ultimate goal, right?
More relevance and less friction mean more adds to cart, more checkouts, and bigger orders. Omnichannel marketing also improves attribution, so you can double down on the mix that actually drives purchases and repeat business.
Over time, the flywheel kicks in: Better data leads to sharper targeting, which leads to stronger retention, which leads to higher revenue.
Best Practices for an Effective Omnichannel Marketing Strategy
Your goal is simple: build an omnichannel marketing strategy that feels consistent everywhere and moves people forward. Start with what customers do today, not what you wish they did. Then connect the channels and tools you already use, fill the gaps, and measure what actually changes behavior.
Follow along with these steps to learn more about creating an effective omnichannel marketing strategy that will boost your customer satisfaction.
Collect & Analyze Customer Data
Start by centralizing truth. Pull website analytics, email metrics, ad performance, POS data, support logs, and audience sentiment into one view so you can spot insights like:
The channels your customers prefer to use when interacting with businesses
Which devices your customers spend the most time on
The types of messaging that seem to resonate most with them
How your customers feel about your current shopping experience
Then, pick an attribution model that fits your business. Each model is tailored to different types of customer journeys and campaign goals.
For example, position-based tracking is better for businesses with longer sales cycles, like B2B and lead gen. And data-based attribution is great for omnichannel e–commerce strategies, marketplaces, subscription apps, and retailers with steady traffic.
Check out the graphic below for a full breakdown of attribution models you can use to measure the success of your omnichannel marketing efforts.
Map Out the Customer Journey
Your next step is to map out your current customer journey. Outline each step that a Your next step is to map out your current customer journey. Outline each step that a customer would have to take from first discovering your business all the way to becoming a repeat customer.
As Matthew Santos, SVP of Products and Strategy at NP Accel, explains, “Customer journey mapping involves visualizing a customer’s various touchpoints with your brand, from initial awareness to purchase and beyond. By understanding these touchpoints, you can identify which channels are most important at different stages of the journey.”
To create your map:
Identify your customers: Identify your customers’ names, addresses, and other demographic information. Look in your CRM or use a current buyer persona.
Understand their pain points: What drives your customers to make a purchase? What challenges do they want to solve?
Find out where they hang out: What platforms do your customers use during the purchase process?
Track the conversion path: How do most of your customers convert? Their path is unlikely to be straight. They might visit your website, view your Instagram reels, and then purchase in-person, in your store. Aim to define the most common paths.
In the end, your customer journey map might look something like this:
Now it’s time to identify and integrate your different sales and marketing channels, which could include:
Social media
SMS marketing
Email marketing
Your website and online store
A physical store
A mobile app
Make sure to include all channels that you’re currently using to reach your target audience plus any channels you’ve discovered your customers prefer.
For example, you might not have previously incorporated SMS messaging into your overarching marketing strategy, but your customer data analysis showed you that your target audience prefers that method of communication.
Once you’ve selected the different channels you’ll use to communicate, market, and sell to your customers, it’s time to get them to work together.
To properly integrate your marketing avenues and create a successful omnichannel strategy, you’ll need the right technology. Some tools to consider include:
CRM: A CRM can help you store customer information so that it’s accessible across channels. It can also help you segment out your audience to create even more tailored and personalized experiences. Omnisend is a great option for building out specific segmentations.
Marketing Automation Software: To build an effective omnichannel marketing strategy, you need marketing automation tools to engage more on social media, send scheduled emails, or move users through the conversion process. Many tools you already use, like email marketing, CRMs, and social media management, have built-in automation features. You can also use a tool like Zapier to build custom triggers.
Social Media Management Tools: This type of tool can make it easy to communicate with your audience across various platforms. Get access to a social inbox that puts all conversations across all platforms in one single messaging dashboard. Use auto-replies or canned responses that ensure communication is consistent across the board. Hootsuite and Sprout Social are both great options to consider for your social media management.
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): A CDP pulls data from all your touchpoints—site, app, ads, email, POS—into a single customer profile. That unified view makes it easier to segment audiences, personalize campaigns, and keep experiences consistent across channels. Tools like Segment or mParticle help you clean, connect, and activate data without needing a dev team for every change.
Once you’ve set up the right tools and integrated all your channels, it’s time to make sure your teams are all on the same page. If your customer support team is using different messaging than your social media team, your overall strategy is going to feel disjointed.
By creating documented brand guidelines that cover how your customer-facing teams should be communicating with customers and talking about your products, you can ensure your channels feel connected.
Your brand guidelines should include things like:
Guidance for brand visuals, like logos, imagery, colors, and graphics
How to handle customer support issues or questions to create positive and consistent experiences
Tone and voice guidelines with “do’s and don’t’s” examples
Copy guidance with channel-specific examples (e.g. email subject lines vs. educational blog content)
Legal guidelines on what you can and cannot discuss, if applicable
Share your brand guidelines with your entire team and make sure everyone is familiar with them. Give constructive feedback when you see people straying.
Brand consistency is the glue that holds an omnichannel marketing strategy together.
Test & Measure Your Efforts
After sharing your brand guidelines across your company and implementing your omnichannel approach, it’s time to test everything out. Run through each of your marketing channels the way you might if you were a new customer to make sure the experience feels seamless from discovery to purchase.
Then, think about how you’ll measure success.
In omnichannel marketing, you need to consider metrics that touch every part of the funnel. For example:
Discovery: Impressions, educational blog traffic, mentions in the media
Consideration: Engagement on social media, product views, visits to company pages
Conversion: Orders, checkout rate, CPA
Loyalty: Repeat rate, time between orders, customer reviews
Use clean UTM rules, consistent naming, and dashboards that show both channel and journey views. Review the data weekly for anomalies, monthly for trends, and quarterly for bigger bets.
3 Examples of Omnichannel Marketing
Let’s look at a few examples of omnichannel marketing in practice so you can get an idea of what this could look like for your own business.
1. Sephora
Sephora offers an amazing omnichannel experience for its customers. First-time customers are able to sign up for a Sephora account using their phone number, and then keep track of all purchases there.
Customers can figure out what they’ve purchased before and when, which makes it easier for them to restock on the products they love. It also makes it easier for the marketing team to tailor messaging and special offers to each customer’s unique shopping preferences.
Sephora accounts also track customer rewards points, as well as when their birthday month is. Whether they make a purchase online or in the store, Sephora sends the customer a little sample-size product as a birthday gift.
This omnichannel strategy makes shopping with Sephora feel easy and personal, no matter where someone is making a purchase.
2. Starbucks
The Starbucks app makes for an amazing omnichannel experience that the coffee brand’s customers love. Not only can customers order through the app then pick up in a nearby store, they can also reload gift cards, pay in-store, earn and redeem rewards, and more.
The app also makes it extremely easy to find stores near you and personalizes its offerings based on the local weather. Starbucks is already a wildly popular coffee chain, but their omnichannel marketing strategy helps boost sales even more.
3. Target
Target is another great example of what omnichannel should look like. Again, customers can create an account and easily track past purchases so they can reorder products again and again with ease.
Target also has its own rewards program called Target Circle that allows users to rack up rewards they can put towards future purchases.
But one of the best things about Target’s omnichannel strategy is that customers can check online if a product is in stock at stores near them. And it’s wildly accurate, even during huge sales events like Black Friday.
The Future of Omnichannel
Omnichannel isn’t standing still. AI, automation, and privacy changes are reshaping how brands connect with customers. Search engines and social platforms now answer questions directly, sometimes before a click. In fact, nearly 60% of searches result in zero clicks.
So how does this apply to an omnichannel marketing strategy?
For marketers, it means two things.
First, you’ll need stronger first-party data—think email lists, purchase history, loyalty programs—to fuel your targeting as third-party cookies fade. Second, you’ll need systems that can use that data in real time, adjusting offers and content across every channel without manual work.
Expect channels themselves to keep expanding. Voice assistants, connected TV, chat apps, and even in-car systems are becoming part of the customer journey. The brands that win will be the ones that stay consistent across all of them.
The future of omnichannel marketing is smarter, faster, and more connected. Get your data house in order now so you can adapt as AI and new platforms evolve.
FAQs
What is omnichannel marketing?
Omnichannel marketing is the practice of connecting all your marketing and sales channels so customers get one seamless experience. Instead of each channel running in isolation, they work together. For example, a shopper might browse on mobile, add to cart on desktop, and finish in-store, with their data and offers synced across all steps. This consistency builds trust, reduces friction, and increases conversions by making every touchpoint feel like part of the same journey.
What is the difference between multichannel and omnichannel marketing?
Multichannel means using multiple platforms, but each runs separately. Omnichannel connects those platforms so the experience is unified, not siloed.
How to implement omnichannel marketing?
Start by collecting customer data, mapping the journey, and picking channels your audience uses most. Then integrate tools like CRM, automation, and analytics to sync messaging and measure results.
Create Your Omnichannel Marketing Strategy Today
Your customers want an omnichannel experience, so it’s your job to give it to them. Figure out how to make your channels work together so your customers get a personalized, consistent, and seamless experience every time they shop with your business.
Sounds like a lot, but if you follow the steps above, you can start to build a more cohesive journey for your customers. And if you’re looking for additional help, an omnichannel marketing agency like NP Digital can bring your strategy to life.
Most marketers treat SEO like a traffic tool. They get the clicks, but the brand still doesn’t stick.
Here’s what I see happening: Marketers chase clicks but forget about recognition. You get the visit, but not the return customer.
That’s a problem. If people can’t remember you, they won’t come back. If Google doesn’t see signals of your brand’s authority, you’ll lose visibility in search.
AI search is shifting how people find answers. Instead of 10 blue links, people now see answers. And those answers often include brands Google already trusts.
This makes brand SEO a must. You need to show up and stand out.
I’ve been tracking this shift for months: 1 out of every 3 search queries on Google is branded. That means you’re already behind if you’re not building brand recognition.
In this post, you’ll learn how to build a brand that ranks, earns clicks, and sticks in people’s minds. No gimmicks. Just smart, brand-first SEO.
Key Takeaways
Brand SEO helps you rank for branded searches and builds trust with users and Google.
Strong branding increases click-through rates (CTR), backlinks, and visibility in AI-driven results.
Brand mentions across trusted sites, combined with consistent content and E-E-A-T signals, reinforce your authority in search. Owning your branded search engine results page (SERP) is just as important as ranking for non-branded keywords.
AI summaries and featured answers pull from trustworthy brands. If your content feels human and credible, you’ll be in the mix.
What Is Brand SEO (and Why It Matters More Now)?
Brand SEO builds your reputation in search results. You want to control how you appear, not leave it to chance.
In newer AI features like AI Overviews (AIOs), I’m seeing trusted brands surface more often. If you’re not showing credibility, you’re not showing up.
Brand SEO closes that gap. It tells search engines and users who you are, why you matter, and why they should click.
You still need the foundations: SEO basics like page speed, keyword optimization, and mobile responsiveness.
But technical SEO alone won’t build your brand’s reputation. You also need signals like brand mentions, consistent content, and trust indicators, especially those tied to E-E-A-T.
Key brand SEO signals include:
Branded keyword visibility (e.g., company name, product names, founder name)
Clear authorship and real-world experience across pages
Brand SEO works across platforms. Google is no longer everyone’s go-to. Many now use TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, ChatGPT, and other platforms to search and discover brands.
That shift is why I call it search everywhere optimization. Your brand needs to be visible wherever your audience is searching.
How Branding Impacts SEO (and Vice Versa)
Google doesn’t just rank websites. It favors recognizable and trusted brands.
If your name is recognizable and trusted, people are more likely to click. If they stick around and engage, Google sees that as a signal you’re worth ranking higher.
Here’s something most people miss: Good branding actually improves your technical SEO metrics. It improves click-through rates. It builds trust. It earns backlinks and mentions without you having to ask.
And it works both ways. Showing up at the top of search results makes your brand look more credible, even to people who’ve never heard of you before.
This creates a growth loop. If your brand shows authority and credibility, you have a better shot at getting pulled into AI-generated summaries, carousels, and featured snippets.
Your brand strategy and SEO plan can‘t sit in separate silos. They have to work together.
Even unlinked brand mentions count as credibility signals. If someone references your business in a blog or Reddit thread, Google sees that as a sign your brand is real.
Strong brands get ranked. Ranked content strengthens the brand. That’s the loop. You want to be in it.
Strategies to Improve Your Brand SEO
A lot of brands don’t think about how they appear in search until there’s a problem. But by then, you’re already lagging.
People are going to find you in search anyway. Brand SEO decides whether they trust what they see or bounce.
The strategies below are designed to boost visibility and build credibility, helping your brand stand out where it matters most: directly in the search results.
1. Optimize for Branded Search Queries
When someone Googles your brand, what do they see? Your homepage? A competitor ad? A half-filled profile on a review site?
Not actively managing your branded search presence means giving up control of your first impression.
Go search your brand name right now.
You should see your site, social profiles, top content, third-party reviews, and, ideally, Google’s Knowledge Panel. If anything looks off, you’ve got work to do.
From there, tighten the basics.
Claim and optimize your listings on review platforms and business directories. Add schema markup to your site. Build out your brand’s presence on YouTube, LinkedIn, and other authoritative channels.
Don’t forget your core pages, either.
Use your home and About pages to clearly state who you are, what you do, and why people should trust you. These pages often show up first in branded searches.
These searchers already know your name. Now your job is to make sure you look like the obvious choice.
2. Build E-E-A-T with Your Brand
Google rewards brands that demonstrate real experience and clear expertise. Those are the exact qualities E-E-A-T is built to measure.
So, how do you show that in search?
Start by putting a face to your brand. Make it visible in search. How?
Add real authorship to your content.
Use bios with credentials.
Publish original data.
Share customer stories that prove you’ve done the work.
Your About page matters, too. It tells both users and search engines why you’re credible. That includes your track record, leadership team, certifications, and partnerships. These are all signals that support your SEO.
You can also strengthen E-E-A-T through off-site brand mentions. Even unlinked references from trusted sources help Google connect your brand to your niche.
If your brand is missing from expert conversations, you’re not getting full credit in search.
Google tracks brand mentions across the web, even when they aren’t linked. That includes product roundups, reviews, Reddit threads, and press coverage.
These mentions act as trust signals. They show Google that your brand exists, has a reputation, and is relevant in your space.
Start by identifying the sites, creators, or communities that already talk about your niche. Then pitch them stories, data, tools, or quotes that tie back to your brand. You don’t need a backlink to make the mention count.
You can also earn mentions through original research, expert commentary, or sponsoring newsletters and industry events.
Track your results with a tool like Brandwatch, Mention, or Google Alerts. When you see new mentions, screenshot them. Use them in pitches. Mention them in your About page. They build credibility fast.
4. Use Content to Reinforce Brand Values
Your brand strategy isn’t what you say about yourself. It’s what people remember after reading, watching, or hearing from you.
Every piece of content sends a signal. Blog posts, product pages, even your FAQs: Each shapes how people see your brand and how search engines define it.
If your blog is friendly but your homepage sounds like legal copy, that disconnect hurts both trust and SEO. You want a consistent voice, message, and point of view across all channels.
That’s how you build long-term recognition. And it’s also how Google learns what your brand actually stands for.
The fix starts with content that reflects your values. Are you positioning yourself as an educator? A disrupter? A resource for beginners? That should come through clearly in your headlines, body copy, and calls to action.
Take a look at NerdWallet’s homepage and recent blog.
NerdWallet leans hard into being a trusted guide. On the homepage, it’s all about making finance simple and approachable: “The Nerds can find your next financial product in minutes.”
In the article, it’s about being relatable and human, explaining a tough job market with plain language, real data (and even a touch of humor).
Brand stories aren’t marketing fluff. They’re how you show what your business does, who it helps, and why it matters.
Common Mistakes That Hurt Brand SEO
Brand SEO breaks down when your signals don’t align. These aren’t technical SEO errors. They’re brand gaps. Good news, though: They’re fixable.
Here’s what weakens your visibility and trust in search:
1. Mixed or Inconsistent Messaging
I see this constantly: brands that sound corporate on their homepage, casual on social, and educational in their blog. Pick a voice and stick with it.
People notice. Google picks up on those mixed signals too. You lose credibility if your voice, offer, or positioning shifts depending on the platform.
2. Neglected Branded SERPs
If you’re not ranking for your own name or product terms, someone else will fill that gap.
Check your branded queries regularly. Do your homepage, social profiles, and About page show up? Do review sites outrank you? Own your real estate by optimizing those pages and building out what’s missing.
3. No Authorship or Trust Signals
Google wants to know who’s behind the content.
If your blog posts have no author bios or credentials, they look like filler. Add real names, real expertise, and clear reasons to trust the advice. These are key SEO trust signals.
Here’s an example featuring NP Digital’s VP of SEO, Nikki Lam, who contributes thought leadership expertise to this blog:
Author pages like this help reinforce transparency and authority, making your content harder to dismiss.
4. Lack of Off-Site Brand Presence
If your brand never shows up outside your own website, it creates a credibility gap for both search engines and users.
This usually happens when all your energy goes into content on your blog, but no one else is referencing your brand. That might be because you haven’t done outreach, you’re not sharing anything unique, or you’re not part of the conversations happening in your industry.
The fix doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Start small. You might share original insights or research on LinkedIn or pitch a quote to a roundup post. Or you could jump into relevant Reddit threads or sponsor a niche newsletter or event.
The goal is to get your brand name mentioned on trustworthy third-party sites, even if there’s no backlink.
FAQs
How do I improve brand awareness with SEO?
Start by creating helpful content that solves problems for your audience. Focus on long-tail keywords tied to your niche. From there, own your branded SERPs by optimizing your homepage, About page, and key product or service pages. And don’t stop with your own site: Build authority by earning mentions on trusted third-party sites, even without links.
How important is branding for SEO?
It’s bigger than most people realize. Google favors content from trusted, recognizable sources. A strong brand improves click-through rates, time on page, and off-site signals like mentions and reviews. All feed into your organic performance.
What is a brand mention for SEO?
A brand mention is any time your business is referenced online, even if there’s no hyperlink. This could be in a product roundup, blog post, news article, forum thread, or podcast transcript. Google can interpret these mentions as signals of authority and relevance.
Conclusion
SEO has evolved beyond traffic generation. It’s how your brand earns visibility, trust, and authority across search and AI-driven platforms.
If you’re not showing up as the trusted choice in branded queries, featured snippets, AI overviews, or other AI-generated answers, someone else will.
Brand SEO helps you fix that. It gives you control over how your business appears, what people say about it, and whether Google sees you as credible.
Doing this well goes beyond technical fixes. It’s about your content strategy, review signals, authorship, off-site presence, and everything in between. It’s not optional if you want to grow.
You don’t build a brand by hoping people recognize your logo. You build it by showing up everywhere they look and giving them a reason to trust you.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-02 19:00:002025-10-02 19:00:00How to Use SEO to Build Your Brand
If I had a dollar for every time someone said “know your audience,” I could retire from marketing altogether.
And yet, most teams are completely winging it.
Too often, marketers equate audience research with half-baked customer relationship management (CRM) data, some social media metrics, and a few buyer interviews.
But that’s just organizing information you already have.
Real audience research means discovering what you don’t know yet.
It’s the exact words people use when they’re frustrated. The solutions they’ve already tried and dismissed. The moment they decide to trust one source over another.
When you get this right, you move from guessing what might work to creating content from what your audience is already telling you.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to find those insights across five key channels, with practical tactics you can use right away.
Download our free Audience Research Tracker
As you go through these methods, I’ll show you how to capture insights in our Audience Research Tracker and turn them into actionable content ideas.
Why You Can’t Skip Audience Research
If you’ve ever lost hours scrolling TikTok or binge-watched “just one more episode” on Netflix until midnight, you’ve experienced the power of audience research.
Platforms like Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok own our attention because they know us better than we know ourselves.
They’ve built this advantage by making audience research a core function.
Netflix, for example, treats “Consumer Insights” as one of its nine core research areas, which shows just how pivotal understanding users is to their success.
For these winning brands, audience research isn’t an afterthought.
It shapes everything: what gets built, how products are positioned, and which messages resonate
And the payoff is massive — delivering experiences tailored to your customers that keep them coming back for more.
In stark contrast, many marketing teams run on fragments.
SEOs chase keywords, social focuses on engagement, and product marketing fine-tunes messaging. Everyone has a piece of the puzzle, but no one can put it together.
As a result, campaigns are designed for specific channels instead of real people.
Done well, audience research can close this gap to:
Sharpen your messaging that customers find relatable
Prevent wasted spend by showing you where people actually are
Speed up creative cycles by giving teams validated insights to work with
In short: This research legwork aligns marketing with real customer needs, winning customer trust in the process.
And the good news is you don’t need Big Tech’s expensive resources to pull this off.
I’ll show you how to conduct audience research and out-empathize the competition with your existing team and budget.
5 Channels to Conduct Audience Research for Content Marketing
Your buyers are already telling you what they want. You just need to listen carefully.
Let’s learn how.
Make sure to download our tracker and jot down all the information from your audience research techniques.
Tap Into Intel Within Your Company
Some of the most valuable audience insights are already within your reach, sitting with your sales and customer success (CS) teams.
These groups are on the front lines.
They regularly interact with prospects and customers about their frustrations, aspirations, objections, and goals.
For marketers figuring out how to conduct audience research, collecting these insights is a great starting point.
Here’s how:
Source of Insight
How It Works
What You’ll Learn
Listen to conversations
Sit in on sales demos, onboarding calls, or quarterly check-ins
Use a simple template to document key takeaways
How buyers describe challenges
Words and phrases they repeat
Factors they prioritize
Sync with frontline teams
Run regular sessions with sales, CS, product, and marketing to share notes
Common challenges
Objections that block deals
Features customers love or struggle with
Interview & survey customers
Conduct 1:1 interviews with prospects and customers
Use surveys to validate patterns
Why buyers looked for a solution
Their decision-making process
Alternatives considered
Listen and Capture First-Hand Conversations
The fastest way to understand your audience is to literally listen.
Sit in on a sales demo, a customer onboarding call, or a quarterly check-in meeting.
This will bring you raw insights you can’t get from surveys, like:
The way buyers frame their challenges
The decision factors they prioritize
The words they repeat
But listening alone isn’t enough.
You need a simple system to document the key takeaways from every conversation and share them across teams.
Here’s an example of what that might look like for a fictional coffee brand:
Our Audience Research Tracker will help you distill these conversations into meaningful content opportunities.
You can jot down recurring problem statements in your buyers’ language and identify their biggest pain points.
Then, prioritize ideas based on our four key parameters like urgency, business value, and more.
Sync with Frontline Teams
Another way to capture these insights is by regularly connecting with your customer-facing teams.
When teams work in silos, each one only sees a part of the puzzle.
This creates a disconnect in your customer experience because no one has the whole picture of what buyers want.
That’s why it’s worth setting up regular cross-team sessions for marketing, sales, customer success, and product teams to compare notes.
These sessions can surface insights that no single team could uncover on its own.
Interview and Survey Customers
Besides internal data, hearing directly from buyers can give you a deeper, more reliable understanding of what drives their decisions.
Customer interviews provide essential context about the why behind their behavior.
You can find out:
How they first discovered your product or category
What pain points pushed them to look for a solution
The decision-making process they followed
What alternatives did they consider
With surveys, you can validate these insights and see which ones apply broadly versus one-off anecdotes.
The bottom line: Before spending anything on new research, look inward to collect and process information you already have.
Use Reddit for Unfiltered Conversations
Unlike other social media platforms, Reddit gives you access to candid and often brutally honest conversations.
Take this post on frustrating skincare routines.
It voices raw and real emotions that people face when dealing with skincare challenges.
And in the comments, there are even more stories and nuanced perspectives.
They offer crucial insights about the audience, like “skincare feels like a tough road of trial and error” and the “emotional toll of poor skin health.”
So, how do you use Reddit to know your buyers better?
Start with the Right Filters
Reddit’s filters make it easy to sift through posts and find what matters most.
You can sort results by:
Relevance: Best for finding posts that match your keyword directly
Top: Surfaces the most upvoted posts over a time period
Hot: Shows recently trending posts with the most upvotes
Comment count: Sorts posts with the most comments
New: Shows you the freshest discussions
Plus, you can filter results by timeframe to see what’s trending now versus what’s been a consistent pain point over time.
In my search for “moisturizer for oily skin,” filtering by “Relevance” shows the closest matches, while “Hot” surfaces the most recently upvoted posts.
Pro tip: Use Google with the search operator site:reddit.com “keyword.” This often works better than Reddit’s native search, especially if you’re looking for niche phrases.
Find the Right Subreddits
While it’s easy to find bigger and popular subreddits, it’s equally important to look for smaller, niche spaces where your audience might hang out.
Remember, the same buyers may express themselves differently depending on the space they’re in.
For instance, a skincare brand could find valuable insights across:
r/SkincareAddiction: Broad, general skincare conversations
r/AsianBeauty: Discussions centered on Asian markets
r/30PlusSkincare: Catering to an older demographic
Each subreddit reflects a different slice of the audience.
Read Posts and Comments Like a Researcher
A good Reddit post will give you context into people’s problems, goals, and lived experiences.
But the comments add more nuance to the original post. This is where people expand on the issue, discuss solutions, and share personal stories.
Here’s a post where the original poster (OP) shares their concerns about using Retinol, an ingredient known for its anti-aging properties.
Other Redditors share their take and advice on this issue, highlighting some alternatives to consider.
For a skincare brand, this post is helpful to understand:
Buyers’ concerns regarding Retinol
Commonly used and recommended solutions
Based on these insights, the brand can create content focusing on the best practices for Retinol use. Another great idea is to make a beginners’ guide for using Retinol and taking care of your skin.
Besides, Reddit also offers something other platforms can’t: clear signals of what not to do.
Upvotes highlight ideas and opinions people love. Downvotes show the perspectives or advice they reject.
Find AMAs (Ask Me Anything)
Ask Me Anything (AMAs) can be a gateway to your audience’s biggest questions or issues they’re curious about.
Any industry expert or influencer with trusted credentials can host an AMA.
Here’s an example from a certified dermatologist.
Questions asked in this thread reveal issues where people need an expert’s guidance.
For example, one Redditor asked for basic skincare regimens while another shared a question about stretch marks.
Pay attention to questions with high upvotes. Those are the ones that most people want advice on.
Check Out YouTube Comments and Videos
YouTube is the second-largest search engine where people go to solve problems, compare options, and learn new skills.
Naturally, it can reveal a lot about your buyers.
An audience intelligence tool like Sparktoro is a good starting point for YouTube research.
When you enter any keyword, it lists the most relevant YouTube channels for this audience.
Visit these channels and extract rich insights based on the steps I explain below.
For example, this video comparing stainless steel pans with cast iron skillets tells you the creator’s subjective take on the topic.
But when you scroll through the comments, you’ll find which option people prefer — and why.
Here’s a quick and easy process to document insights from as many YouTube videos as you want.
Copy comments from every video in one go. Then, paste them into ChatGPT or any LLM tool of your choice.
Share this prompt to extract common pain points and themes:
I have added a collection of YouTube comments below. Please analyze them as if you’re conducting target audience research.
Identify:
→ The most common themes and topics people talk about
→ Motivations, desires, or positive outcomes they want
→ Patterns in language (words/phrases that repeat often)
Present your findings in a structured summary. Create a table highlighting frequent pain points, frustrations, or complaints, and add users’ quotes for each pain point.
Here are the comments:
[Paste comments]
This way, you can turn hundreds of scattered thoughts into a structured list of what your audience actually struggles with in their exact words.
I tried this myself and here’s how it went:
I found a clear breakdown of my audience’s pain points spelled out in their exact words.
Add these to our research tracker — and just like that, I have topics for my next few Instagram reels, like “Health concerns around non-stick pans” and “Why stainless steel pans are better than non-stick.”
Learn From User-Generated Content
Beyond comments, user-generated content (UGC) can also offer a direct line into what your buyers care about.
Think product reviews, unboxing videos, comparisons, or even vlogs where people share how they use a product.
Notice the kind of pros and cons that people highlight in these videos.
For example, this YouTube creator made a video about his decision to stop using Hexclad pans.
He explains:
Why he bought these pans
What went wrong with these products
What alternatives he considered and switched to
Use these insights to understand key buying factors and some pain points worth exploring.
Explore Social Media Platforms Your Buyers Use
Social media works best as an audience research method when you know where your buyers actually spend their time.
Tools like Similarweb make this easier by showing you which channels your audience prefers.
Add your website and a few key competitors to get started, like this example with TechCrunch, Wired, and other competitors.
Here’s how the tool breaks down each brand’s audience share on different social media platforms:
The takeaway: Identify the platforms that matter most to your buyers and dig deep into those spaces.
LinkedIn
On LinkedIn, start by identifying people who fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Pay close attention to the posts they share — their wins, failures, roadblocks, and processes.
These real-world updates reveal where your product or service can make a meaningful impact.
For example, if your ICP includes customer success teams, this LinkedIn post shows how leaders are experimenting with AI tools.
It highlights both opportunities and gaps you could address — like growing interest in a trend (opportunity) or frequent complaints (gap).
To scale your research, use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to apply filters and zero in on the right people within your ICP.
For example, you can filter results by industry, keywords, location, seniority, language, and more of these filters.
Instagram
Instagram hashtags are a great way to discover audience interests.
Start with broad themes like #mealprepideas to see what’s trending.
Each hashtag (like a keyword) surfaces a collection of posts tagged with this term.
Look for posts with high engagement because they signal what truly resonates.
For instance, this post earned over 393k likes because it offered clear, visual recipe ideas that people found useful.
Like LinkedIn, you can also follow influencers or niche creators in your space to get closer to your audience.
Their posts (and especially the comments) often pinpoint the questions, frustrations, and goals your buyers are struggling with.
TikTok
To use TikTok as an audience research method, create a fresh account dedicated to your niche.
Interact only with videos specific to your space, and TikTok’s algorithm will start curating a feed of trending content.
Once you see relevant videos, dive into the comments to spot recurring themes and pain points.
For example, the comments on this meal prep video include many questions about the containers and the recipe.
You can also search for your keywords and toggle between “Top,” “Users,” “Videos,” and “LIVE” content to explore different kinds of content on the app.
X
X has powerful tools for audience research if you know where to look.
Use the advanced search function to filter posts by keyword, engagement, account, or time frame.
Another underrated feature for target audience research: “Lists.”
It lets you build a curated feed of accounts you want to hear more from, like potential customers, influencers, or industry voices.
You can either follow existing lists or create a new one.
For instance, searching for “vibe coding” lists shows ready-made feeds you can tap into for insights.
Compare Platforms with Semrush Social Tracker
Semrush’s Social Tracker helps you zoom out and learn more about your audience from multiple channels at once.
It pulls data from Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Pinterest, and TikTok, so you can see how your audience interacts with different channels.
With this report, you can identify which platforms generate the strongest engagement from your target audience.
And it’s easier to spot popular post formats (Reels, carousels, videos, etc.) and hashtags that drive interaction.
To get started, connect your social accounts and add competitor profiles in Social Tracker.
Use the “Overview” tab to compare follower growth, posting activity, and engagement side by side.
Then, jump to platform-specific tabs to get in-depth reports for each platform.
Mine Customer Reviews
A single customer review may just be one person’s opinion.
But when you analyze these reviews at scale, clear patterns start to emerge.
For starters, look for factors that led people to buy a product. Or, notice the cons people mention in low-rated reviews.
Both indicate pain points you can target.
For example, this customer calls out weak product durability and a disappointing warranty process.
You also want to find what success looks like for your potential customers. Is it saving time, cutting costs, improving quality, or something else?
Document the features they call out as good or bad.
This insight can shape your messaging and even suggest improvements for your offering.
See if reviews pinpoint any competitors that people considered. Note why they chose or didn’t choose a specific brand over others.
Similar to the exercise I suggested for YouTube, collect product reviews from different platforms.
Ask any LLM tool to analyze these reviews and prepare a list of pain points.
Here are the review platforms you should check out based on your business type:
The more you know about your buyers, the stronger results your marketing efforts can produce.
What’s even better, your audience is already leaving signals about what they want.
When you listen closely and capture these insights, you can create content and launch campaigns that hit closer to home.
Download our Audience Research Tracker to easily document this data and turn these insights into content opportunities.
Next up: Wondering how to tie all your audience-centric content ideas together? Check out our guide on building a customer-focused content strategy to put this research to work.
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Turning paid ads into profit is a proven path to scalable, predictable growth.
When you nail it, paid media gives you a steady stream of customers, without depending on Google’s latest update or social media’s shifting algorithms. In fact, digital ad spend hit $259B in 2024 and is expected to keep growing.
But which channels are right for you? How can you weave them together into an effective strategy? And what’s the best way to measure your performance?
Here’s what you need to know.
Key Takeaways
Paid media is any form of advertising you pay to place on platforms you don’t own, like Google ads, Facebook posts, banner placements, or influencer partnerships.
The big three categories are display ads (banners and videos that stand out), native ads (sponsored posts that blend in), and traditional media (billboards, TV, radio).
Search ads and influencer partnerships are the most trusted paid channels because they catch people with intent or leverage existing relationships.
A winning campaign has seven steps: get your team aligned, set specific goals, budget for real costs (not just ad spend), know your audience, pick the right channels, create compelling ads, and optimize relentlessly.
Track five key metrics: return on ad spend (ROAS), overall return on investment (ROI), cost per click (CPC), impressions, and click-through rate (CTR). These tell you whether you’re making money or just spending it.
Paid Media Basics
Paid media is any kind of promotion that meets two criteria: it happens on a platform you don’t own, and you pay for it.
Banner ads are everywhere, like the ones shown in the Wired article below.
Paid media drives real revenue, whether you’re running a startup or managing a global brand.
In research from my team at NP Digital, we found that paid ads make up a meaningful chunk of revenue across businesses of all sizes.
Paid Media vs. Earned Media vs. Owned Media
Think of marketing like a three-legged stool. The three legs here are paid, earned, and owned media.
Understanding how they work and how they work together can help you build a strategy that covers your blind spots and scales over time.
As mentioned earlier, paid media is any promotional placement you pay for. Think search ads, social ads, banner placements, influencer partnerships, and more.
Earned media is unpaid publicity that your business receives from other people and websites. It’s what others say about your brand mentions in news articles, influencer shoutouts, customer reviews, backlinks, or viral social shares.
Owned media is the stuff you fully control. Your website, blogs, social media accounts, newsletters, and email list, fall into this category. You manage the content, the experience, and the message.
Here’s how they fit together:
Paid media helps you get visibility fast, especially when you’re just starting out or entering new markets
Owned media builds trust, it’s where your brand message lives
Earned media amplifies both. It kicks in when people start talking about what you’re already doing well
The best campaigns use all three. Paid gets attention. Owned keeps it. Earned multiplies it.
Categories and Examples: Paid Media in the Wild
Paid media is evolving fast. Search, social, video, and display are table stakes, but newer formats are gaining traction too, including ads inside large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini.
Even with all this growth, most formats fall into three core categories: display, native, and traditional. There’s often overlap between them, but these labels help keep things simple.
Display ads: These are visually distinct image, video, and text ads that appear alongside content on the web. Website banners, YouTube ads, and interstitial pop-ups are all examples.
Native ads: These are ads that fit within the flow of content and are often indistinguishable from it at first glance. Influencer recommendations, advertorials, and sponsorships are well-known forms of native advertising.
Traditional media: Commercials, billboards, and direct mail are examples of traditional media. You don’t get the same tracking or targeting you’d see with digital, but these channels still play a role in large-scale brand awareness.
Now that we’ve covered the broad categories, let’s break down some of the most common paid media channels, and where each one fits.
While Google Ads dominates the space, Bing Ads (now part of Microsoft Advertising) can offer lower CPCs (cost per click) and a different audience, especially for B2B brands. Amazon Ads also work well for product-heavy businesses.
We foundthat search ads across platforms drive some of the highest conversion rates in paid media, second only to channels like LinkedIn and influencer marketing.
Here’s what the advertising process looks like:
Open an account with the ad network (like Google or Bing)
Choose the keywords you want to appear for, such as “gardener in Arizona”
Set your maximum bid for those keywords (top bidders appear first)
Create your advertisement, which will be text-based
Launch your campaign and let Google serve your ad on relevant SERPs
The benefit of SEM is intent. You’re targeting users who are already searching for what you offer, which puts them closer to a buying decision.
And if you’re willing to bid competitively, your ad can appear above the organic result, even above your competitors.
Here’s an example of search engine ads for the keyword “paid media consultant.” Note the “Sponsored” label, which helps users distinguish paid ads from organic results.
Third-Party Banner Ads
Banner display ads are shown on a third-party online property, usually a website or app.
Most people think banner ads only appear at the top of pages. Not true. Inline banner ads also show in the flow of content. A banner ad is simply a square or rectangular display ad (an ad that is distinct from surrounding content).
NP Digital research shows that banner ads are the least trusted of all paid media formats, underperforming search and influencer ads significantly.
That said, banner ads are good at raising brand awareness. As customers see the same ad repeated across different websites, “brand memory” strengthens. The average person needs to see a brand at least seven times before they make a purchase.
Here’s an example of a fairly conspicuous banner ad on UK news site the Daily Mail:
The Google Display Network, the world’s biggest display network, consists of over two million websites and mobile apps that businesses can display their ads on—reaching 90 percent of web users worldwide. When someone clicks on an ad, Google Ads and whoever hosted it share the spoils.
Paid Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising is big business. The global market was worth an impressive $252.95 billion at the end of 2024, and this is set to grow in the future.
According to NP Digital research, Facebook generated over $100 billion in ad revenue last year, making it the top-performing social ad platform. Instagram followed at $70.9 billion.
Here’s an example of paid media advertising on Facebook. This sponsored post is by McDonald’s and appears in relevant customers’ newsfeeds, enticing them to try their $8 Chicken McNugget Meal. These ads blend into the feed but still offer clear calls to action.
And it’s not just for B2C. In the LinkedIn ad below,Microsoft targets professionals in banking with an ebook download offer.
Social ads work because they meet people where they’re already scrolling. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population has at least one social media account.
Even better, social platforms give you advanced targeting tools. Most platforms let you target people by age, gender, and location, as well as their hobbies and other social media accounts they follow.
Video Advertising
Video content gets more engagement than static text or images. In fact, one NP Digital study found that short-form and long-form videos accounted for 31.38% and 15.51% of all engagement, respectively.
That kind of engagement makes video a powerful paid media tool, especially on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
Video ads show up before or during content users are already watching.
What makes video ads effective is how they combine storytelling with visual cues. Create a stylish, funny, or cool video, and people will naturally want to discover your brand. Like display ads, videos are great for capturing people’s attention on mobile as well.
In-App Ads
In-app ads are paid placements that show up inside mobile apps while someone is using them. These can be banner ads, video ads, interstitials (full-screen takeovers), or rewarded ads where users watch a video in exchange for in-app perks.
You’ve probably seen these in gaming apps, news apps, or streaming services. They appear between levels, in feed scrolls, or before content loads.
These ads work well if your audience spends a lot of time on mobile, and even better if you’re targeting users by behavior, interest, or location. App data gives you targeting options you won’t always get on the open web.
Performance varies by industry, but in-app ads tend to perform best for consumer apps, entertainment, retail, and local services.
Digital Out of Home (DOOH) Ads
DOOH ads are digital billboards, transit screens, and signage in public spaces. You’ve seen them in malls, airports, gas stations, elevators, and even gym treadmills.
Unlike traditional out-of-home ads, these use screens and software, which means you can update them in real time and target by location, time of day, or audience segment.
They’re a great fit for local campaigns, brand awareness pushes, or national advertisers who want visibility in high-traffic areas. You won’t get click data, but they can be effective for driving searches, visits, and offline conversions.
DOOH is especially useful when paired with mobile or geotargeted campaigns. Seeing a screen ad in a gym, then getting a related offer on your phone, is the kind of multi-touch experience that performs well.
Connected TV (CTV) and Over-the-Top (OTT) Advertising
Connected TV (CTV) and Over-the-Top (OTT) ads show up inside streaming content, on platforms like Hulu, Roku, YouTube TV, and Peacock. These are the ads you see while watching shows or movies on smart TVs, streaming boxes, or even mobile apps.
The big difference? CTV runs on television screens. OTT can run on any device.
These ad formats are great for reaching cord-cutters who’ve moved away from traditional cable. They’re also more trackable than old-school TV ads, with options for targeting by location, device, behavior, and even interests.
CTV and OTT ads are especially useful for brand awareness, product launches, and retargeting. You can run short video ads in high-attention environments—and often get better completion rates than on social.
Large Language Model (LLM) Ads
LLM ads are an emerging format of paid placements that appear in large language model tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. These ad types are still in the early stages, but they’re gaining momentum as AI assistants become part of everyday search behavior.
Right now, some platforms are testing sponsored response blocks or product carousels within AI-generated answers. These typically appear when users ask for recommendations, product ideas, or service comparisons.
For marketers, LLM ads offer a new way to show up during early-stage research, especially in verticals like travel, consumer products, software, and education.
Unlike traditional search ads, these placements are more dependent on content quality and relevance than keyword bidding. That gives brands with helpful, trustworthy content an advantage.
This space is still evolving, but it’s one marketers should keep a close eye on. Testing early gives you a head start as AI search platforms build out their ad offerings.
Sponsorships and Advertorials
Sponsorships, advertorials (paid articles), and influencer marketing are the most prominent examples of paid native advertising.
These ads blend in with regular content.
Here’s an example: an article written by a company executive who’s part of Forbes Council, a paid program that entitles members to publish a set number of articles every year. It looks like editorial content, but it’s paid for, and the author gets guaranteed publishing rights.
Sponsored posts are everywhere, especially on social. The Instagram post below is clearly labeled as a “Paid partnership with Gymshark.” This post feels authentic because it comes from a trusted influencer, not a brand’s ad account.
Along with that, since the influencer has a loyal, engaged following—the post has over 140,000 likes—the ROI will likely be positive for the advertiser.
What makes these work? Trust. When the message comes from someone users already trust, it tends to land better, and perform better.
Benefits of Paid Media as a Marketing Channel
Here are some key benefits of paid media for marketers:
You have more control. As you pay to advertise, you get more say over your ad’s appearance. Conversely, if you submit a press release to a publication, they may edit it to suit their in-house tone of voice.
You get immediate visibility. Search engine optimization (SEO) costs less than paid media, but it can take three to 12 months to see optimal results. With paid media, if you’re happy to pay, you can appear in front of prospective customers immediately.
You can measure results. Paid ads platforms offer detailed analytics so you can see how your ads are doing. Some even provide a quality score so you know which campaigns you need to optimize.
You can tailor your ads. You can target your ads to specific groups of customers and even tailor content toward a location. This increases the chances of people responding positively to your advertisements. Similarly, you can advise who you don’t want your ad to show to.
You can implement automation. You can be as hands-on or hands-off with your advertising as you want. For example, Google Ads offers automated bidding where it automatically optimizes your bids to appeal to people more likely to help you achieve your goals.
Top 5 Paid Media Metrics for Paid Media
You could track dozens of metrics, but these five matter most.
There are lots of metrics you can use to track the success of your paid media campaigns. The risk is that you get lost in a sea of data.
I recommend a simplified approach. One that lets you hone in on channels with potential, drop those that aren’t working, and demonstrate a clear ROI throughout.
Here are my top five metrics for paid media:
These give you a clear picture of performance and help you decide where to optimize or pull back.
Return on ad spend (ROAS): ROAS tells you how much revenue you’re generating for every dollar spent on ads. It’s important to measure this separately because it’s the first thing you need to remedy if you’re not achieving a positive ROI overall. If your ROAS drops, you may need to adjust your targeting, creative, or offers.
Return on investment (ROI): This is the big one. If you’re generating more from your paid media campaigns than it costs to run them, you’re on the right track. Account for everything—creative costs, time managing ad accounts, A/B testing, etc.—and not just the ad platform fees. Paid media without ROI is just spend. Use this number to decide whether to scale or pause.
Cost per click (CPC): This is the average amount you pay whenever someone clicks on your ad. Ideally, this should be as low as possible. It’s a ripe area for optimization. CPC is most useful when viewed alongside CTR and conversion rate. A low CPC doesn’t help if nobody converts.
Impressions: This is the total number of times users see your ads. A high reach shows that you’ve chosen a channel that gives you exposure to a large audience, which is important for brand building. Low impression count? It might be time to evaluate the reach of your chosen channel. Impressions alone won’t drive results but they show whether your ads are getting visibility in the first place.
Click-through rate (CTR): This is the percentage of people who see and click on your ad. A high CTR shows that people find your ad interesting and valuable.
How to Create a High-ROI Paid Media Campaign: 7 Steps
Paid media can generate traffic, leads, and revenue, but only if you approach it with a clear plan. Skipping strategy and jumping into ad spend is one of the fastest ways to burn through your budget.
Because large amounts of money are involved, caution is your ally. Many businesses burn through cash before giving up on paid media, wondering what went wrong.
Your paid media strategy should clearly cover the following:
Which internal stakeholders you need to include
Goals you want to achieve
Characteristics of your audience
Platform-specific budgets
Viable paid media channels
Products and services you want to promote
Metrics for gauging success
The process doesn’t need to be complicated. These seven steps will help you build a campaign that’s focused, efficient, and ready to scale.
1. Obtain Internal Stakeholder Buy-In
Getting buy-in goes beyond simple approval. Your team needs to fully understand what’s happening, why it matters, and what role they play.
Start by identifying who needs to be involved. At a minimum, that usually includes:
Sales (if the campaign impacts lead gen or pipeline)
Don’t wait until after launch to bring these teams in. Paid media works best when everyone is aligned from day one.
Set up a short kickoff meeting to walk through the campaign plan. Cover what you’re promoting, who you’re targeting, what platforms you’re using, and how results will be reported.
It doesn’t have to be a big formal process. A shared doc, quick sync, or even a Slack thread can go a long way.
The goal is to eliminate surprises and make it easy for other teams to support the strategy.
2. Set clear goals and KPIs
You need to know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. Metrics are important (we’ll come to those later), but goals lay the foundation.
If you don’t know what success looks like, it’s easy to waste money. That’s why clear goals are the first thing to lock in, before budgets, platforms, or creatives.
Start by asking one question: What do you need this campaign to accomplish?
This could include:
Lead generation
Product sales
Free trial signups
App installs
Event registrations
Traffic to a specific landing page
Brand awareness in a new market
Be specific, not general. “More leads” isn’t a goal. “Generate 250 demo requests this quarter at a CPL (cost per lead) under $80” is. Pass your goals through the SMART test: are they Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely? The more detailed you make the goals, the easier they will be to achieve.
After that, you can pick KPIs and metrics that match your objective, which we will be talking about in a little bit.
3. Determine budget
With paid media campaigns, it’s essential to set a budget and stick to it. Many paid media platforms let you set a definite upper limit for your ad campaigns. If you exceed this budget, the platform stops showing your ads.
Your budget isn’t just ad spend, but it fuels the entire campaign. Along with the baseline budget for your paid media ads, you must also consider additional costs. These include ad copywriting, graphic design, and videography. If you use an agency, you’ll have to cover ongoing account management fees.
Start by figuring out what success looks like. If your goal is to get 100 leads at $50 each, you’ll need to spend at least $5,000 in ad budget alone. That’s your baseline.
Then add in the supporting costs:
Ad creative (copy, graphics, video, landing pages)
Tracking and analytics setup
A/B testing budget to compare variants
Management costs if you’re outsourcing or using tools
Different platforms also have different minimums and cost expectations. Running paid social on Facebook or Instagram can be more flexible for smaller budgets. Search ads on Google or Bing often require more competitive bidding to see traction.
Don’t spread your budget too thin. It’s better to run fewer campaigns with enough spend to test and optimize properly, instead of trying to be everywhere with limited reach.
And whatever number you start with, keep a reserve. Paid campaigns almost always need tweaking in the first few weeks.
4. Know Your Audience
The more specific you get with your targeting, the less you waste on clicks that go nowhere. If you’re paying for media on a publication or newsletter, you can compare your ideal customer profile (ICP) to the audience specs.
Research all the following points for your ICP:
Industry or niche
Company size or household income
Job titles or demographics
Location
Pain points and goals
What platforms they use most
What influences their buying decisions
Here’s how your audience research translates into paid media results:
Ad platforms: Choose based on where your audience actually spends time
Creative: Match tone, visuals, and messaging to their mindset
Offers: Promote what solves their problem, not what you want to sell
Targeting settings: Use demographics, behaviors, and interests to narrow reach
Retargeting: Build separate campaigns for cold traffic vs. returning visitors
The goal is to reach the right people at the right stage and give them a reason to click.
5. Choose Channels
Not every platform fits every goal. The right channel depends on who you’re targeting, what you’re promoting, and how fast you need results.
Take the following into consideration when choosing where to advertise:
Use search ads (like Google or Bing) if you’re targeting high-intent keywords. People searching are already looking for solutions.
Use social ads (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn) to create demand or raise awareness. These platforms are great for targeting by interest, behavior, or job title—even if people aren’t actively searching yet.
Use display or retargeting to stay in front of people after they’ve engaged. These can bring users back to your site to finish what they started.
You can also learn a lot by seeing where your competitors are advertising. Tools like Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center, and manual Google searches will show you what channels they’re using and how often they show up. Look at their messaging, creative, and landing pages. If it’s working for them, it might work for you.
Budget matters, too. Some platforms are better suited to lower ad spend. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok can give you meaningful reach on a modest budget. Search or YouTube may require more competitive bidding to see real traction.
For smaller budgets, focus on one or two channels where your audience is most active. Don’t try to be everywhere if you can’t afford to run meaningful tests.
And don’t lock yourself into one format. The best campaigns evolve. Start with the highest-potential channel, then expand once you’re confident in performance.
Don’t be afraid of being “loud”—you want an ad that customers stop and look at.
Keep your ad copy clear and concise.
User-generated content and testimonials show prospects why existing customers love your brand.
If you’re using search advertising like Google Ads, take advantage of assets that tell customers more about your business for no additional cost.
Run multiple variants of your ads from the get-go for some quick A/B test wins.
But good creative is more than just how your ad looks, it also covers what you say and how fast you get to the point. Lead with the benefit, keep the message tight, and match your CTA to the user’s intent.
Make sure your offer matches the awareness stage also. A discount works well for bottom-of-funnel buyers. But for top-of-funnel, try a quiz, guide, or video to build interest first.
Finally, try to avoid launching with just one ad. Rotate in multiple headlines, formats, and visuals early so you can learn what actually converts before you scale spend.
In addition, some paid media platforms have ad libraries where you can see examples of paid media ads from your competitors. Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, LinkedIn, and Google Ads all have libraries. They’re fantastic sources of inspiration.
7. Optimize Your Campaigns
Like all digital marketing campaigns, paid media is not something you can set and forget. When it comes to optimization, little and often wins the race.
I recommend checking your paid media accounts at least once a week, even once a day if you’re running a short-term campaign.
Paid media is excellent for running multivariate and A/B testing. You can create multiple ad versions with small differences—such as CTA texts or color schemes—and test them against statistically significant sample sizes.
But don’t stop at testing creative. Optimization includes your audiences, bidding strategy, landing pages, placements, and even campaign structure.
Here’s what to review regularly:
Which ads are getting clicks but not conversions? Pause or adjust those.
Which campaigns are spending without results? Reallocate that budget.
Are certain audiences or geos outperforming others? Double down where it counts.
Is your cost per result trending up or down? That’s your early warning system.
Document what you’re testing and why. Optimization doesn’t mean quickly reacting without thinking. Your team needs to learn over time and building a smarter strategy with every round.
Paid Media and AI: Trends You Need to Know
AI is already shaping how campaigns are built, optimized, and scaled. My team and I ran research looking at AI vs. human-generated ads, for example, and found that AI ads converted at 1.28%, less than half a percentage point below human ads, which converted at 1.54%. Yes, human ads performed better. But not by a huge margin.
I would urge digital marketers to keep the following four points in mind when it comes There are already a growing amount of applications for AI in the world of paid media:
Marketers are using AI to:
Write ad copy faster (especially for high-volume campaigns)
Build and test ad creative using AI image and video tools
Generate audiences automatically based on existing customer data
Optimize budgets in real time across channels
Predict what offers or creatives will perform best, before spending anything
These aren’t experimental use cases anymore. They’re being built directly into the tools marketers already use.But things are changing fast. Here’s some key points to keep in mind:
Paid media isn’t going anywhere: Most paid media channels will remain viable. People will continue to read their favorite publications, open newsletters, follow influencers on social media, listen to podcasts, and so on. Even if traditional SEO and search ads vanish, LLMs like ChatGPT will need to monetize at some point.
Revenue from ads provides stability: As AI changes the way people consume content online, revenue from ads can actually provide more stability. Unlike organic traffic, they’re not dependent on algorithms over which you have no control.
Paid media helps you build brand citations: Branding will be more important than ever in the age of AI. Citations around the web are one of the ways LLMs identify and measure the relevance of your business to a particular query. For example, if “NP Digital” appears often in AI training materials next to “advertising agency,” my brand is more likely to be referenced in response to related questions.
Now is the time to start experimenting with AI: As was shown in the research by me and my team, AI can perform nearly as well as humans. For a head start when AI is truly ready to assist with paid media campaigns, you should start experimenting and learning now.
That said, AI is a tool, not a strategy. You still need strong positioning, good creative, and clear goals. But if you’re not testing AI workflows now, you’re going to fall behind the brands that are.
Should You Focus on One or All Channels?
Most marketers think they need to be everywhere. That’s usually wrong.
To be clear, I’m a big proponent of omnichannel digital marketing.
When you’re everywhere, you reach more of your prospects. Yet you would be amazed at how many businesses fail to grasp this simple fact.
With that said, for paid, omnichannel may sound great, but isn’t always the right move.
With large amounts of money at risk, you need to do two things: research and test.
If you’re just getting started with paid media, stick to one or two platforms where your audience is most active. That gives you enough budget and data to learn what works without spreading yourself too thin.
Once you’ve found a winning message and offer, then it makes sense to expand. You can start repurposing creative, retargeting across platforms, and building a true full-funnel system.
Here’s the truth: omnichannel paid marketing only works when you have the team, budget, and systems to support it. Otherwise, it turns into a mess of disconnected campaigns.
Ask yourself:
Do you have the creative capacity to build for multiple formats?
Do you have enough budget to collect meaningful data across platforms?
Can you track performance in a way that ties everything together?
If the answer is yes, go for it. If not, focus and scale intentionally. The best paid media campaigns start small, then scale up.
FAQs
What is paid media?
Paid media refers to any marketing or advertising content a brand pays to place on a third-party platform. Common examples include search engine ads, social media ads, display banners, video ads, influencer sponsorships, and traditional placements like radio, print, or TV.
The key benefit of paid media is the ability to generate visibility and traffic quickly, often with precise targeting and measurable results. Brands typically use paid media to reach new audiences, promote offers, or support other marketing efforts. It works best when paired with earned and owned media in a broader strategy.
How often should you evaluate your paid media budget?
Most brands should evaluate their paid media budget weekly. This allows time to monitor spend, performance, and early signals on what’s working.
For short-term or high-investment campaigns, daily budget checks are recommended to catch issues before they impact results.
Monthly or quarterly reviews are useful for larger budget adjustments, channel planning, or reallocation based on return.
Consistent monitoring ensures your budget is supporting your goals and allows for real-time optimizations, rather than reactive fixes after performance dips.
How do you build a paid media strategy?
A strong paid media strategy starts with setting a clear objective, such as lead generation, product sales, or brand awareness.
From there, define your target audience and select platforms that align with where they spend time. Creative should match the platform and campaign goal, while KPIs like ROAS, CPC, or conversion rate help track progress.
Budget should be allocated based on priorities and expected return, with room for testing.
Successful strategies are built on iteration—launching, analyzing, and optimizing based on what the data shows.
What’s the difference between earned media and paid media?
Paid media includes advertising you pay for, such as social ads, search ads, sponsored content, and display banners. It gives you control over placement, timing, and messaging.
Earned media refers to organic exposure you don’t pay for—such as press coverage, backlinks, user reviews, or social shares.
While paid media drives immediate visibility, earned media builds trust and long-term authority. Most marketing strategies benefit from a mix of both, with paid media often used to accelerate early reach.
Conclusion
Most marketers treat paid media like throwing money at a wall and hoping something sticks. That’s expensive and frustrating.
The brands winning with paid media treat it like a system. They start with one platform, nail their message and targeting, then scale what works. They track the right metrics, test relentlessly, and aren’t afraid to kill campaigns that aren’t delivering.
If you’re just getting started, pick Google Ads or Facebook—whichever platform your audience uses most. Set a budget you can afford to lose while you learn. Create multiple ad variants from day one so you can see what resonates.
We’re excited to announce the beta release of Yoast AI Brand Insights, available as part of the Yoast SEO AI+ package. This new tool helps you understand how your brand appears in AI-powered answers, and where you can improve your visibility. Ideal for bloggers, marketers, and brand managers, Yoast AI Brand Insights gives you an overview of your brand presence across tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.
For years, Yoast has helped you get found in search engines. Recently though, search is changing. People aren’t just using Google anymore, they’re turning to AI tools like ChatGPT for answers. Those answers often mention brand names as recommendations. So here’s the big question: when AI tools answer questions in your niche, does your brand show up? Our new tool, Yoast AI Brand Insights (beta), helps you find out.
Yoast AI Brand Insights lets you see when and how your brand appears in AI-generated answers and helps you understand where you need to focus your effort to improve your visibility.
Why Yoast AI Brand Insights matters, now
AI-powered answers are shaping customer decisions faster than ever. Visitors from AI search are often more likely to convert than those from regular search. It’s no surprise, because asking an AI-powered chatbot can feel like getting a personal recommendation. Afterall, word of mouth remains one of the most powerful ways to build trust and spark interest.
Most analytics tools can’t tell you how your brand appears in AI answers, or if it’s mentioned at all. With more people turning to tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini for advice, that’s a big blind spot if you are trying to get your name out there.
Yoast AI Brand Insights aims to close that gap. You’ll see when and how your brand appears, what’s being said, and where the information comes from, so you can take action to ensure your brand is part of the conversation.
See how you stack up against other brands mentioned in your prompts
With just a few clicks, you can:
Check if your brand is mentioned in AI-generated answers for relevant search queries
Benchmark against competitors: see how often your brand comes up
Understand the sentiment connected to your brand: positive, neutral, or negative
Find the sources AI tools use when they mention you
Track your progress over time so you can respond to changes quickly
Pricing & getting started
Yoast SEO AI+ is priced at $29.90/month, billed annually ($358.80 plus VAT). The plan includes one automated brand analysis per week per brand, so you can track and compare how your brand is showing up in AI-powered search over time. With each purchase of Yoast SEO AI+ you recieve one extra brand.
With this package you also get the full value of Yoast WooCommerce SEO, which includes everything from Yoast SEO Premium, News SEO, Local SEO, and Video SEO, in addition to one free seat of the Yoast SEO Google Docs add-on.
For marketers, this means you no longer need to patch together separate solutions for on-page SEO, ecommerce optimization, content creation, or LLM visibility. Everything you need to analyze, optimize, and grow your brand presence is included in one complete package.
How to get started
Login with MyYoast: secure, single sign-on for all your Yoast tools and products.
Open Yoast AI Brand Insights: You can find it near the Yoast SEO Academy
Set up your brand: add your brand’s name and a short introduction to your business
Run your scan: we’ll find relevant AI search queries for you, you can use them or tweak them to your liking.
Review your results: see relevant mentions and their sources, your brand sentiment, and the AI Visibility Index in an easy-to-read dashboard
Yoast AI Brand Insights is now available in beta as part of Yoast SEO AI+. This is your chance to be among the first to explore how your brand shows up in AI-powered search. We’d love your thoughts as we refine the tool, your thoughts here.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-01 10:07:322025-10-01 10:07:32Introducing a new AI-powered package: Track your brand in AI search
The history of search offers clues about where we’re headed in the AI era – but there’s more to learn and more to do to move forward with practical steps.
AI changes the way people search. Instead of short queries that once required digging through blended results, users can now ask complex questions and get direct answers.
Much of the work to optimize for AI, though, overlaps with what SEO professionals have been doing for years. Our community is already adapting and well-positioned to take on this shift.
This article outlines practical steps to navigate the evolving landscape.
SEO, AEO, GEO: Defining the new terms
Before diving in, it’s worth addressing the terminology. It’s still new, and no single label has fully crystallized for this AI layer on top of SEO.
Two terms have gained traction:
AEO (answer engine optimization), which focuses on optimizing content so it’s chosen as the answer in AI-driven results like Google’s AI Overviews.
GEO (generative engine optimization), which describes a broader approach across generative AI platforms.
Neither feels perfect. AEO is a bit clunky, and GEO risks confusion with geography and local search.
Still, these are the terms currently in use. For simplicity, I’ll use GEO in this article.
While tools like ChatGPT are undoubtedly cool – and early adopters, myself included, are spending a lot of time tinkering – the broader story is different.
For most people, AI will matter less as a standalone tool and more through its integration into phones, web browsers, and search engines.
GEO is a new layer that sits above SEO.
Often, tools like ChatGPT will search and compile information.
These tools provide a layer of abstraction and do much of the grunt work.
They still scan the digital world and then collate that information to simplify things for the user, while search engines like Google continue to provide the best overall digital map of the world.
If traditional SEO was about matching keywords, AEO is about being the best answer – and the easiest to integrate into an AI response.
GEO: Strategic foundations
There’s no firm consensus on GEO tactics, but most of what’s recommended is simply good SEO.
That said, tactics that lost ground in the zero-click landscape may regain utility in AI Mode, where the AI does the deep dive and collates information for users.
Here are some basic strategic foundations to put in place to set yourself up for visibility in AI tools.
1. Focus on your customers
I’ve long championed bringing traditional marketing thinking into SEO, and GEO is the natural evolution of that approach.
Know your audience. Create personas, gather feedback, and define their goals, pain points, and the jobs they rely on your product or service to support.
Customer insight is key to building a customer-first strategy that helps you stand out in the age of AI.
2. Real expertise wins
The web is full of derivative content that does little to stand out. This creates a problem for AI.
Model collapse happens when AI keeps training on AI-generated content without new signals, leading to increasingly stale and inaccurate results.
The solution is what humans are still best at – fresh insights from:
Interviews.
Original research.
Proprietary data
These provide AI with something new – and worth citing.
That’s an opportunity. Have a voice, and bring something original to the table.
AI is helping people research and make purchase decisions. Your role is to be part of the discussion.
Modern SEOs are in good shape – much of what AI requires builds on the strategic SEO work we already do.
Add in some PR, social media, and content creation (which often sit under the SEO umbrella), and you’re well on your way to a functional GEO strategy.
Getting started is crucial. To stay ahead:
Create content worth quoting: Write the piece an AI (or a human journalist) would want to reference. That means clear answers, evidence, original insights, and a point of view – not filler.
Anticipate the full conversation: Don’t just answer the first question – answer the follow-ups, too. If someone asks, “How does AI change SEO?” they’ll also want to know, “What should I do about it?” Build that into your content.
Structure for machines and humans: Use headings, lists, FAQs, and concise summaries to help AI parse your work. But don’t forget the narrative depth that keeps people reading.
Diversify your discovery footprint: Don’t rely on Google alone. Research your audience, understand their hangouts, and publish in the formats and places where they ask questions today: LinkedIn, YouTube, podcasts,and industry forums. AI tools crawl all of it.
Focus on authority signals: Show the human behind the content. Add author bios, cite sources, and link to your work elsewhere. AI engines, like search engines before them, lean on trust and authority.
Experiment, measure, refine: Try different formats, test and measure how your content shows up in AI summaries, track brand mentions, and adapt. SEO has always been iterative – this new era is no different.
The opportunity in the chaos
As SEO evolves into GEO – or whatever it may end up being called – this really is the best approach.
There’s no doubt a lot of change is happening.
But much of it is part of the same gradual evolution we’ve seen before, where clicks declined and Google started answering questions directly.
AI now makes it even easier for customers to find the information they’re looking for.
They may not read it on your site – at least not initially – but the AI will, and that’s the point.
Another strength we have as SEOs is that change is constant.
If you’ve been in SEO for any length of time, you’ve lived through Panda, Penguin, Mobilegeddon, BERT, helpful content updates – the list is long (and may cause PTSD for many of us).
The key is to treat this as the next evolution. AI is being integrated into search, and it will likely become the way the masses adopt the technology.
Don’t see this as the death of SEO.
Instead, view SEO and AI (or GEO/AEO, etc.) as close, contributing partners, and evolve your plan to match the changing landscape.
Your job as a marketer is to feed these tools the information they need to point customers to you and your clients.
This shift will likely mean fewer short-term manipulations and tactical opportunities – but better results for businesses that do the basics well.
At its core, good SEO/GEO is just good marketing: understanding your customers, meeting their needs, and communicating clearly.
Amid the chaos lies opportunity. For those willing to embrace the challenge, experiment with new tools, and keep going.
That’s what we’ve always done as SEOs, which is why we’re best positioned to embrace this new world.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Thriving-in-AI-search-starts-with-SEO-fundamentals-4nKDbJ.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=110801920http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-30 15:00:002025-09-30 15:00:00Thriving in AI search starts with SEO fundamentals
Google AI Mode is getting more visual by providing a more graphical response to some of your queries, including your shopping search queries. Google can do this by using its new visual version of the query fan-out technique it has used with AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Google AI Mode, for certain queries, particularly those related to shopping, will respond with images and graphics. These are aimed at sparking inspiration, Robby Stein, VP of Product Management at Google Search, told Search Engine Land.
AI Mode will be able to not just understand your query in a text-based manner, but also understand your query visually and respond with both textual and visual responses. It is a new and updated fluid, ongoing conversation in AI Mode that “sparks inspiration,” Google said.
Visual search fan-out technique. Google’s fan out technique is able breaking down your question into subtopics and issuing a multitude of queries simultaneously on your behalf. Now, Google can also do this visually by looking at the image and text query input for query analysis and various image region analysis, including meta data and context around the image. Then Google AI Mode can render a visual grid of responses to your query.
“This means AI Mode can perform a more comprehensive analysis of an image, recognizing subtle details and secondary objects in addition to the primary subjects – and then runs multiple queries in the background. This helps it understand the full visual context and the nuance of your natural language question to deliver highly relevant visual results,” Google wrote.
AI Mode is more visual. Now when you search for some queries in AI Mode, the responses will be much more graphical and visual, right up front. Yes, AI Mode may have responded with images before, but now the images are higher and more prominent in some of the responses.
Plus, you can conduct follow up questions on the visual responses.
“You’ll see rich visuals that match the vibe you’re looking for, and can follow up in whatever way is most natural for you, like asking for more options with dark tones and bold prints. Each image has a link, so you can click out and learn more when something catches your eye. And because the experience is multimodal, you can also start your search by uploading an image or snapping a photo,” Google added.
Shopping in AI Mode. Lilian Rincon, VP Product Management Google Shopping, told us one of the best places for a visual experience is with shopping in Google Search. A more visual AI Mode helps you shop conversationally with fresh shopping data, can lead to a better shopping experience.
With the addition of Google’s Shopping Graph of 50 billion product listings, where 2 billion products are refreshed daily every hour, the responses are not just inspirational but detailed and helpful.
AI Mode for Shopping can not just give you ideas on what to put in your living room but also help you find the perfect article of clothing, in your color, style and fit.
Here is a video of this in action:
More details. This is launching today in Google AI Mode in the US in English. These are free listings, not shopping ads, and currently have no paid model, including no affiliate model. While Google has ads in AI Overviews, Google is only experimenting with ads in AI Mode, and there are no more details on ads right now for this experience.
Agentic experiences, like helping you buy and find what your looking for, is here for some areas now in Search Labs. But Google said they want the final purchase to happen directly on the retailer’s site.
Why we care. A new, more visual and graphical experience in AI Mode, may be a better search experience for some searchers and for some queries. Google is experimenting with a lot of changes to Google Search and is rapidly trying new interfaces and technologies.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google-robot-dressing-room-1920-IOZ8po.jpg?fit=1920%2C1097&ssl=110971920http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-30 13:00:002025-09-30 13:00:00Google AI Mode gets more visual, including inspirational shopping responses
Wondering why your site’s not ranking or showing up in large language model (LLM) results, even though your content is solid?
The answer might be backlinks. Specifically, the lack of high-quality ones.
Tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews are starting to summarize answers without always linking to a source. That means fewer clicks, more brand mentions, and a big shift in how SEOs need to think about authority.
It’s important to remember, though, quality backlinks are still one of the strongest signals of trust and relevance even as search evolves. They play a key role in how Google evaluates which brands earn visibility and can increase the chances of a source being cited or surfaced in AI-generated answers.
If you want to show up in AI Overviews, earn brand mentions, or rank higher in organic search, you need a solid backlink strategy: one that’s built on quality, not shortcuts.
Let’s break down what that looks like in 2025, and exactly how to do it.
Key Takeaways
High-quality backlinks still matter, even in an AI-driven search world.
One link from a trusted, relevant source beats 100 weak ones.
Quantity and quality both have a place in your strategy, but quality should lead.
You can earn strong links through content, partnerships, and digital PR.
Smart SEO means earning links by adding value, not tricking Google.
Why Building Backlinks Is Important
Backlinks are votes of confidence for your site. Each tells Google, “Hey, this content’s worth checking out!”
Sites with more (and better) backlinks tend to rank higher. In fact, a study from last year noted that over 96% of websites ranking in Google’s top 10 positions had more than 1,000 backlinks from unique domains.
But—and this is a big one—not all backlinks are created equal.
Low-quality links from shady sites can hurt your content more than help. What you want are editorial, relevant, and trusted backlinks that align with your content and brand. These quality links can:
With that in mind, how do you know the difference between a high-quality backlink and a poor one?
What Makes A Quality Backlink?
High-quality backlinks check three boxes:
Relevance: The linking site is topically related to yours. Backlinks from respected tech blogs to your AI tool are good as gold.
Authority: The linking domain has strong credibility and trust. Think of industry publications, .edu sites, or even top-ranking competitors.
Natural placement: You’ve earned this link editorially. No one paid for it or jammed it into a comment thread.
As Alex Horowitz, Digital PR Specialist at NP Digital, explains: “A good backlink comes from a site with solid domain authority (DA 35+), consistent organic traffic of at least 1,000 visitors a month, and content that’s trustworthy and relevant to the client. A poor backlink opportunity usually is on sites with little to no traffic, low authority, or content that feels spammy or off-topic. If the link won’t add value for readers or align naturally with the brand, it’s likely not worth pursuing.”
There are other bonus factors to consider, too. Keyword-rich anchor text, used sparingly, can help. So does placement high in the page’s content. The signals are even better if the page linking to you has strong traffic or links.
Getting these links takes work, but the payoff lasts for a long time.
The Quality vs Quantity Backlink Debate
How many backlinks do you need? This is a common question, and the answer is every SEO’s favorite:
“It depends.”
Do you need hundreds of backlinks? Not really.
Would you like to earn hundreds of great backlinks? Absolutely.
Quality and quantity both matter, but quality always wins. Quantity helps build a diverse link profile, especially from mid-tier, niche, or enthusiast sites. Quality delivers the real authority, trust, and rankings boost.
The problem is when people and marketers chase quantity for the sake of it by buying links, trading links, or spamming blog comments. That behavior isn’t just unsustainable, it’s unwelcome. It’ll tank your reputation among those sites you want cachet from and won’t help your rankings long-term.
Tips to Build Quality Backlinks
We know backlinks matter. We know good backlinks matter. How do we get them?
Never fear. These 14 tried-and-true strategies can help you earn high-quality backlinks in 2025 and beyond.
1. Emphasize What Benefits the Site Gets
Asking specific sites to link to you can work, but it requires being strategic. When reaching out, make it about them, not you. Instead of asking, “Can you link to my blog post?” you might try a message like,
“Your readers might find this guide helpful. It includes a breakdown that expands on your section about [topic].”
Show them the value their audience will get. If it plugs into content already performing well for them, even better.
2. Write Relevant and Competitive Content
People don’t link to average content. They link to the best. That means standing out among the crowded pack. What does that look like?
Go deep. Cover the topic more thoroughly than your competitors.
Add visuals, statistics, and original research.
Include expert quotes or insights.
Match search intent. Don’t write a blog post when searchers want a product comparison.
No matter what you create, ensure your content reflects E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
You should be able to find several ways to make your content stand apart from the existing results, whether that’s creating a more in-depth and actionable article or citing research no one else has.
That’s the exact approach my digital marketing agency used to get 20 top-tier media links like CNBC and Retail Wire for one of our clients in the personal finance industry.
We created a data-driven asset that resonated with a large audience and was different from anything else out there. This allowed us to pitch to dozens of relevant media outlets that were more than happy to give us a link in return for a good story.
3. Prove Your Site Is Legitimate
Getting links is a lot easier if your website positions you as a professional, trustworthy, and legitimate organization.
There are several elements that signify trust, and I recommend including as many of them as possible:
HTTPS certification (as well as other certificates)
A branded domain
High-quality web design
Links to your social profiles
Contact information, including the address of your company
E-E-A-T signals like an about page, editorial standards, and author bios.
You can see I’ve got almost all of these elements in place in my website’s footer:
4. Make Your Pitches Short
Want to increase the response rate of your pitches? Practice brevity to make it easy for recipients to understand your pitch.
There are many single lines, and it’s easy to find and click on the links. The email is to the point, and there’s no question what it’s about.
Here’s my advice for making your pitches concise and clear:
Keep paragraphs to two sentences or fewer
Write no more than five sentences
Use bullet points and bold font to make it easy for readers to spot the key points
State what you are asking for clearly
5. Leverage Digital PR
Digital PR (DPR) may initially feel like a focus on building a personal brand, but that’s not the real focus. Instead, consider creating newsworthy stories for journalists, bloggers, and industry outlets to cover and link to.
This matters because PR campaigns can often land backlinks from the highest-authority sites; places like Forbes, TechCrunch, or industry trade publications are significant wins. Those links carry way more weight than dozens of smaller blogs.
Here’s how to use it:
Data-driven stories: Package up survey results or industry insights. Journalists love citing fresh numbers.
Expert commentary: Offer quick takes on trending news. Tools like HARO or Qwoted connect you with reporters in real time.
Unique hooks: Tie your brand to bigger conversations. For example, a fintech startup might publish a “State of Student Debt in 2025” report.
High-quality backlinks come when your story provides genuine value to readers and publishers. A strong DPR campaign earns more than mentions. You get citations that boost rankings.
6. Do an Original Study
Original research is often a backlink magnet. Why? Because everyone needs data to support their content, and they’d rather cite your study than come up with their own.
You don’t need to be a research firm to pull this off, though. Here’s how:
Run a survey with your customers or audience.
Use public datasets and analyze them in a new way.
Combine anonymized data from your own tools (if applicable).
For example, look at my agency’s route when building links for a logistics client. We used multiple, varying datasets to see how different roadside restaurants in America compared to one another for truck drivers and roadtrippers.
The trick is to tell a compelling story with your data, the kind journalists will want to write about. In our case, every driver wants to know the best place to stop, and the geo-specific nature of the report meant local news outlets could report on truck stops in their state.
As a result, we garnered over 1,400 shares, likes, and comments across social media, a massive amount for such a niche industry. We also won a host of new rankings like “best truck stop food”.
7. Create an Infographic or Original Image
Infographics aren’t dead. They’re just evolved. In 2025, they’re bite-sized knowledge hubs that provide real value to readers.
These visuals are often easier to share, embed, and link to than walls of text. A great infographic travels across social media and blogs and can even get picked up by news outlets.
Here’s how to do it right:
Use tools like Canva or Venngage to create professional designs.
Focus on one core statistic, process, or concept. Don’t cram everything in.
Include embed codes so other sites can easily share and link back.
Look at this infographic example from Venngage that talks about the psychological impact of font choices on audiences. It’s a pretty robust dive into the typography of several popular Netflix shows and how title choices can play with mood and genre:
This one’s simple, but it works. Companies love showcasing happy customers. When they feature your testimonial on their site, they usually link back to you. Here’s how to make it happen:
Reach out to SaaS tools, agencies, or vendors you use.
Offer a detailed testimonial that highlights specific results.
Make sure to include your full name, role, and website.
See examples below from MarketHire:
These links aren’t just filler. They come from trusted, established brands that want to show off real customer success. That credibility makes them high-value backlinks, and all you did was share your experience.
9. Link Externally and Then Reach Out
Linking out to other sites doesn’t mean you’re giving away visibility. The trick is to follow through. Here’s how this works:
Write a blog post and naturally link to a relevant site, tool, or expert.
Reach out to the site or personality and tell them they’ve been included.
Start a conversation. Eventually, they may return the favor with a backlink.
You can strengthen this strategy with your own internal linking. Google sees that your page is well-connected both internally and externally, boosting your crawlability and authority.
This is not an overnight backlink hack. Instead, it’s a trust-building move that snowballs into collaborations, mentions, and citations from quality sites.
10. Comment on Other Relevant Blog and Social Posts
Comments on blogs and social media posts are a great way to build relationships with people in your industry and occasionally snag yourself a backlink.
But before you start passionately commenting on posts and throwing out backlinks everywhere, let me explain something.
You might occasionally have an opportunity to include a backlink in your comment. However, the comment should primarily focus on building a mutual relationship with the author:
If you don’t know what to say, make the author’s day.
If you want to share a bit more, you can add some meaningful insight into the topic at hand.
If you want to craft a comment that merits a response from the author and helps build the relationship, add your own commentary to the discussion.
Here’s an example from Leanne Wong on how a comment can start a conversation that might lead to a backlink:
Whatever you do, add value with your comment. The more value you can add, the stronger your relationship will become— and that’s a recipe for a future backlink if ever I saw one.
11. Align Social Signals
If you’re serious about building out your link building strategy and rising through the ranks, then aligning social signals is a must.
Social signals communicate to search engines how active and updated your website is. The more active your website, the better your rankings. You’ll notice I link to all of my social profiles in the footer of this website and keep them all updated:
You may not have the time to leverage every single social platform. In that case, choose one or two that you can keep up with, and post at least once a day on the platforms you’ve chosen.
Check that all of the information on your social profiles matches the information on your website. The company name, address, and phone number need to be aligned to communicate to search engines that your website is up to date.
This is a simple but effective way to build your rankings with very little extra work.
12. Find What’s Newsworthy
Timing is everything. If you can tie your content to breaking stories or trends, you can increase your odds of earning backlinks from journalists and bloggers covering it. Seek out opportunities in the following spots:
Picture this: Google rolls out a major algorithm update, and an SEO agency could publish a quick analysis within 24 hours. Journalists writing about the update may cite that content, earning authoritative backlinks.
Prefer a real life example?
My agency used this tactic to get backlinks from sites like The New York Times and The Atlantic for our client in the entertainment industry. Competitor research told us that a rival website had a lot of high authority backlinks to a page where fans could watch a trending television show from our client. But the link sent users to a broken page.
Our strategy was simple. We contacted every linking publisher and asked them to swap the broken link for our client’s, letting fans actually watch the show.
13. Find Brand Mentions
People may already be talking about your brand but not linking to it. That’s low-hanging fruit.
“Hey [Name], thanks for mentioning us in your piece on [Topic]. Would you mind adding a link so readers can easily find the resource?”
These links are easy wins. The writer already trusts you enough to mention your brand—now you’re just helping readers (and your SEO) with a clickable source.
14. Look At Competitor Backlink Profiles
Your competitors’ backlinks are a roadmap for your strategy. If it’s working for them, it could work for you. But how do you start and what should you look for?
Use Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, or Semrush to pull competitor backlink reports.
Examine their homepage links, most-linked blogs, and referral domains.
Identify patterns: Are they earning links from industry directories? Guest posts? Data-driven reports?
Once you know what they’re doing, ask the big question:
Can I create something better?
If your competitor earned a link for “2024 Social media Trends,” why not publish a deeper “2025 Social media Playbook?” Provide more value. Pitch it to the same sites.
Competitor backlinks are more than insights. Use them as valuable opportunities for growth and wins.
Writing the Pitch to Get Your Backlink
Your content or idea may be strong, but the pitch determines whether you actually earn that backlink.
Today’s editors, journalists, and site owners are bombarded with outreach. Generic templates don’t cut it. A valuable pitch is:
Short and personal: Under 100 words, customized for the recipient.
Value-driven: Show how your resource improves their article or helps their readers.
Clear: Include the exact link and context—don’t make them dig.
Credible: Reference your expertise, unique data, or why you’re a trusted source.
Timely: Tie your pitch to something current—like a trending topic or recent update.
Here’s an example of a pitch that works in 2025:
Hi [Name], I really enjoyed your recent piece on [Topic]. I noticed you mentioned [related stat], and we just released a new study with fresh data on this in 2025. I thought it might add value for your readers. Here’s the link: [URL]. Would you consider including it?
This kind of outreach blends relevance, authority, and timeliness: the same qualities that make backlinks valuable in the first place.
FAQs
How to get quality backlinks?
Use digital PR, original studies, expert content, and smart outreach strategies. Focus on building real relationships and offering value, not tricks.
How many high quality backlinks do I need?
For those in competitive spaces like finance or software, more high-quality backlinks will help you stand out. But it’s not just about the overall total. A good benchmark for many key pages is 20-30 strong backlinks. This number can make a real difference. Even five to 10 backlinks from top-tier domains can beat out hundreds from low-authority sources.
What is a high quality backlink?
It’s a link from a trusted, authoritative site relevant to your content and placed editorially.
How can I leverage social media to build backlinks?
Promote your content, join conversations, and tag influencers. When people see and share your content, backlinks tend to follow.
Is it okay to pay for backlinks?
Technically, it’s against Google’s guidelines. Tread carefully and focus on sponsored content, not spammy link buys.
How do I approach website owners to request backlinks ethically?
Be personal, brief, and helpful. Show them why linking to your resource benefits their readers.
How can I identify websites that are relevant and authoritative for link building?
Look for sites in your niche with real traffic, strong content, and domain authority (DA). Tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs help.
Conclusion on How to Get Backlinks
If you focus on creating content worth linking to and getting it in front of the right people, you’ll earn links that matter. These links improve rankings, boost traffic, and build long-term authority.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-29 19:00:002025-09-29 19:00:00How to Build High Quality Backlinks (2025)
Thanks to AI-generated answers, CTRs are failing fast, and even page-one rankings no longer guarantee clicks. Google’s top organic results saw a 32% CTR drop after AI Overviews launched, plummeting from 28% to 19%. Position #2 fared even worse, with a 39% decline. Meanwhile, 60% of searches in 2024 ended without clicks; also, the projections show zero-click searches could surpass 70% by 2025. What does this mean for measuring success?
AI-generated answers are drastically reducing CTRs, with top rankings seeing significant declines in clicks.
Traditional SEO metrics are no longer sufficient; marketers should adopt AI-powered SEO metrics to measure influence and visibility.
Six new metrics, including AI brand mention rate and semantic relevance score, provide insights into AI-driven search success.
Businesses must optimize for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) by ensuring content clarity and authority for AI responses.
Tracking AI visibility and implementing structured data are essential for maintaining brand relevance in an AI-first search landscape.
The era of measuring SEO success purely through traffic metrics is coming to a standstill. AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode deliver instant answers; therefore, brand visibility increasingly happens without clicks. Marketers will turn to AI-enabled discoverability metrics that capture actual influence.
This guide explains why it’s important to go beyond CTR. It reveals six AI metrics that predict success in AI-driven search, plus strategies to measure and optimize your visibility when clicks disappear.
How does this disrupt traditional SEO?
Google’s AI Overviews (and similar features on Bing, etc.) generate a concise, multi-sentence answer at the top of the results page. These summaries cite source links, pulling content from high-ranking pages and knowledge panels. To the user, this is convenient: you get an instant answer without scrolling.
For marketers, however, it means the user’s query can be resolved on-page. From the publisher’s standpoint, these overviews satisfy search intent without generating a click, effectively extending the trend of zero-click searches. In other words, the page may be used (quoted in the answer) but not clicked.
AI Overviews significantly accelerate zero-click behavior. A finding suggests that zero-click searches jumped from ~24% to 27% year-on-year in early 2025. A Bain survey reports that about 60% of searches end without users clicking through to another site.
In practice, organic listing CTRs are under siege. Top-ranked pages are losing share because AI answers capture attention. We see that Google’s new summarization features are faster and more convenient, which might mean that these become the default way people search, shifting discovery away from traditional blue links.
Evidence of a drastic CTA decline
Multiple independent studies show massive CTR drops wherever AI summaries appear. Recent industry data paints a stark picture of CTR decline across prominent search positions:
Position
2024 CTR
2025 CTR
Decline
1
28.0%
19.0%
-32%
2
20.8%
12.6%
-39%
3-5 Average
15.2%
12.5%
-18%
This data, compiled from over 200,000 keywords across 30+ websites, coincides directly with Google’s aggressive AI Overview expansion. From just 10,000 triggering keywords in August 2024, AI Overviews now appear for over 172,000 queries by May 2025. In practical terms, a top-ranking page that used to draw nearly three out of 100 searchers now gets under one.
Paid search is hit, too. In one study, paid CTR roughly halved in queries with AI Overviews: dropping from 21.27% without an AIO to 9.87%. In other words, even ads share the fate of organic results, AI answers grab a lot of the click-through “real estate.”
These shifts mean many queries that once sent healthy website traffic now keep users on the SERP. In short, AI Overviews are dragging down CTRs significantly across positions and query types.
AI Overviews are the zero-click accelerator
Google’s AI Overviews represent more than a UI change because they reshape user search behavior. When AI Overviews appear:
Organic CTR drops 70% (from 2.94% in the previous year to 0.84% in 2025)
Paid CTR falls 54% (from 21.27% to 9.87%)
Featured content gets answered directly without requiring website visits
Major publishers report even more dramatic impacts. MailOnline found that CTRs plummeted to under 5% on desktop and 7% on mobile when AI Overviews were present, a blow to traffic-dependent business models.
These drops aren’t limited to one sector. Industries heavily reliant on informational queries (health, science, how-to guides, etc.) report the biggest hit. For instance, Semrush notes that sites in health and science categories see the most AI Overview inclusion and significant organic traffic losses.
AI Overviews primarily trigger informational and long-tail queries (definitions, tutorials, general knowledge), precisely the traffic that blogs, knowledge bases, and affiliate sites depend on.
The evidence is clear. Zero-click search is rapidly rising, and organic CTRs are falling wherever AI-powered answers are available.
What CTRs miss in the AI search era?
Traditional CTR metrics miss a big part of the picture: invisible brand exposure. Your brand may be mentioned in AI responses without generating a single click, highlighted in knowledge panels without direct attribution, or recommended through voice search on smart devices. Even AI-generated summaries from platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini draw on your content. These shape user perception without leaving a measurable trail.
The false correlation problem
High CTR no longer equals high visibility in AI systems. Consider this example:
Brand A ranks #1 organically, receives 500 monthly clicks
Brand B gets cited in 50 AI Overview responses, receives 50 clicks
Traditional metrics favor Brand A, but Brand B influences thousands more users through AI
This disconnect means businesses optimizing solely for CTR may miss massive audience reach in AI environments.
These numbers confirm the trend. A large (and growing) chunk of search queries never leads to an external click, instead being resolved by AI/Google. This doesn’t mean all organic traffic is lost; many queries (mainly transactional, local, or brand-specific) still send clicks, but the landscape is clearly shifting toward answering directly.
Six AI LLM optimization metrics
With traditional click metrics weakening, SEO must evolve. CTRs and ranks still matter, but they’re incomplete indicators now. We must measure how content performs within AI-generated answers, even when no one clicks. As Cyberclick observed, your content might be “cited, referenced, or sourced by AI systems”, which they call zero-click visibility, yet none of that shows up in Google Search Console or analytics. In other words, your page could be the knowledge behind an answer, building authority, without any direct traffic trace.
To account for this, experts recommend new AI metrics:
1. AI brand mention rate
Definition: Frequency of brand appearances in AI-generated responses across major platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews).
This metric is critical because it has the strongest correlation with AI Overview visibility. The top 25% of brands receive over 169 monthly AI mentions, compared to just 14 for the next tier. Meanwhile, 26% of brands have zero AI mentions at all, revealing massive gaps and untapped opportunities in brand visibility.
How to measure:
Manual query testing across LLM platforms using brand-related searches
Custom monitoring scripts to track brand mentions in AI responses
Competitive benchmarking against industry leaders
Optimization tactics:
Create quotable, cite-worthy statistics and insights that AI systems prefer
Build topical authority through comprehensive content coverage
Increase web mentions across trusted, high-authority sources
Develop thought leadership content that positions your brand as an expert source
Pro tip: Yoast AI Brand Insights can help track and optimize your brand’s visibility across AI platforms, giving you actionable data to improve mention frequency and context.
2. Semantic relevance score
Definition: Measurement of content alignment with search intent through vector embeddings rather than keyword matching
This metric is critical because AI systems rely on semantic similarity rather than exact keyword matches when selecting content. It predicts the likelihood of being included in AI-generated answers across different platforms and measures how accurately content aligns with queries beyond surface-level optimization.
How to measure:
OpenAI Embedding API for content-query similarity scoring
Go Fish Digital’s Embedding Relevance Score tool for automated analysis
A/B testing content variations to identify the highest-scoring approaches
Topic clustering analysis to understand semantic relationships
Optimization tactics:
Focus on comprehensive topic coverage rather than keyword density
Use entity-based content strategies that connect related concepts
Optimize for question-answer formats that AI systems prefer
Create contextually rich content that covers user intent fully
Advanced strategy: Implement structured content hierarchies using clear H2/H3 sections that mirror how AI systems process information for responses.
3. Structured data implementation score
Definition: Percentage of pages with proper schema markup and AI-readable formatting
This is critical because AI systems strongly favor structured, machine-readable data over plain text. Schema markup improves AI comprehension, boosts the chances of being cited, and enables rich snippet appearances that reinforce visibility alongside AI Overviews.
How to measure:
Schema markup validation tools to audit implementation coverage
Percentage of key pages with relevant structured data types
Rich snippet appearance tracking across target queries
Technical SEO audits focusing on markup completeness
Optimization tactics:
Implement FAQ and HowTo schemas for informational content
Use comprehensive schema types (Organization, Product, Service, Review)
Create clean, markdown-friendly content formats that AI can easily parse
Optimize internal linking structure to support entity relationships
Note: Yoast SEO Premium includes advanced schema implementation features that can automate much of this optimization process.
4. Citation quality index
Definition: Quality weighting of attributed mentions and source links in AI responses
This index is critical because it fuels both traffic and trust within AI recommendation systems. Quality citations strengthen brand authority in LLM training, while linked references deliver three times more value than unlinked mentions.
How to measure:
Track citations with proper source attribution across AI platforms
Monitor the authority scores of sites that cite your content
Measure click-through rates from AI citations when available
Create authoritative, research-backed content that merits citation
Build relationships with industry publications and thought leaders
Optimize content for “cite sources” inclusion with clear attribution
Develop proprietary data and insights that become go-to industry references
Advanced tracking: Use tools like Brand24 or Mention.com to monitor unlinked brand citations that may influence AI training without generating trackable links.
5. Query match coverage
Definition: Breadth of related queries where your content appears in AI responses
Query match coverage is essential because AI systems favor comprehensive topical coverage over a narrow focus. And broader query coverage indicates higher entity authority. It also predicts inclusion across multiple AI response types and platforms
How to measure:
Topic clustering analysis to map query coverage
Competitive content gap analysis to identify opportunities
Query coverage mapping across your content portfolio
Definition: Average placement position of your brand/content within AI-generated responses
AI positioning score matters because earlier placement in AI responses gets far more attention. First-position mentions see up to three times higher engagement, and strong positioning directly boosts perceived brand authority.
How to measure:
Track the mention position across AI responses manually
Calculate the average placement across multiple queries over time
Monitor position trends to identify optimization success
Benchmark positioning against direct competitors
Optimization tactics:
Optimize content for primary source citation by AI systems
Build first-party research and proprietary data that AI prefers
Create definitive resources that become category authorities
Focus on expertise signals (author credentials, source authors)
Why CTR still matters (and how to optimize it)
Even as AI visibility metrics rise in importance, CTR still plays a crucial role. Clicks directly drive conversions and sales, making them essential for revenue. A strong CTR also signals clear content-query alignment, which boosts overall visibility. Over time, pages with consistently higher CTR often gain better placement in AI-generated citations, which creates an advantage.
CTR optimization in the AI era
Write for click-desire, not just keywords
Today, writing for click desire is more important than ever. Instead of focusing only on keywords, craft curiosity-driven headlines that promise insights users won’t find in AI summaries. Pair these with benefit-focused meta descriptions that highlight exclusive value, and tease proprietary data or tools that can only be accessed on your site.
Enhanced SERP presentation
Equally important is how your content presents itself in the SERPs. Comprehensive schema markup can unlock rich snippets, while optimized title tags and emotionally engaging meta descriptions help your results stand out. Structured snippets are also powerful for showcasing your unique selling propositions directly on the results page.
Mobile optimization
Finally, mobile optimization ensures that once users click, they stay engaged. Fast page load speeds provide immediate satisfaction, while scannable content structures make information easy to digest on smaller screens. Queries here often carry higher intent, making them a valuable source of qualified clicks.
Curious to know how AI sees your brand?
Unlock instant AI brand visibility insights, track mentions, and boost your authority with our Yoast SEO AI+ package.
Traditional SEO is shifting fast. With AI-driven search platforms like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity shaping results, businesses now need to optimize for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
In simple terms: Instead of fighting for clicks on SERPs, the new goal is to have your content chosen as trusted source material in AI-generated answers.
What GEO/AEO means for your content
AI-powered search engines “read” and select content differently from Google’s classic algorithm. They prioritize:
Clarity & structure → short, factual sentences
Explicit answers → direct responses to common queries
Scannable formats → helpful headings, bullet lists, and one idea per paragraph
Here’s what many miss: AI Overviews strip away logos, design, and slogans. All that remains is text. That means your brand identity must live in your words.
To stand out in AI-generated answers:
Use brand-specific language and stories
Strengthen authority with schema markup and citations
Make sure your brand’s voice and expertise come through clearly
This is where AI Brand Insights comes in. This feature will:
Track how AI assistants mention your brand.
Show how your business is represented in AI-generated answers.
Help refine your brand narrative in the age of AI search.
In short: GEO isn’t about SERP position alone; it’s about what AI “knows” and shows about your brand.
See how visible your brand is in AI search
Track mentions, sentiment, and AI visibility. With Yoast AI Brand Insights, you can start monitoring and growing your brand.
CTRs remain essential but insufficient for measuring true search success
AI brand mentions and citation quality predict long-term visibility better than traditional rankings
Structured data and semantic optimization determine inclusion in the AI-generated responses
Multi-platform visibility tracking is essential as search behavior fragments across AI tools
Ready to optimize visibility in AI search?
The transformation to AI-powered search is already here. Early adopters who implement comprehensive AI visibility measurement today will establish competitive advantages that build over time.
Start tracking your AI mentions immediately using the frameworks outlined above. Audit your content for AI-friendliness and implement structured data optimization. Most importantly, build authority through comprehensive topic coverage and citation-worthy insights that position your brand as an industry authority across traditional search and AI platforms.
The brands that thrive in the next decade will not be those with the highest CTRs; they will be the ones that understand how to build influence and visibility in an AI-first search world.
