We broke down Indig’s research on how AI search engines actually rank sites. Here’s what matters and what to do about it.
The Big Insight Everyone’s Missing
There’s a threshold effect.
Indig’s data shows mentions jump from ~21 to ~79 when you hit the top 10% of authority. It’s not gradual it’s a cliff.
What this means: Stop spreading getting backlinks over 12 months. You need concentrated campaigns to break through the threshold.
4 Things That Actually Move The Needle
1. Brand mentions beat backlinks
Separate research from Ahrefs (75K brands) found:
- Brand mentions: 0.664 correlation with AI visibility
- Backlinks: 0.218 correlation
Translation: Getting talked about > getting linked to.
2. Nofollow links are suddenly valuable
Indig found nofollow and follow links perform almost identically (0.509 vs 0.504).
This is huge because nofollow links are everywhere:
- Reddit discussions
- Guest posts
- Forum comments
- Social media
3. Visual content outperforms text links
Image backlinks: 0.538 correlation Text links: 0.472 correlation
Perplexity and SearchGPT especially love visual content.
4. Fresh content gets prioritized
AI engines cite content that’s 25.7% fresher than what shows up in regular Google results.
Old content = invisible to AI.
Different AI Platforms, Different Rules
Google AI Overviews: Shows up in 33% of searches, best for actual traffic
ChatGPT: Most brand mentions (4 per prompt) but fewer clickable links
Perplexity: Balanced good for both mentions and citations
You need different strategies for each.
What To Do Right Now
Phase 1: Hit the threshold (Months 1-6)
Goal: Get to Authority Score >50
- Target 50-100 quality links from different domains
- Industry publications first
- Don’t ignore nofollow sources (Reddit, forums, Quora)
Why: Until you hit this baseline, nothing else matters much.
Phase 2: Build brand awareness (Months 6-12)
Goal: Get mentioned everywhere
- PR campaigns focused on getting mentioned (not just linked)
- HARO for expert quotes in media
- Active participation on Reddit in your niche
- Customer reviews and testimonials
Metric to track: Brand search volume
Phase 3: Create shareable visuals (Ongoing)
Make things people want to embed:
- Interactive calculators
- Data visualizations from your research
- Before/after comparisons
- Infographics with unique insights
Add embed code that includes a backlink.
Phase 4: Keep everything fresh
Update your top content quarterly:
- Add 2025 data
- Update statistics
- Add “Last updated: [date]” at the top
- Refresh outdated claims
Quick Wins You Can Do This Week
- Audit your nofollow strategy – You’ve probably been ignoring easy wins on Reddit, forums, and guest posts
- Turn your best data into visuals – One good infographic can generate dozens of image backlinks
- Set up Google Alerts for unlinked mentions – Reach out and ask for a link
- Update your top 10 pages – Add fresh data and new “last updated” dates
- Answer questions on Reddit/Quora – Nofollow links that actually work now
The Mistakes Killing Your AI Visibility
❌ Spreading budget thin – Small monthly efforts won’t break the threshold
❌ Only chasing follow links – You’re leaving half the game on the table
❌ Ignoring brand mentions – Links without mentions = limited AI visibility
❌ Static content – AI platforms heavily favor freshness
❌ One-size-fits-all approach – ChatGPT ≠ Google AIO ≠ Perplexity
Bottom Line
The old playbook was: Get as many high-quality backlinks as possible.
The new playbook is:
- Hit the authority threshold fast (concentrated effort)
- Get mentioned everywhere (not just linked)
- Leverage nofollow sources aggressively
- Create visual, shareable content
- Keep everything fresh
AI doesn’t just look at your links. It looks at how well it “knows” your brand exists as an entity.
Quality + diversity + visibility = AI mentions in 2025.
One more thing: The AI search market is projected to hit 62% of all search volume by 2030. The brands that adapt now will have a massive head start.
Stop optimizing for Google 2015. Start optimizing for AI 2025.