TL;DR: For decades, backlinks defined authority. The more links you had, the more trustworthy your content appeared. But AI doesn't rank — it cites. Yext analyzed 6.8 million AI citations to understand what drives trust in AI search. In this new era, structure and consistency carry more weight than backlinks ever did.
Why authority signals are changing in AI search
Remember when "backlinks" equaled "visibility"?
It wasn't very long ago that the more links you had pointing to your site, the higher you ranked in search results (generally speaking). Traditional search engines mirrored academic citations: if trustworthy sites linked to yours, it signaled value.
For years, this worked — and scaled. But popularity is a human trust signal. And AI doesn't evaluate credibility in quite the same way.
Why popularity and backlinks don't really work for AI engines
Backlink-driven authority actually started to erode long before AI changed the landscape.
As the web grew, so did the incentives to game the system. Link farms, paid placements, and private blog networks turned backlinks into a commodity. By the 2010s, authority could be bought.
And even without manipulation, popularity signals had limitations:
Viral content can outperform accurate content. A clickbait-y article can attract thousands of backlinks — regardless of accuracy or relevance.
Popular sources can still be wrong. Widespread linking doesn't update or correct outdated information.
Backlinks preserve misinformation. Once inaccurate data gains traction, links can keep it alive even after updates or corrections are made.
The TL;DR? Backlinks measure attention, not accuracy. And AI can't always tell the difference. The bottom line is that AI models can't (and don't) evaluate trust exactly the way people do.
Humans consider expertise, tone, sourcing, and logic. We recognize social proof and weigh reputations over time. AI engines don't use those signals directly. Instead, they look for patterns they can confirm, asking: is the information the same across multiple structured, consistent sources? Is it up to date? Is it canonical — meaning it's published by the source that owns the data?
Instead of consensus, AI models look for something measurable: data verifiability.
Verifiability vs. popularity: a new framework to evaluate trust
Now let's further dive into the shift:
Popularity signals: "Many people believe this."
Verifiability signals: "This can be confirmed."
Backlinks are popularity signals. They aggregate human endorsement. The more links to your site, the more widely accepted your content appears.
Structured data, schema markup, and consistent listings are verifiability signals. They tell AI your information is trustworthy because it matches across known, canonical sources.
In a recent Yext analysis of 6.8 million AI citations across platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, we found that:
44% of AI citations came from brand-owned websites
42% came from third-party listings
14% was split across media sources, forums, and other uncontrolled or partially influenced sources
That means 86% of AI citations came from sources brands directly control or influence — not from viral blogs, a crazy Reddit thread, or backlink-heavy content.
AI isn't citing the most linked content. It's citing the most verifiable sources — the ones maintained, structured, and optimized by brands themselves.
What data verifiability looks like in practice for brand visibility
If verifiability is the new signal of authority, what does that mean for marketers trying to stay visible?
Structured data matters more than link volume. Schema markup helps AI understand entities, relationships, and context. It's about clarity, not just keywords.
Consistency builds credibility. When your data matches across your site and local pages, Google Business Profile, and directories like Yelp, AI interprets that as a trust signal. Inconsistencies — even on popular sites — reduce the chances of being cited.
Recency improves authority. AI favors up-to-date sources. Even widely linked content won't surface if the data is outdated.
Control becomes an advantage. Brands that manage a centralized knowledge graph of their facts can outperform those relying on third-party aggregators or legacy SEO strategies on static websites.
How Yext helps keep your data verifiable and machine-readable:
Pages power structure. Yext Pages apply schema markup to help AI understand your content and relationships — making it easier to be cited.
Listings drive consistency. Yext Listings make sure your brand facts — like hours, locations, and services — stay consistent across 200+ publishers, helping AI see your data as accurate and verifiable.
Real-time updates support recency. Yext lets you manage updates across all platforms from a single source of truth, so your data stays current everywhere.
A Knowledge Graph enables control. With Yext, you can centralize your brand facts in a structured knowledge graph. It powers your Listings and Pages today — and positions you to support any emerging AI channel tomorrow.
The long-tail opportunity: how smaller brands can win in AI search
This shift levels the playing field — and gives smaller brands a big opportunity.
For 20 years, building authority meant accumulating backlinks — a slow, resource-heavy process. Large brands had teams for PR and link-building.
Smaller players couldn't compete at that scale. And for highly specific or local queries — like "urgent care open Sunday in Philadelphia" or "24-hour pet pharmacy in Brooklyn" — building backlinks wasn't just hard, it wasn't practical. These queries were too niche or too local to justify the investment.
Verifiability changes that.
AI doesn't care how many sites link to you. It cares if your information is:
Structured
Consistent
Up to date
...especially at the local level.
A regional urgent care brand with three locations, structured data, and clean listings can outperform a 50-location health system with outdated information.
AI is trying to answer specific questions. And if your data can do that better — and more verifiably — you win.
What marketers must do to build authority and gain brand visibility
Backlinks can still matter, but they're no longer the foundation of online authority and brand visibility.
In an AI-first world, the question isn't "How do I get more people to link to me?" It's "How do I become the most verifiable source for what I offer?"
Authority is no longer earned solely through external validation. It's built through internal accuracy, consistency, and control. And marketers are left with no choice but to adapt.
The brands that make this transition from link-building to citation-readiness will be the ones customers discover first when they ask AI where to go, what to buy, and who to trust.
Track your visibility, and stay discoverable across every surface — from traditional search to the next generation of AI answers.
