TL;DR: Brands have to take care of their 'digital truth' so every digital signal from marketers and customers positively contributes to traditional and AI search visibility, credibility, and conversion. Use this post for strategies and tips for building brand truth.
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Brand Truth
Brand Truth
What is the meaning of truth when it comes to building brand trust, credibility, and visibility? Find out how marketers can build a brand's digital truth so they show up — and show up favorably — in AI search.
What is the meaning of truth, and why does it matter for brands?
Brand truth refers to a mix of objective facts and subjective sentiments that impact a brand's behavior (who do we say we are, and how do we prove it?) and customers' beliefs about that brand (is this brand worthy of my trust, business, and loyalty?).
Understanding and influencing objective and subjective truths is mission-critical work for marketing teams. It's especially critical in the age of AI search, social as search, and the rise of agenticAI. Your brand truth, whatever it may be, keeps you visible, credible, and trustworthy in both unbranded and branded search..
How to build a trusted brand and brand credibility
How can you control the facts about your brand?
Use tools and processes that make it easy for you to manage and distribute your brand information from one centralized platform, like a knowledge graph.
Why?
You own a data repository that's filled with facts you can mine and analyze inside your organization.
You also own a knowledge base filled with content you can syndicate everywhere outside your organization to gain visibility, optimize, and convert from. (Think Help pages, troubleshooting guides, ratings, brand and product feedback, etc.)
You keep your information accurate and consistent so customers and AI search platforms can trust, then verify it's true.
You create an expansive, consistent digital presence that traditional and AI search engines prioritize because you show you're delivering a great experience for your customers.
91% of customers prioritize accuracy when making purchasing decisions, and inaccuracies in brand information can drive 64% of customers to switch brands.
How can you influence brand sentiment effectively?
Accurate information published everywhere is a great starting point for brand truth, but it isn't the finish line. The qualitative information found in customer reviews and on social media is make-or-break when it comes to helping someone choose your brand. So…
Manage your reviews within a week, consistently, at scale. Once considered a lower-funnel strategy, reviews actually influence customers early in their search and decision-making process. Moreover, 71% of customers, especially Gen Z, say online reviews are key to building brand trust.
It's the same story across industries, including healthcare, where 74% of patients and patient advocates say reviews are the top factor when they book appointments. A full 60% of patients are likely to choose a physician based on that provider's engagement and responsiveness to patient reviews.
Invite customers to share feedback across first- and third-party sites. First-party reviews enhance your reputation on your channels. Third-party sites (like Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc.) boost your brand's visibility and your reputation.
Create content and engage with customers on social media. From healthcare providers on Reels with "dental hacks to avoid cavities" and nutritionists addressing "girl dinner" TikTok trends, social media is a powerful channel for earning (or burning) patient trust.
Understand who is searching for and engaging with your brand on each channel. Then, you can tailor content, the right journey, and your engagement style to them. For instance, Gen Z is 6x more likely than Boomers, 3x more likely than Gen X, and 2x more likely than Millennials to start their customer journey on social media.**
How to maintain brand truth with a knowledge graph
Maintaining and distributing your brand truth is the foundation of visibility, trust, and conversion. A knowledge graph acts as the single source of truth for all brand facts and a knowledge base for understanding brand sentiment, market opportunities, and AIsearch visibility.
You can also build your knowledge graph by linking entities (products, customer profiles, reviews) with relationships (e.g., "customer purchased," "review mentioned") and attributes (e.g., sentiment, product).
When brand information is inconsistent or inaccurate, it doesn't just cost clicks — it undermines your reputation and your discoverability across search, social, and AI-powered platforms. Yext helps brands maintain accuracy and influence sentiment at scale. The impact? Your brand shows up in a way that's accurate and authentic, every time.