AI Search Visibility vs. Link Authority

As artificial intelligence transforms online search, understanding what drives AI search visibility is now crucial for digital success. A recent look into the relationship between domain-level link metrics and mentions in AI assistants like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity reveals some surprising results – and raises questions about how much traditional SEO indicators still matter in this new era.

Shifting Search Paradigms: AI Search Visibility

Traditionally, domain-level link metrics – such as the number and quality of referring domains to a website – have played a vital role in determining how prominently a site appears in search results. These indicators often reflect a website’s authority and trustworthiness, especially in the eyes of search engines like Google.

However, with the emergence of AI-powered search tools that generate their own answers from across the web, the reliance on traditional link signals may be weakening. AI systems often synthesise information from various sources and don’t necessarily favour the same types of signals that influence conventional search rankings.

To explore this dynamic, a study reviewed the top 50 most-cited websites across major AI tools in June 2025. This analysis helped uncover patterns in AI search visibility, using data from tens of millions of AI-generated responses.  The aim was to compare those mentions against each site’s overall link authority to see if a clear correlation still existed.

Key Findings: Weak to Non-Existent Correlations

Here’s what the analysis found when comparing AI mention frequency with each website’s position in global domain authority rankings:

AI Tool	Spearman Correlation (Rho)	P-Value	Interpretation
Google AI Overviews	-0.12	0.47	Very weak relationship
ChatGPT	0.01	0.95	No relationship
Perplexity	-0.34	0.095	Weak/moderate link

Notably, Perplexity showed the strongest (albeit still weak) correlation between domain authority and frequency of mentions. Surprisingly, ChatGPT showed virtually no connection, and Google’s AI Overviews – despite coming from a search-focused company – had only a very slight relationship.

These findings challenge assumptions that AI-generated content tools rely heavily on domain strength when choosing sources. In reality, AI systems appear to prioritise different kinds of signals, potentially linked more to relevance, content type, or recency than link-based authority.

A Closer Look at Each AI Assistant: AI Search Visibility

Google AI Overviews: Prioritising UGC and Encyclopaedic Content

Google’s AI Overview feature has a clear preference for user-generated content and encyclopaedic-style sources. Sites such as YouTube, Reddit, Quora, and Wikipedia are frequently cited – and disproportionately so, compared to their domain link metrics.

Interestingly, platforms traditionally seen as highly authoritative due to link profiles, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, receive fewer mentions. This could indicate a shift in Google’s AI priorities, favouring depth and community insight over raw link metrics.

ChatGPT: Following Established Media and Reference Sources

OpenAI’s ChatGPT also demonstrates a notable lean towards factual, encyclopaedic content, backlinkswith Wikipedia and major news sites like Reuters featuring prominently. But despite their presence, there’s no meaningful connection between how often a domain is cited and its domain-level link authority. ChatGPT’s retrieval model seems to value topical relevance or trust in information rather than traditional SEO factors.

Perplexity: Slight Nod Towards Authority, But Still Content-Led

Perplexity – a newer AI-powered search engine – is the only platform to show even a modest correlation between mentions and domain authority. However, the link is still fairly weak, suggesting Perplexity also prioritises the quality and context of content over pure link metrics.

Much like the other tools, Perplexity is more inclined to reference Wikipedia and YouTube than to pull from social media or high-DR commercial sites. This aligns with a broader trend: AI systems appear to favour source clarity, information density, and structure.

The Role of Page-Level Metrics: AI Search Visibility

One reason for the lack of strong correlation might be the focus on domain-level data rather than page-level performance. In traditional SEO, individual pages with targeted, high-quality content often perform better in rankings. As a result, AI search visibility may rely more on page relevance than overall domain strength.

A previous study of 75,000 sites found stronger correlations between AI Overviews and domain ratings. Interestingly, AI search visibility outperformed traditional rankings across one million Google keywords. This suggests that AI-powered tools may consider different factors altogether – ones not yet fully captured by traditional link-based SEO metrics.

What Does This Mean for Content Strategy?

The findings suggest that brands and content creators may need to adjust their strategies if they want to appear in AI-generated answers. Here are a few practical takeaways:

• Prioritise clear, structured information: Encyclopaedic and informative content, especially on platforms like Wikipedia or Quora, seems to be favoured across AI assistants.
• Leverage user-generated content: Forums, Q&A sites, and long-form discussions are often cited by AI tools – particularly by Google.
• Don’t rely solely on backlinks: While building a strong link profile is still valuable for organic search, it may not help much in AI environments.
• Optimise for topical depth and authority: Comprehensive, well-researched pages on niche topics might perform better than generic, highly-linked content.
• Stay updated: The algorithms powering these AI assistants are evolving quickly, and strategies that work today might be outdated tomorrow.

Final Thoughts: A New SEO Frontier?

The world of AI-assisted search is still in its early stages, and the patterns observed here may evolve as these technologies mature. However, one thing is clear: the traditional SEO playbook may not fully apply in AI-driven contexts.

Do backlinks still influence AI? Instead of links, AI search visibility depends on content depth, quality, and contextual relevance. SEOs, marketers, and content creators must adapt to stay ahead as AI reshapes the search landscape. Crucially, AI search visibility now demands relevance and agility in a space where the rules shift in real time.

As future research digs into larger datasets and introduces page-level comparisons, we’re likely to get a clearer picture of what really drives prominence in AI-generated results. Until then, focusing on relevance, clarity, and user value might be the most effective way to stay ahead.