Authority

Citations are the new backlinks (in the AI era)

Why being mentioned matters more than being linked — and how to engineer mentions.

January 25, 20266 min readBy Megabucks Marketing

In SEO, the backlink was king. In AEO, the citation is. AI tools care less about links and more about how often, where, and how favorably your business is mentioned in trusted contexts.

What counts as a citation

Editorial mentions, expert quotes, podcast features, books, directories, reviews — anywhere your name appears alongside trustworthy context.

How to build a citation network

Combine PR, podcast tours, guest essays, expert listings, and review engineering into a coordinated citation strategy.

Frequently asked questions

Direct answers to the questions AI tools care about.

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