How AI search is reshaping link building strategy

Backlinks are one of the oldest concepts in SEO, but according to recent search volume data from Exploding Topics, the concept is trending once again. 

This surge in interest stems from a rapidly changing search landscape where marketers are watching decades-old assumptions about rankings, clicks, and authority being challenged by AI Overviews, zero-click searches, and the growing influence of entities and brand signals. Classic link building strategies are no longer enough on their own, leaving marketers unsure what to do about link counts, unlinked brand mentions, and the entity signals that are rewriting how authority is determined. 

Today’s search engines and AI platforms don’t need to find a backlink to evaluate your brand. They’re looking at a mix of patterns and signals that don’t require a hyperlink at all.

Does this mean backlinks are dead? No, but their role in SEO is clearly changing.

Here’s what the data shows about the backlink trends that are prompting SEOs to rethink their strategies from the ground up.

What hasn’t changed about links

The data is clear: Backlinks are still a valuable part of any SEO strategy. Even in 2026, digital marketers still rely heavily on link building.

In fact, a recent survey found that nearly 70% of marketers say backlinks have a “big impact” on search rankings and 30% say they have a “moderate impact.” 

Backlinks are so important that close to half of marketers say they spend between $5,000 and $10,000 monthly on link building. Pricing is signaling high demand: A single low-authority link typically runs around $300. That’s almost 8% higher than last year.

Marketers continue to allocate substantial budgets to backlinks because it seems like Google’s algorithm still puts a heavy emphasis on them as a ranking signal.

A recent analysis found that the top result in Google SERPs has nearly 4x more backlinks than the results in positions two through 10.

The era of AI search

SEO strategies have evolved throughout the history of Google’s algorithm, but the advent of AI search is pressuring marketers to do more than just evolve. They’re looking to rebuild their strategies — including backlinks.

Many marketers say that strategies to optimize for AI search, often referred to as “answer engine optimization” (AEO), aren’t all that different from regular SEO. For example, almost three-quarters of SEO leaders believe that backlinks positively influence the likelihood of their content appearing in AI search results. 

As marketers try to figure out just how backlinks fit into AEO, Exploding Topics data shows that search volume for answer engine optimization is growing exponentially.  

Still, backlinks aren’t the whole story in AEO. Many sources say that unlinked brand mentions on sites like Reddit and YouTube are growing to be just as important as traditional backlinks.  

This is because AI platforms were never built around links. Instead, these search tools go after all the relevant information they can find. They can use non-linked content, like discussions, reviews, podcast mentions, and social mentions, to learn about your brand and assess trust signals. 

None of this information needs to be hyperlinked. What really matters for your brand is building consistency and credibility across both linked and non-linked sources. 

Backlinks: What’s working now

Even in the era of AI search, many of the core rules of backlink strategies still hold. They just need to be slightly tweaked. What principles are most important now in 2026? Here’s what the data says.

• Diversity matters more than volume. The era of chasing link counts alone is over. Less than 8% of marketers believe backlinks are still just a numbers game. Today’s most effective strategies rely on earning links from a variety of sources. Search engines and AI platforms reward this diversity as a sign of genuine authority.
• Quality remains a key indicator for backlinks. It’s been true since Google released the PageRank algorithm, and it’s still true today: Site quality is an important factor for backlinks. A recent Semrush analysis looked specifically at site quality in AI search. It found that the quality of links has a large influence on the domains that show up in AI search. This is most pronounced in ChatGPT and somewhat less pronounced in Perplexity.
• Nofollow links are valuable. In many cases, nofollow links are just as important as dofollow links when it comes to AI search. In a survey, more than half of SEO professionals said they believe nofollow links have improved their rankings. 
• Image backlinks deserve more attention. These backlinks appear to reinforce brand credibility in AI search. Semrush’s recent analysis found that image backlinks are most favored by Perplexity and ChatGPT Search, and Gemini also has a noticeable correlation.

The future of backlinks is entity SEO

All of these backlink trends come together under the idea of entity SEO. It’s a strategy that was born more than a decade ago, but it’s gaining substantial momentum in this new era of AI search.

Marketers have been using this strategy to map relationships, not just links, to their brands. Entity SEO reflects what your brand is known for, who’s talking about it, and how consistent your brand signals are across the web, and that’s exactly why it’s a crucial part of making your brand visible in AI search.

As this strategy hits mainstream status, Exploding Topics data shows search interest in the strategy has grown by more than 1,000% in recent months.

When you reframe backlinks as part of entity SEO, you start to see that an unlinked mention on Reddit could be just as valuable as a dofollow link on a site with a mid-level DA score. 

In fact, Reddit appears as a source in 3% of AI citations. That may not seem huge, but consider this: More than 80% of Reddit AI citations answer decision-seeking prompts, like head-to-head comparisons between brands. 

Entity SEO also shifts how you create and distribute your content. To earn the kind of backlinks that matter most, you need to establish your brand as newsworthy and authoritative. 

Data-rich content, such as original surveys and insights, can improve your chances of both earning high-quality backlinks and appearing in AI search. This type of content can also get your brand cited in quality journalism and other sources that signal lasting authority to Google and AI platforms.

Using entity SEO to drive your backlink strategy can make your brand a credible part of relevant industry conversations. Every mention, not just every backlink, is a chance to build the kind of authority that search engines and AI platforms recognize and reward.