If you want AI tools like ChatGPT to start citing and recommending your brand, they have to trust your content first.
This will sound very familiar to SEO experts, as earning the trust of search algorithms is integral for achieving higher rankings.
However, AI trust signals are different from SEO ranking factors, although there are some similarities.
In order to start trusting brands, AI tools look for things like:
- Brand mentions from reputable sources
- Branded anchor text and search volume
- Schema markup to aid with entity recognition
- Consistent information
- Author credibility
Different trust signals mean different optimization techniques to cater to them.
That’s why optimizing content to improve AI visibility goes by the name GSO (generative search optimization) or GEO (generative engine optimization).
Since AI search has become insanely popular as of late, it’s not something marketers should ignore.
According to a recent survey, 71.5% of people use AI search platforms, and 14% use them every day.
Also, evidence shows that not appearing in Google AI Overviews is harmful to a brand’s online visibility. In fact, web pages that appeared in AI Overviews received 3.2x more clicks than those that did not.
Since AI visibility is now crucial for digital marketing, you definitely want to build trust with AI tools like ChatGPT.
This guide will show you how to do just that, so stick around!
What Makes Content Trustworthy to AI?
Just like search engines, AI tools want to match user queries and requests with the most accurate, trustworthy information.
In order to do so, they need a way to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The internet is a massive place, and there are countless businesses, products, and services within it.
If there were no trust or quality control measures in place, AI platforms could summarize content from low-quality or unreliable sources.
For instance, imagine if you asked an AI tool like Perplexity to recommend a pizza place in your area, only for it to suggest the worst place in town (with a 1-star average rating).
This would be unhelpful and potentially dangerous for users in some cases (like citing false information related to health and finances).
To avoid this, AIs use trust signals.
AI trust signals are a series of clues that help LLMs (large language models) determine the quality and trustworthiness of sources online.
They’re similar to SEO ranking factors, although there are quite a few differences.
Here’s a look at the top on-site trust signals that matter to AI tools.
Schema markup and consistent information
Before AIs can determine if they trust your brand, they have to know it exists first.
How do AI tools discover brands?
They go through a process called entity recognition (Named Entity Recognition or NER), which helps them identify and classify:
- People
- Places
- Things
- Brands
- Products
- Services
If AIs didn’t have this process, they wouldn’t be able to distinguish something like Apple the company from apple the fruit.
It works by scanning text, tagging entities, and linking them to known entities online.
Here’s an example sentence:
“Amazon sells products online.”
After scanning, the AI would tag the entities in the text:
Amazon > Place or Brand (ambiguous at first without further context clues)
Products > Things
Online > Concept (Thing, Abstract Technology)
After tagging the terms products and online, the AI would understand that you mean Amazon, the company, and not the Amazon rainforest.
So, how can you aid with the entity recognition process?
The two best ways are:
- Using schema markup. Schema markup is an agreed-upon format (structured data) for adding context to things like reviews, products, and other types of content. It helps AI tools recognize entities because schemas remove all ambiguity when interpreting text. For example, the Review schema tells AI tools that the content is a review of a product or service. Without this context, the AI may fail to realize that the text is actually a review. Check out our quick guide on schema markup to learn more.
- Remaining consistent with branded information. Consistency is another huge factor because it helps AIs recognize you as a distinct entity. That means you should ensure your brand’s name, logos, and tone remain consistent across all platforms online.
With schema markup and consistency on your side, it’ll be much easier for AI tools to cite and summarize your content.
Author credibility and E-E-A-T signals:
Which would you trust more: an article written by a complete newbie, or one composed by a seasoned industry expert?
The choice is clear, as credibility and experience breed trust.
AI tools share this view, which is why they pay close attention to author biographies. To build the most trust, include detailed author biographies (and links to their personal websites/profiles) that describe their experience and expertise.
Content quality also matters, just as it does on search engines.
The top way to produce high-quality content is to follow Google’s E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) guidelines.
For example, sharing first-hand experiences and instances where you demonstrated your expertise are both strong trust signals for AI tools (and Google).
Linked sources and brand mentions
Backlinks, while not a direct trust signal for AI tools, still matter in developing trust and improving visibility.
This is because backlinks still matter a great deal to search engines like Google and Bing, and these search engines are what shape the web.
AI tools are not search engines, and they don’t have the ability to build an index by crawling the internet.
As a result, they rely on the existing indexes built by Google and Microsoft, which is how they find information online (albeit in an off-hand way).
These indexes already have high-ranked content that exhibits strong trust signals, and they got there by building authoritative backlinks. As ChatGPT will tell you, content that already ranks well on search engines is likely to get cited by AI tools:
Off-Site Trust Signals That Matter for AI Visibility
Next, let’s look at AI trust signals that occur outside of your website.
Since these trust signals appear on other websites, you’ll have less control over them than your on-site signals.
However, that’s not to say that you can’t control them at all, as you’ll soon see.
Third-party reviews and ratings
User reviews are a major trust signal for AI search tools, which makes perfect sense.
Obviously, the higher a brand’s average rating is across multiple platforms, the more likely they are to be a high-quality, trustworthy business.
Tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT will scour relevant review platforms, so you need to actively manage your review profile.
Besides the reviews listed on your Google Business Profile, you’ll also need to keep up with your reviews on platforms like:
AI tools will even check platforms like Reddit for informal reviews and recommendations.
They also monitor niche-specific review sites like CNET for tech brands, so you need to include them in your review management strategy as well.
Brand mention frequency
Brand mentions are one of the most important trust signals for AI tools.
A study by Ahrefs found that brand mentions and brand search volume are the top two factors AIs consider when determining the trustworthiness of online sources.
If lots of high-authority websites mention and recommend your brand, it signals to AI that your company is reputable and citation-worthy.
What’s the best way to earn more brand mentions (and backlinks)?
Digital public relations is a marketing practice that’s entirely centered around earning brand mentions, backlinks, and media placements.
It involves networking with online journalists, creating thought leader content, and sharing original research.
These techniques will generate more brand mentions and high-quality backlinks, which will boost your visibility on AI tools and traditional search engines.
| Want to get the internet buzzing about your brand? Try out our Digital PR Service for better SEO and GSO! |
The Importance of Brand Sentiment
Does your audience have primarily good or bad things to say about your brand?
This question matters because AI tools monitor brand sentiment.
In other words, they don’t just see reviews: they interpret tone, too.
Remember how we said that AI tools will check Reddit for informal opinions about a brand?
That’s one of the ways they measure brand sentiment. If you have a solid reputation and people have nothing but good things to say, you’re far more likely to appear in AI summaries.
Tools like Brand24, Hootsuite Insights, and even Google Alerts can help you actively monitor your brand sentiment.
Turning Trust Into AI Visibility
According to recent research, 61% of the trust signals AI tools use originate from editorial media sources.
This reflects the importance of digital PR techniques for improving AI visibility.
Improving AI trust signals will also heighten your chances of appearing in Google’s AI Overviews, which have become prominent for all types of keywords.
According to the study by Search Engine Land (linked earlier), web pages included in AI Overviews get more traffic, regardless of which page is ranked in the #1 organic spot.
Thus, we can say with a strong degree of confidence that the trust signals mentioned in this article translate into better AI visibility. We can also say that AI visibility is crucial for future SEO success.
Wrapping Up: AI Trust Signals That Matter
To conclude, earning trust with AI tools will pay off big time down the road.
You’ll appear in more AI-generated summaries and citations, resulting in a steady pipeline of traffic to your website (which you can convert into leads and sales).
Do you want to strengthen your trust signals?
Don’t wait to get started with our renowned Review and Reputation Management Service to build strong trust with AI search tools!
