Link building in 2025 isn’t about link quantity.
It’s about becoming the ONE brand LLMs trust enough to cite.
ChatGPT doesn’t care about your 500 generic blog backlinks. It scans for authority signals from sources it inherently trusts — and picks ONE winner per query.
Here’s what’s actually moving the needle:
Most agencies are still chasing Domain Authority scores while smart companies are targeting LLM-trusted sources.
I’ve been testing this with uSERP clients, and the difference is dramatic.
Here’s my authority-first playbook:
1. Target Wikipedia mentions and .edu research citations. These carry exponentially more AI weight than 50 random blog links.
2. Mine Reddit and Quora for contextual discussions. LLMs reference these platforms constantly. Strategic answers create durable citation opportunities that compound.
3. Refresh your cornerstone content with proper schema markup. JSON-LD helps LLMs triangulate your authority across multiple sources.
4. Focus on fresh, contextual mentions over older generic backlinks. Recency + relevance beats volume every time for AI systems.
The bottom line: Answer engines are becoming gatekeepers. They’ll either trust you enough to cite you, or they won’t mention you at all.
| Resources: |
| • How to quickly track where your brand shows up in LLMs |
| • How to justify your SEO budget in 2025 |
| • Topic-first SEO: The smarter way to scale authority |
See you in the next one.
-Jeremy
