Link-building vs Mention-building 2025: AI Search Optimization Guide

AI answer engines have changed what “off‑page SEO” means. Google’s AI Overviews can now occupy prime real estate in many SERPs, Perplexity and ChatGPT Search prominently cite sources, and entity understanding increasingly shapes which brands are surfaced. The upshot: classic link‑building still matters for rankings, but mention‑building (earning authoritative, context‑rich brand mentions—linked or unlinked—across the web and AI answers) has become a first‑class lever for visibility.

This comparison explains where each tactic shines in 2025, how AI engines pick citations, and how to allocate budget by scenario. It includes measurement frameworks and risk guardrails, and it shows how a monitoring layer like Geneo can help you track links, mentions, and AI citations across engines.

Definitions (fast, precise)

• Link‑building: Earning editorial backlinks that confer authority and relevance (anchor text, placement context, topical fit). Google’s link attributes (nofollow, sponsored, ugc) are treated as “hints,” not directives, for passing signals according to the 2019 Google guidance on link attributes.
• Mention‑building: Earning credible, contextually positive references to your brand, products, experts, or data—even when not hyperlinked. These support entity understanding and reputation signals discussed in reputable primers such as Moz’s off‑site SEO guide and Search Engine Journal’s overview of unlinked mentions. Google hasn’t confirmed unlinked mentions as a direct ranking factor; treat them as indirect signals reinforcing E‑E‑A‑T and entity prominence.

How AI engines choose and show sources in 2025

• Google AI Overviews (AIO)

  • Google says AIO uses “query fan‑out” to find a wider, diverse set of supporting pages and shows links as jumping‑off points, per Google’s “AI features and your website” documentation (2024–2025). Third‑party tracking of US queries in 2025 found AIO appears for roughly 13% of searches and cites about five sources on average, with about half of citations also ranking top‑10 organically, according to the 2025 Semrush AI Overviews study.

• Perplexity

  • By design, Perplexity shows numbered citations that link to original sources for verification, as described in the Perplexity Help Center overview of citations. Its Deep Research mode performs iterative searches and synthesis before attributing sources.

• ChatGPT Search (OpenAI)

  • ChatGPT Search surfaces answers “with links to relevant web sources,” with a Sources list and inline citations, per the 2025 OpenAI Help article on ChatGPT Search citations. The product use‑case and provider mix have evolved since late 2024, as outlined in OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search announcement.

What this means for you: ranking in classic blue links still gates many AIO citations, but AI engines also curate for diversity, authority, freshness, and clarity. High‑quality, well‑cited content and recognized entities are more likely to be surfaced—and linked.

Dimension‑by‑dimension comparison

1. Impact on rankings and AI visibility

• Link‑building
  • Still a core input to organic rankings. However, manipulative patterns face stronger devaluation or penalties after 2024 updates on expired domains and third‑party page abuse; see Google’s policies on expired domain abuse and the March 2024 updates and the 2024 clarifications on site reputation abuse.
  • Helps AIO eligibility indirectly by lifting you into top‑10 and by earning authority citations Google can fan‑out to.
• Mention‑building
  • Improves the odds of being considered by AI engines that curate diverse, credible brands, even if the exact ranking weight is opaque. It strengthens entity recognition and E‑E‑A‑T, which aligns with Google’s helpful content principles.
  • Some studies report that when AIO appears, organic CTR can drop compared to traditional SERPs; brands that secure AIO citations can recapture visibility. See ranges reported by Similarweb’s 2024–2025 AIO impact analysis and broader zero‑click context in SparkToro’s 2024 zero‑click study.

2. E‑E‑A‑T, entity SEO, and brand authority

• Link‑building
  • Authoritative editorial links from trusted, topic‑relevant domains remain a strong proxy for expertise and reputation.
• Mention‑building
  • Unlinked and linked mentions on authoritative hubs (gov/edu, standards bodies, respected media) reinforce entity salience and reputation. Support this with Organization/Profile structured data and coherent “sameAs” signals as documented in Google’s structured data introduction and profile markup.

3. Risk and compliance

• Link‑building risks include paid links without rel="sponsored", scaled guest posts on low‑quality sites, link exchanges, and other spammy footprints—covered in Google’s spam policies. Enforcement tightened in 2024–2025 around repurposed domains and third‑party page abuse.
• Mention‑building risks center on accuracy and sentiment: negative or misleading coverage can persist and be echoed by AI engines. Have correction and crisis workflows, especially in YMYL topics.

4. Cost, scalability, and time‑to‑impact

• Link‑building costs vary widely by quality. 2024–2025 market benchmarks show manual outreach and guest posts often in the mid‑hundreds to ~$1k+ per link, with premium digital PR links higher; see pricing roundups from BuzzStream’s 2025 link‑building pricing analysis and agency ranges cited by Siege Media’s cost guide and uSERP’s service/pricing pages.
• Digital PR/mention‑building is usually structured as monthly retainers or campaigns (often $3k–$25k+/mo at mid‑market/enterprise), delivering a mix of mentions and links. Expect 3–6+ months to see material impact, depending on competition and content quality (as summarized in the same sources).

5. Measurability

• Links are straightforward to track (new referring domains, topical authority, anchor distribution, assisted conversions), but be wary of vanity metrics.
• Mentions need richer context: linkage status, authority of the source, sentiment, entity co‑occurrence, and—crucially—share of voice in AI answers (AIO, Perplexity, ChatGPT). Traditional backlink tools undercount AI answer citations; you’ll likely need specialized monitoring.

6. Durability and decay

• Links can rot (content updates, removals), but high‑quality editorial citations often persist.
• Mentions, especially in trusted reference content and knowledge repositories, can provide durable reinforcement of your entity and brand reputation.

Practical playbooks that compound links and mentions

• Data‑driven PR studies and expert commentary

  • Publish original data or expert analyses tied to your domain. Pitch targeted journalists and industry newsletters. These campaigns can earn national media mentions (sometimes links), citations from gov/edu, and inclusion in AI answers that value authoritative sources.

• Mention‑to‑link reclamation

  • Monitor unlinked brand mentions and politely request a link where appropriate. Benchmarks vary, but a representative case study reported ~19% conversion for dedicated reclamation outreach, per the 2024 Ahrefs link reclamation write‑up.

• AIO eligibility boosters

  • Aim to rank in the top‑10 with comprehensive, scannable answers; add appropriate schema (FAQ, HowTo when relevant); cite primary sources; maintain author credentials and expert review for YMYL topics. These align with Google’s helpful content guidance and the AIO behavior described in Google’s AI features documentation.

Decision scenarios and budget splits (guidance, not gospel)

• Early‑stage startup (non‑YMYL)

  • Prioritize mention‑building through niche community PR, founder POV content, and data mini‑studies. Maintain a foundational link program focused on a handful of authoritative hubs and relevant partnerships.
  • Starting split: ~60% mention‑building / 40% link‑building.
  • KPIs: AI citation count across AIO/Perplexity/ChatGPT, 10–20 high‑quality new referring domains, branded search lift.

• Enterprise in competitive SERPs

  • Dual‑track: national/industry media DPR for mentions and tier‑1 editorial links, plus deep content/technical SEO to stay in the top‑10 (improving AIO inclusion odds). Track volatility and defend brand share of voice in AI answers.
  • Starting split: ~50% / 50%.
  • KPIs: AIO citation share for target queries, quarterly DR70+ links earned, entity stability (Knowledge Panel presence, sameAs coverage), non‑brand traffic resilience.

• YMYL publisher (health, finance, legal)

  • Emphasize expert bylines, peer citations, and institutional references (universities, professional bodies, gov/edu). Convert unlinked mentions to links where appropriate. Expect stricter review and longer lead times.
  • Starting split: ~65% mention‑building / 35% link‑building.
  • KPIs: E‑E‑A‑T signals (author credentials schema, expert reviews), sentiment in coverage, citations from authoritative institutions, AIO inclusion on sensitive queries.

• Local/regional brand

  • Build entity clarity and trust: consistent NAP, high‑quality local directories, chambers/associations, and local press. Create locally authoritative resources that Perplexity/ChatGPT can cite.
  • Starting split: ~55% mention‑building / 45% link‑building.
  • KPIs: Local pack visibility, Perplexity citations on geo‑queries, branded + category term growth.

What to measure (and how to report it)

• Link KPIs

  • New referring domains (by topical relevance and authority), anchor distribution, link placement context, referral traffic and assisted conversions, indexation/decay.

• Mention KPIs

  • Volume of brand mentions (linked and unlinked), authority tier of sources, sentiment and context (expert quote vs casual reference), entity co‑occurrence with target topics, unlinked‑to‑link conversion rate.

• AI engines visibility

  • Google AIO: percent of tracked queries where your brand is cited; number and prominence of links in the answer; week‑over‑week volatility. Semrush’s 2025 study observed AIO in ~13% of queries and ~5 citations on average—helpful baselines for coverage expectations
  • Perplexity: citation frequency and order for tracked prompts; inclusion in Deep Research summaries.
  • ChatGPT Search: presence in the Sources panel and inline citations for your key topics.

• Entity strength

  • Structured data completeness, sameAs coverage, Knowledge Panel presence/stability, number/quality of authoritative third‑party references, E‑E‑A‑T markers (author bios, expert reviews, citations).

Using Geneo as your monitoring and optimization layer

Geneo (https://geneo.app) can complement your analytics stack by focusing on AI‑era visibility:

• Cross‑engine monitoring: Track brand exposure and citations across Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT, including linked and unlinked mentions.
• Sentiment and context: Use built‑in AI sentiment analysis to understand how you’re portrayed in AI answers and high‑authority sources.
• Historical tracking: Monitor volatility of AIO inclusion and compare campaigns over time to see what drives step‑changes.
• Opportunity surfacing: Identify unlinked mentions and prioritize outreach to convert them into links; align with your link reclamation workflow.
• Multi‑brand collaboration: For in‑house teams and agencies, benchmark competitors’ share of voice across AI engines and track progress by market.

This neutral, measurement‑first approach helps unify link‑building and mention‑building under one reporting framework without prescribing one tactic as “the winner.”

Risks, ethics, and resilience

• Avoid link schemes and manipulative footprints; Google tightened enforcement in 2024–2025 against repurposed domains and third‑party page abuse (see Google’s March 2024 core update and spam policies). Use rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc" appropriately per the link attribute guidance.
• Maintain factual accuracy and transparent sourcing in PR. Negative or misleading coverage can persist and be echoed by AI engines; have correction and crisis protocols—especially in YMYL.
• Expect volatility. Studies and industry reporting in 2024–2025 documented fluctuating AIO presence and traffic impact; SET expectations with leadership and measure defensively, referencing analyses like Search Engine Land’s 2025 reporting on AIO impact and volatility.

Bottom line: A balanced, scenario‑based plan

• Links remain indispensable for sustainable rankings and as a gateway to AIO citations.
• Mentions—especially authoritative and positive ones—shape entity understanding and increase your odds of being cited by AI engines.
• Win in 2025 by running both in tandem: ship content worthy of top‑10 rankings, earn reputable mentions that AI trusts, reclaim unlinked coverage into links, and measure your share of voice across engines.

Next step: centralize monitoring. If you want to see how your brand appears across Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT—and spot unlinked mentions to convert—try Geneo to instrument your link‑ and mention‑building programs end‑to‑end.

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Recommended reading and sources cited

• Google: AI features and your website (2024–2025)
• Semrush: 2025 AI Overviews study
• SparkToro: 2024 Zero‑Click Search study
• Similarweb: AI Overviews impact analysis
• Google: Spam policies and March 2024 updates and Site reputation abuse
• Google: Link attribute guidance (nofollow/sponsored/ugc)
• Moz: Off‑site SEO fundamentals
• SEJ: Unlinked brand mentions guide
• Perplexity: How Perplexity works (citations)
• OpenAI: ChatGPT Search citations
• Ahrefs: Link reclamation case study
• BuzzStream: Link‑building pricing (2025)
• Siege Media: Link‑building cost guide
• uSERP: Link‑building services
• Search Engine Land: 2025 AIO impact and volatility coverage

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Call to action

• Monitor and improve your AI‑era visibility with Geneo: https://geneo.app