Why Brand Authority is Core in The Post-Click Era
By Jenny Banful
While brand authority isn’t exactly a new concept for digital marketers, there’s been a renewed emphasis on its importance in the wake of the post-click era. Generative search models are a huge contributing factor behind the resurgence of brand authority as a way of filtering through all the noise; the other is the way we consume.
With more information than ever at the command of a prompt, we rely on our human judgement and search engines to serve us the most relevant, trustworthy and up-to-date information, as well as recommended content for a more personalised user experience. In short, if brands want to win in this attention economy, trust signalling is the way forward.
As our Senior SEO Account Manager, Nicholas Smith, puts it:
‘We need to stop chasing clicks and start building brand authority by shifting the focus to long-tail branded queries and increasing overall brand presence. This is the best way to really control the narrative and become the definitive, high-visibility source for relevant queries.’
Just like the minting of a limited-edition coin or a special tag that authenticates a bag’s quality, brands rely on EEAT to signal their trustworthiness. Building strong trust signals can lead to higher conversion rates, longer page visits and greater visibility in AI-generated search summaries and recommendations, all of which are positive ranking factors vital for adapting to a zero-click search landscape.
But what do these trust signals look like, and how effective are they?
Reviews and PR
Word of mouth still matters. From a new product launch, such as the viral M&S strawberries and cream sandwich, to a production of Swan Lake on the West End, people want to know if something is worth the hype and how they can get their hands on it. Whether in the form of social proof, such as a Reel or an article published by The Guardian, reviews are the next best thing to trying something first-hand. Along with gaining valuable backlinks from media mentions and industry experts, brands can also leverage reviews from reputable influencers to help reach a niche audience.
Credentials
It’s not bragging if you can back it up. From detailed author bylines and a legacy of high-quality content or craftsmanship to customer testimonials and award-winning products, brands that showcase their expertise and receive recognition for their products or services only make for a more credible and distinct brand reputation.
Off-Site Visibility = A Surge in Brand Searches
IRL marketing is taking off, especially among a chronically online Gen Z audience. Experiential, standout billboards and clever real-world activations are shaping how audiences talk about brands long before they ever reach a search bar. When a brand shows up in unexpected places – through viral stunts, outdoor creative that earns social shares, or events people genuinely want to be part of – it builds the kind of buzz that search engines recognise as trust signals. These offline moments translate into online momentum, resulting in more branded searches, more citations, more conversation, and ultimately stronger SEO authority across the SERPs. In a landscape where algorithms reward brands people actually care about, off-site visibility isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s a strategic lever for sustainable SEO growth.
Community platforms
Online communities have become one of the most influential drivers of brand authority, because they create the kind of organic, high-intent engagement that search engines can’t ignore. Whether it’s niche forums, creator-led newsletters, or brand-owned spaces that actually deliver value, these communities act as always-on ecosystems where people share experiences, surface recommendations, and validate credibility in real-time. As conversations compound, so do the signals: more brand mentions, more evergreen content, and more trust flowing through the digital ecosystem, which feeds directly into stronger visibility and SEO authority across search.
Transparency
Transparency has become a competitive currency, and the rise of de-influencing shows that audiences now gravitate toward brands willing to tell the truth even when it’s not the flashy version. The Ordinary’s new ‘Periodic Fable’ campaign is a perfect example that strips skincare back to its raw components, educating rather than overselling, and making ingredient clarity the hero. It’s the kind of move that builds credibility in culture and, in turn, across search, fuelling authentic conversation, trusted citations and long-lasting authority signals. In a landscape oversaturated with hype, campaigns rooted in honesty stand out by aligning with what people actually value.
In a search environment defined by zero-click journeys, building brand authority isn’t a single tactic, but an ecosystem of trust signals working collectively to establish brand authority: authentic visibility, credible voices, real-world presence, transparent storytelling, and communities that advocate on your behalf. As the landscape continues to shift, brands that continually invest in trust signalling and brand authority, on and offline, will be the ones shaping the narrative.
Now that we’ve covered why brand is back, feel free to follow up with our SEO team on how to leverage EEAT for the future.
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