Skip to content
AEO Canon · the reference for answer-engine optimization
Off-site & authority

Build the authority AI already trusts.

Answer engines trust what the wider web vouches for — and they weigh brand mentions far more than backlinks. These playbooks show how to earn genuine presence on the surfaces engines read most, the honest way. No gaming, no manipulation; the Authority pillar rejects it because engines do.

The playbooks

12 guides
Digital PR

Digital PR for AI: Earn the Mentions Engines Trust

Digital PR for AI means creating genuinely newsworthy assets — original data, expert commentary, useful tools — that earn brand mentions across the web, because mentions correlate with AI visibility far more than backlinks.

Forums & communities

Forum & Community Strategy for AEO

Niche forums and communities — Stack Exchange, industry forums, Discord, Slack groups — are increasingly surfaced in AI answers, so genuine expert participation where your audience gathers builds real off-site authority.

Branded mentions

How to Build Branded Mentions (the #1 AI Visibility Signal)

Branded mentions — your name appearing across the web, linked or not — are the strongest controllable correlate of AI visibility. Build them by being genuinely worth mentioning everywhere your audience and the engines look.

Publications & press

How to Get Mentioned in Publications (for AI Visibility)

Editorial mentions in reputable publications are high-trust corroboration AI engines read — earned by being genuinely useful to journalists through expertise, data, and timely commentary, never by paying for coverage.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn for AEO: Turn Professional Presence Into AI Authority

LinkedIn is among the most-cited domains in AI answers and a key professional-entity signal, so a credible, active presence — real expertise shared consistently — builds the authority engines trust, especially for B2B.

Podcasts

Podcast AEO Strategy: Build Entity Recognition Through Audio

Podcast appearances build the entity recognition and quotable, transcribed mentions AI engines use to trust you — so getting your experts on relevant shows is a genuine, high-leverage off-site authority move.

Quora & Q&A

Quora AEO: Answer Real Questions Where AI Looks

Quora and Q&A sites pair real questions with expert answers in exactly the shape AI engines want to cite, so writing genuinely useful, well-evidenced answers to questions in your field is a direct off-site authority move.

Reddit

Reddit AEO Playbook: Get Cited by AI Through Genuine Participation

Reddit is the single most-cited domain in AI answers, so genuine, helpful participation in the right subreddits is one of the highest-leverage off-site moves in AEO — done honestly, never by manipulation.

Review platforms

Review Platform Playbook: Win Trust Engines Read

Review platforms like G2, Trustpilot, and Google are trust-and-corroboration signals AI engines read when deciding what to recommend, so the play is earning genuine reviews and engaging honestly — never buying or faking them.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia Strategy for AEO: Earn an Accurate Entity Presence

Wikipedia is a top citation source and a foundational entity signal for AI engines, so the goal is an accurate, well-sourced presence earned through notability — never paid or conflict-of-interest editing, which Wikipedia forbids.

YouTube

YouTube AEO Playbook: The Strongest Signal of AI Visibility

YouTube mentions are the single strongest correlate of AI visibility in Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands, so genuinely useful video — and being mentioned in others' videos — is a top off-site authority move.

Not sure where to start?

The Off-Site Authority Audit scores your footprint across every surface and points you to the gap worth fixing first.

Run the audit →