Backlinks used to be the go-to way to show how much online authority you had. The more links, the better. But the way people, search engines and LLMs pick up information has evolved. And with that, the meaning of authority is slowly changing too.

ChatGPT, Google Gemini and other AI systems give direct answers. No ten blue links anymore, just one recommendation. The question is simple. Are you the brand that gets mentioned, or do you stay off the radar?

What does it measure?

Our model uses an Authority Scorecard. This scorecard is built around four main pillars:

Demand & Recognition Authority Signals Narrative & Context Share of Voice

With Authority Signals, we look at how a website or brand is currently recognized externally. Not what you say about yourself, but what others say.

We look at things like media mentions, general brand mentions, backlinks, expert citations and AI citations. Relevance and quality matter most here. Classic linkbuilding metrics are part of the picture, but they’re not the main goal.

In total we measure this across roughly 40 different metrics, which combine into an overall score that benchmarks you against your most important competitors.

What does this mean for your brand?

There’s a moment in every purchase decision where someone googles or asks an AI something related to your brand or product category.

If they’re asking about your product category and your authority signals aren’t strong enough, you won’t even be part of the consideration.

If they’re asking about experiences with your brand, they’ll look for external validation too — reviews, independent articles, third-party coverage. If those don’t exist, a search engine or LLM can’t form a reliable picture.

Authority Signals work as confirmation at the moment someone is almost convinced. In a competitive market, that’s exactly what makes the difference.

Where does your brand stand?

Within the Publisher Place Authority Scorecard, this pillar is scored across forty metrics. The score is relative to your competitors. A 100 means average. Below 100 means room to gain. Above 100 means you have an edge.

What we see a lot: brands with a strong story and solid content, but a weak Authority score. They know who they are, but the outside world isn’t echoing that yet. That’s the gap our Digital PR campaigns are built to close.

Want to know where you stand? The Authority Scan maps out all the metrics and places them next to your competitors. So you know exactly where you are and what it takes to move forward.