<h1>Brand Mentions</h1><p>Brand mentions are a form of&nbsp;<a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/social-proof/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">social proof</a>, and they carry more weight than many marketers realize.</p><p>They work because people trust what others say about you more than what you say about yourself.</p><h2>Key Takeaways</h2><ul><li>Brand mentions, linked or unlinked, build trust with both Google and AI models.</li><li>Search engines treat mentions as implied links, which support rankings and authority.</li><li>Large language models (LLMs) use brand mentions as signals for credibility in AI Overviews and generated answers.</li><li>Digital PR, guest posting, and thought leadership are proven ways to earn high-quality mentions.</li><li>Tools like Google Alerts, Brandwatch, and Mention help you track where and how often you’re mentioned.</li><li>You can often&nbsp;<a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-build-backlinks/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">convert brand mentions into backlinks</a>&nbsp;with a simple outreach email.</li></ul><p><br></p>