AI search changed everything — except the power of backlinks

Search is fundamentally changing in 2025, forcing marketers to rethink optimisation strategies. Nothing has been more fundamental than backlinks over the years, but could this change in the age of AI search?

Some theories argue backlinks are already less important for SEO, but the data tells a very different story. In fact, early analysis of AI search patterns suggests backlinks are becoming more important as a ranking signal.

Are backlinks still important?

The short answer is: yes, backlinks are still massively important for SEO. However, there has been some confusion around this topic during the past year or so.

The confusion about backlinks

At SERPCon 2024, Google’s Gary Illyes suggested links were less important during his talk at the event.

His comments made waves in the SEO industry, prompting him to quickly backtrack: “I shouldn’t have said that… I definitely shouldn’t have said that”. Unfortunately, the damage was already done.

Within a matter of days, major publishers in the SEO industry were running articles entitled Google Confirms Links Are Not That Important, quoting Gary with commentary like “why Google doesn’t need links”. Confusion over the importance of links has been rife ever since, so how much do backlinks actually matter in 2025?

Backlinks are still a top ranking factor

Every recent and credible study draws the same conclusion: backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors.

• Ahrefs sees the same pattern in its 2025 analysis: “Generally, better link metrics equal higher rankings”.

• Semrush finds that eight out of the top 20 ranking factors for organic ranking factors relate to backlinks.

• A 2025 study showed that the number 1 result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10 – and our data below backs up this correlation.

Outside of the search marketing industry, academic research also finds that “quality links are pivotal” to improving search ranking.

We see the exact same findings in our own campaign data. Backlinks are clearly one of the top ranking factors for organic search.

For one of our financial services customers, we wanted to increase the authority of their loans section on the website. In 12-18 months, over 150 links were built, including a number of .gov and .ac.uk links. There were also protected domain links built to a deep page, which had an almost instantaneous impact on organic visibility.

We consistently find that link building is the fastest method of increasing organic ranking positions, especially for the most competitive keywords.

The image below shows that there is a really strong correlation between dofollow links and non-branded organic traffic. This research took the top 20 ranking positions for various search terms related to home insurance, car insurance, loans etc. 

We built 336 high authority links from 255 referring domains for a leading home insurance brand, helping to position themselves well in SERPs. The website now has the most high quality referring domains for /home-insurance against the competition, and the brand now receives the most traffic and AI Overviews vs. competitors. 

The full impact of link building in 2025

Aside from the traditional list of organic results, backlinks keep cropping up as a key signal for every new SERP feature and major change taking place in search right now. Link building in 2025 optimises for a wide range of visibility opportunities:

1. Organic search rankings

2. Competitive keywords/topics

3. Local SEO

4. Informational content

5. AI Overviews

6. ChatGPT mentions

7. Google’s AI Mode

1. Quality backlinks improve organic search rankings

Every reliable study on this topic finds that strong backlink profiles improve organic search rankings – not only in the traditional results, but AI Overviews and other search features.

2. Backlinks matter most for competitive keywords

As per Ahrefs and our own findings, the ranking boost from backlinks is strongest for keywords with higher search volumes. In other words, the most competitive keywords for any given topic. By extension, quality backlinks also protect your rankings for emerging keyword opportunities as search volumes increase.

3. Backlinks increasingly important for local queries

Backlinks are important for local SEO, too, and their impact on local rankings seems to be increasing. In fact, marketers now include backlinks among their top three most important ranking factors for local organic rankings.

	Factor	Score
1	Dedicated page for search service	163
2	Internal linking across entire website	149
3	Quality/Authority of inbound links to domain	148
4	Geographic keyword relevance of domain content	146
5	Keywords in GBP landing page title	140

Source

4. Backlinks important for informational content

Studies also find that backlinks are particularly important for informational content, compared to commercial and transactional queries. This is telling, given the correlations now being found between organic rankings, backlinks and citations in AI Overviews, ChatGPT and other AI tools.

5. Higher organic rankings increase AI Overview citations

Almost half of organic queries now show AI Overviews, adding to existing concerns about zero-click searches. Publishers are scrambling to show in AI Overviews as cited sources, and 75% of cited pages rank in the top 12 organic results for the same query.

The stronger your backlinks profiles are, the higher you rank for relevant queries. And, the higher you rank, the more likely you are to show in AI Overviews.

6. Higher search rankings also correlate with ChatGPT mentions

It makes sense that AI Overviews would favour pages that rank high in organic Google results. However, studies also reveal a correlation between organic rankings and ChatGPT mentions.

Of course, there’s no direct link between Google rankings and ChatGPT mentions. However, backlinks often include brand citations that tie your domain or business name with relevant information. The more of these citations you have across the internet, the more likely ChatGPT is to mention you.

7. AI Mode makes topical backlinks and citations crucial

AI Mode will eventually become the default search experience. Topical exploration will largely replace keywords, and you’ll be targeting citations in AI responses for visibility.

Building backlinks and brand citations around the topics your target audiences are exploring will be crucial in this new search experience.

Link building looks very different in 2025

Link building in 2025 isn’t only about improving search rankings in the traditional blue results. Yes, that’s still important (as studies show), but link building has a wider range of problems to solve now. For example, recovering traffic from zero-click searches and building visibility in AI search require different link building strategies.

The biggest challenge is that competition for organic visibility is only going to get more intense. The brands that stand out in this new age of search will be the ones that do the SEO fundamentals exceptionally well, paired with extensive link building and digital PR strategies.

Need support with your link building?

GAIN is here to help you navigate the new challenges of search marketing. You can read all about our link building services or contact us if you'd like to chat to one of the team.