SEO for Brand Visibility & Recognition - #zagrebseosummit

Learn why brand visibility and recognition is key for your traditional search results as well as LLMs visibility and how to improve them.

Transcript

1. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI SEO FOR BRAND VISIBILITY & RECOGNITION
2. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Today more than ever, SEO is whether 
 a brand or product problem
3. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI For smaller companies: solving the “brand” (popularity & authority) issue is the biggest one
4. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI For bigger companies (and sites), the “product” (execution buy-in & alignment) is the top challenge
5. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI In terms of SEO areas of importance, 
 it translates to this PRODUCT BRAND
6. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI The sites that succeed in search connect their brand & product with users search needs
7. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Semrush & similarweb As an outcome, these sites attract a very high share of branded searches as well as direct traffic
8. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Semrush Often attracting more branded traffic than non- branded, making it easier to rank and convert
9. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://nypost.com/2024/07/29/business/google-search-shows-bias-to-major-brands-pushes-ads-report/ I know we love to complain about Google’s 
 big brand preference
10. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI But you can also have a popular “off-line” brand that fails translating its authority to search, a web product problem
11. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Also, what if instead of complaining, we help to grow the website’s brand recognition and visibility? If it affects SEO, it should also be part of our work
12. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Eric Schmidt in 2008 was already saying “brands” were the solution to internet “cesspool”
13. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI This was one of the big learnings from recent Google Doc leaks: They track brand / entity signals https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them/
14. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Brand visibility, like branded searches are 
 used in Google quality scores at a subdomain level https://searchengineland.com/google-exploit-scoring-classifications-449333
15. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Google has also recently shared they want to showcase “real” brands with expertise in SERPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3M_tal884c
16. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/does-brand-awareness-impact-llm-visibility Brand awareness only gains importance with LLMs, with entity based understanding and prioritization of authoritative brands with more citations in answers
17. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content Developing a trusted brand with a great product experience that Google can recognize is what the “people first” guidelines are for
18. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/05/succeeding-in-ai-search, https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/april-2025/mastering-ai-powered-search-next-level-strategies-for-marketers These guidelines are also consistent with the ones given for AI search by Google and Microsoft too
19. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI This goes beyond brand popularity too: “on topic” alignment is also critical for your content https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/hubspot-blog-rankings-drop-analysis/
20. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI It’s your overall Web experience “on brand”? It’s about aligning and amplify your brand through your overall site information, design and experience 1. Mobile friendly 0. Secure 2. Loads fast 3. Non-intrusive Design 4. Great UX 5. Real Expertise/Experience 6. Satisfies search needs LOGO
21. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://ahrefs.com/blog/links-matter-less-but-still-matter/ The reality is that people prefer to link to websites of brands they recognize and trust too. So it’s also a chicken and eggs scenario!
22. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Also, in SERPs full of features, establishing a brand people trust and has affinity for is key for CTR, traffic & sales
23. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://www.growth-memo.com/p/the-first-ever-ux-study-of-googles This is even more important in LLMs answers, where links are less visible, more blended & brand authority is the first gate
24. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://searchengineland.com/brands-search-results-survey-452789 People prefer to click on brands they know, and it shouldn’t be surprising
25. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI It’s also not about replacing brand or product experts but optimizing their efforts for search > YOUR SITE PAGES COMPETITORS PAGES AWARENESS ADVOCACY USERS SEARCH JOURNEY CONSIDERATION ACQUISITION RETENTION SEMANTICALLY RELEVANT CONTENT USER FRIENDLY PAGE 
 EXPERIENCE FORMATTED TO FULFILL USER NEEDS & MAXIMIZE ENGAGEMENT POPULAR & 
 AUTHORITATIVE 
 CONTENT EXPERT/EXPERIENCED, HIGH QUALITY 
 TRUSTWORTHY, ON- BRAND INFORMATION CRAWLABLE & 
 INDEXABLE RANKABLE 
 FOR RELEVANT 
 QUERIES
26. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Let’s go through a few actions to optimize 
 your brand authority and recognition in search Structured Data Brand and entities Specification in Site Consistent brand mentions and backlinks from company profiles Consistent site brand experience and internal linking Consistent and positive mentions and reviews in Third party Websites On-Topic Top of the Funnel Content & resource Creation Consistent third party backlinks growth with branded anchor text Branded searches and direct traffic generation and growth Recognized Entity in Google’s Knowledge Graph Optimized Web rankings for branded searches CTR Improvement for brand and non- brand searches
27. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://botpenguin.com/glossary/brand-positioning Start by understanding your brand positioning: How do you differentiate vs competitors? Why you should be chosen over them? By which audience?
28. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI How do you want to be recognized? 
 Eg. How are you ranking for key “<brand> 
 <characteristic>” queries? From top to bad or wrong ones Ahrefs
29. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Understand, monitor and target your branded search demand across your relevant markets Ahrefs
30. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI What are users asking about your brand? Are questions aligned with brand & content strategy? Ahrefs
31. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Look for common branded searches patterns across the customer journey Ahrefs [PRODUCT NAME] PRICING VS REVIEWS ALTERNATIVES FREE PLANS SALE 
 REDDIT 
 PACKAGE 
 … LOGIN 
 HELP CLIENT SERVICE 
 INTEGRATION TRAINING CAREERS JOBS …
32. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI How’s your brand shown in the results for these queries? Which sites and pages are ranking? Do you have an official brand presence on these pages?
33. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://alsoasked.com/ What about those questions addressed through PAA’s in SERPs? Which sites are ranking there?
34. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI And your brand Google suggested queries?
35. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI What are the top questions & queries in your own site internal search and through help center?
36. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI What about conversations on social platforms? What are the top topics? What’s their sentiment? Use social audience analysis tools https://buzzabout.ai/
37. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI How’s your brand recognized by LLMs? Identify associated entities and visibility vs competitors https://waikay.io/, https://airank.dejan.ai/
38. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Similarweb What are the branded prompts that generate more traffic to your site?
39. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Identify the source of answers for top 
 questions & gap vs competitors https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67aa615488888191995007984126be15-ai-brand-and-product-visibility
40. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://numerous.ai/ What’s the sentiment of the top questions? Use Add-on’s like Numerous.ai to classify them
41. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI How are you targeting all these queries? For how many are you already ranking in top positions? Ahrefs
42. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI What’s the blend of these branded vs non- branded searches you’re already ranking for? Is your branded traffic going to the relevant page? What’s their CTR & conversion performance?
43. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/3ff3c140-e191-46bb-872a-66cf6c45eb1d/page/6zXD Here’s a Looker Studio dashboard to monitor & assess branded vs non-branded GSC performance
44. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI What about those branded queries you don’t rank for? Are they relevant to target? Can you rank through your own site or need to piggy back third party presence? Ahrefs
45. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI If your brand is not yet attracting many branded searches yet, research this with major competitors to identify those topics also relevant for yours Ahrefs
46. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Use these insights to align your site content, PR & branding efforts to optimize & grow your authority NON-BRANDED BRANDED
47. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://serpapi.com/knowledge-graph Start with the fundamentals: Is your brand recognized as an entity in Google’s Knowledge Graph? Are the details correct & all presence included?
48. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://audits.com/tools/knowledge-graph-search/ What’s your salience score towards your brand query? Are there other sites recognized for it too?
49. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/organization & https://validator.schema.org/ Specify all brand details through the Organization Schema on your site! Use every relevant property
50. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Claim your knowledge panel and suggest changes to make the details accurate
51. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI It’s also critical to optimize your brand information across all the company web presence, not only your main site
52. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Optimize all your brand social & external platforms presence consistently and link back to main site
53. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://inlinks.com/free-seo-tools/named-entities-indexing-checker-seo-tool/ Beyond your brand: What other relevant entities are recognized in your site content?
54. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://inlinks.com/ Configure your site knowledge graph to specify all relevant entities in your content to facilitate Google relevance assessment
55. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://www.keywordinsights.ai/ Expand your “on-topic” content strategy targeting your audience brand concerns during their journey
56. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Clearly showing who’s behind the brand, its values, why they should trust it, who the brand ideal customers are, establishing overall EEAT
57. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Customer Testimonials Professional Credentials & Awards Consistent Name, Address, Phone (NAP) Fast loading, secure, clean, easy to browse design Company values, mission and vision Company privacy policies and legal conditions Press and 
 Brand Kit Easy to access contact and support center Visible expert and experienced authorship Clearly showing who’s behind the brand, its values, why they should trust it, who the brand ideal customers are, establishing overall EEAT
58. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Helping users to decide if they should buy your product 
 vs your competitors with honesty, minimizing badly fit clients
59. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Optimizing your support and community presence to rank for relevant customer questions to solve their issues and retain them as clients (while minimizing support costs)
60. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Engaging in third party platforms where there 
 are questions about your brand (or not)
61. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Addressing your audience “off-brand” 
 questions to set them right when relevant
62. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Creating resources and tools to address your audience doubts through their customer journey to establish as a trusted advisor in your industry
63. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI These will not only establish your authority, but generate branded searches for which you’ll rank first, and also attract backlinks
64. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI What’s fundamental is that these resources are actually “on topic” for your brand and aligned to your expertise
65. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Remember to also optimize existing non-SEO lead campaigns: Take a look at the Notion Faces
66. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI This was likely not an SEO or link building but optimized branding play that has helped them attract even more recognition and popularity
67. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Ahrefs The same happens with Spotify Wrapped, generating traffic, mentions & backlinks each year
68. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Remember to align with community and PR to promote these resources and use them to engage with your audience
69. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI It’s about optimizing the visibility of every “brand” related activity for consistent search recognition Online community and social media Meetups and conferences Guest Posts in authoritative publications Webinars and podcasts PR activity and media mentions Competitions and giveaways Industry Research and Surveys Influencer marketing campaigns Etc….
70. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Sparktoro Unsure where to promote & expand presence? Use Sparktoro to see where your audience engages
71. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Buzzsumo Monitor your brand mentions with tools like Buzzsumo across the web to identify further opportunities to tackle as soon as they arise
72. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Rinse and repeat! This is how you grow your 
 brand authority at an ongoing basis Structured Data Brand and entities Specification in Site Consistent brand mentions and backlinks from company profiles Consistent site brand experience and internal linking Consistent and positive mentions and reviews in Third party Websites Consistent third party backlinks growth with branded anchor text Branded searches and direct traffic generation and growth Recognized Entity in Google’s Knowledge Graph Optimized Web rankings for branded searches CTR Improvement for brand and non- brand searches On-Topic Top of the Funnel Content & resource Creation
73. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI It’s the alignment of all these actions that will establish a brand that’s so popular in its sector Google can’t overlook & users will click even if not in 1st position
74. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI From now on, every time you take an SEO 
 related action, there’s a new question to ask Is this on brand?
75. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqvVmsDJXK0 Want to learn about more brand optimization ideas and opportunities? Watch this Crawling Mondays
76. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://learningseo.io/seo_roadmap/deepen-knowledge/scenarios/seo-branding/ Check out LearningSEO’s “SEO for Brand Recognition and Visibility” New Section
77. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI Once you’ve started positioning and growing an authoritative brand Google can’t overlook, it’s time to solve your product problem too
78. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI https://speakerdeck.com/aleyda/how-to-align-seo-within-the-product-triangle-to-get-buy-in-and-support-number-rimc But that’s beyond our today’s session scope: 
 Check my presentation about this topic!
79. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI At the end, it’s about the results. By growing a recognizable authoritative brand, with a cost- effective, well aligned and lean product execution
80. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI It’s time to change the narrative and win the 
 brand challenge for consistent SEO success BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI
81. BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI I’m Aleyda Solis * SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti * SEOFOMO, AImarketers & MarketingFOMO Newsletters Author * SEO Speaker at +100 Events in +20 countries * Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.” * Crawling Mondays Video & Podcast Series Host * Maker LearningSEO.io * European Search Personality of the Year in 2018 * remoters.net Co-Founder Thanks! Questions? BRAND SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI