Unlock SEO Power: What Is a Brand Mention & Why It Matters

Did you know that every time someone mentions your brand name online, Google still “takes notice” even if there are no backlinks? These mentions, called brand mentions, are authority signals that search engines use to evaluate your brand. But what is a brand mention for SEO, and how can you avoid missing out on its benefits?

Read on to understand what is a brand mention for SEO and how to turn each mention into a measurable SEO advantage.

Key Takeaways

Brand mentions are when a brand name is mentioned online, with or without a link, it helps increase credibility and SEO rankings.
Google considers brand mentions as a signal of trust. Especially “implied links” which have the same value as backlinks.
Increase brand mentions by creating quality content, promoting social networks, collaborating with KOLs, PR and encouraging reviews from customers.
Use tools like Google Alerts, Mention, Brand24 to monitor and respond promptly to brand mentions, including from competitors, to optimize SEO strategies.

What Are Brand Mentions?

Brand mentions are when people talk about your company, product, or brand on the internet. The mentions can appear in social media posts, blogs, news articles, or reviews. The more mentions you get, the more your brand will be recognized.

So, what is a brand mention for SEO, specifically?

There are two types of brand mentions:

Linked mentions: the business is mentioned with a link to your website. They are the most valuable in SEO because backlinks are one of the important factors that Google uses to evaluate and rank websites. In addition, they are a positive signal that your website is trustworthy.

For example, a KOL is writing about your product and attaching a link to your website.

Linked mentions that link to your website have high value in SEO (source: BuzzStream)

Unlinked mentions: Only mentioning the brand name but without adding a link. While not as directly valuable as a backlink, mentions are still useful. Google is getting smarter. It can recognize these unlinked mentions as “implied links.” Also, it helps to strengthen your brand’s authority and presence in the eyes of search engines.

For example: A reviewer liked the cakes at ABC, but they did not include a link to the website.

Understanding what is a brand mention for SEO means recognizing both linked and unlinked mentions. They help increase the authority and visibility of your site. Even without a backlink, Google still considers them a trust signal.

What are brand mentions (Source: Cision)

Why Are Brand Mentions Important for SEO?

Brand mentions increase search engine visibility and build brand reputation. Google sees them as signals that your brand is being talked about and trusted. That’s why the importance of brand references in SEO has grown significantly in recent years.

1. Impact on Search Rankings and Brand Trust

Google uses data from brand mentions to assess the relevance and authority of a brand. When your brand is mentioned frequently, Google understands that you are influential in that field. More mentions mean your website appears higher in the rankings. Especially for branded keywords.

Brand mentions impact search rankings and brand trust

In addition, more mentions also increase brand trust. When users see your name mentioned in many places, they will trust you more.

For example, if fashion blogs like Who What Wear or The Zoe Report mention your fashion brand in an article like “Top 10 Sustainable Brands to Know,”. These mentions can drive traffic from your target audience and boost your SEO authority through backlinks from trusted sites.

2. Brand Mentions as Implied Links

To understand what is a brand mention for SEO, you must also understand “implied links.” Implied links are when a brand name is mentioned without an actual link. Google’s algorithm still recognizes such mentions. Google considers them to be a type of “linkless backlink.”

For example, if someone writes “BeanRoast coffee is delicious” without including a website link. Google still counts as a signal of the BeanRoast brand’s trustworthiness.

Implied links are when a brand name is mentioned without an attached link

Google values brand mentions without backlinks because they reflect organic popularity. When many people positively talk about you, it shows real influence. Google is trying to evaluate objectively instead of just looking at the number of links.

So, brand mentions in the form of implied links are not just a trend. They are an essential part of improving brand recognition, trustworthiness. In addition, they affect search rankings even without a traditional link being used.

Differences Between Brand Mentions and Backlinks

Here’s a quick comparison between brand mentions and traditional backlinks:

Factor	Backlinks	Brand Mentions
Hyperlink included	Yes	Not always
Passes link juice	Yes	Not directly
Google ranking factor	Yes	Indirectly
Builds trust	Yes	Yes
Increases visibility	Yes	Yes

Understanding what is a brand mention for SEO helps clarify its role compared to backlinks. While backlinks are direct ranking signals, brand mentions support trust and visibility. Both of which contribute to long-term search performance.

SEO strategies for enhancing brand visibility should combine both backlinks and brand mentions. They can build a well-rounded, long-term approach to search engine optimization.

🏷️ Read more: Outsource Backlink Building: 6 Steps to Get It Right

How to Create and Increase Brand Mentions for SEO? 5 Fundamental Tips

Now that you understand the impact of branded mentions on SEO ranking. Here’s how to generate more of them.

1. Creating High-Quality and Engaging Content

One of the most effective ways to increase organic brand mentions is to create content that is truly valuable to your audience. Your content should solve a specific problem, provide insight, or provide unique value. So that, readers will be more likely to share and mention your brand naturally, even if they don’t include a link.

Create high quality and engaging content that attracts

You can start with simple but effective content formats such as:

Detailed tutorials or industry tips that solve real-world problems in your industry.
How-to videos, visual infographics. Case studies that demonstrate your business’s real-world experience.
Add social sharing buttons to each article to make it easy for readers to spread the content to their communities.

For example, your business provides software solutions for the logistics industry. A detailed how-to article on “How to Optimize Your Supply Chain in the Post-Pandemic Era”. It would not only help readers but also position you as a trusted source.

In addition, you should focus on “evergreen” content. That is, articles that retain their value over time. These will continue to be referenced, shared, and found on Google long after you publish them. They can create a steady flow of brand mentions.

2. Leveraging Social Media for Brand Awareness

Brand awareness in digital marketing often starts with building a social presence. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are ideal places. We connect with potential customers and encourage interactions, sharing, and recommendations of your brand.

Practical examples to increase brand mentions on social media:

Create a hashtag campaign on TikTok or Instagram Reels. For example: If you sell exercise equipment, try to discover the #30DaysWithFlex block. By having users record videos using the product every day.
Call on customers to share their experiences: The brand will give away vouchers or gifts. The condition is simple: post a photo or video using the product with the brand name tag.
Run a minigame or giveaway: Ask participants to share your branded post.

Every like, comment, share, or tag can be counted by Google as a brand mention. It’s great if these interactions happen frequently and come from multiple accounts.

Leverage social media to increase brand awareness

3. Collaborating with Influencers and Media

If you want to expand your reach quickly, consider collaborations with influencers. In addition, it can be media channels related to your field.

Steps to take:

Identify the right influencers: Choose people with real followers and stable interactions. In addition, the content should be suitable for the industry. Depending on your budget, choose a suitable nano, micro or macro influencer.
Send product experiences or plan collaborative content: It can be a review, a vlog using the product, or an introductory post on the story.
Connect with reporters, bloggers or industry newsrooms: Send emails suggesting articles about the brand, founder stories, or professional perspectives.

Even without direct backlinks. These collaborations often include mentions that improve brand visibility and trust.

Partner with influencers and media to expand reach

4. Utilizing Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Encouraging reviews and feedback from customers is quite effective. Genuine compliments from real users really have a strong influence. It increases trust when posted publicly on many platforms. But don’t post too much or try to praise, it will be like seeding.

Brands collect reviews from groups of posts on Facebook, Google. E-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Amazon and AliExpress.

Collecting feedback is quite simple. Send a thank you email with a review link after purchase. Stick a QR code on the product packaging leading to the review page.

You can send a message via Messenger, Zalo, or Instagram to remind customers to leave feedback. In addition, you should chat directly at the store and ask customers to leave a review after a positive experience.

Using customer reviews and testimonials to build credibility (source: embedsocial)

5. Advanced PR and Outreach Strategies

A clever digital PR strategy can help your brand appear in reputable newspapers, blogs, podcasts, or social media channels. This can generate a series of quality brand mentions.

According to Jane Hunt, one of the leading digital PR experts in the UK, “Digital PR is the intersection of traditional PR, content marketing, and SEO. We borrow techniques from the other two fields and combine them with SEO strategies. It supports increasing search visibility and building trust for the brand.”

A smart digital public relations strategy can help your brand appear in reputable newspapers or social media channels

We can see that Google prioritizes brands as well as major media and publishing sites. Understanding what is a brand mention for SEO reveals that these mentions are the driving force to aim for, even without direct backlinks.

So, try to approach PR. By participating in interviews, providing expertise for industry-related articles. Also, use the HARO (Help A Reporter Out) platform to connect with journalists who need expert quotes.

🏷️ Read more: SEO Strategy for SAAS: How to Boost Organic Growth in 2024?

How to Find and Monitor Brand Mentions for SEO

Knowing what is a brand mention for SEO isn’t enough. Once your brand starts getting mentioned online. You need to monitor and manage those brand mentions to increase your SEO effectiveness. Here are specific ways to get the most out of brand mentions.

Using Online Tools to Track Brand Mentions

To save time and accurately track mentions on a large scale, take advantage of dedicated tools:

Google Alerts (Free):

Set up alerts for brand names, product names, or related keywords. Google will send an email every time it detects new content containing the keywords you track. For example, if brand A mentions your name, the tool will send an email notification.
To set up alerts, go to https://google.com/alerts. Then enter the keyword or keyword phrase you want to receive alerts for. Continue to click on “Show options“. Here you can edit the frequency of receiving alerts, the source of receiving alerts, and many other settings. Finally, click “Create Alert“.

Use online tracking tools to save time and accurately track mentions (source: Umica)

Mention: Track real-time brand mentions on websites, blogs, and social networks. Filter by sentiment (positive/neutral/negative) and suggest interactions.

Brand24: Visual reports with charts of mentions over time, traffic sources, and sentiment. You can also track competitors and set up multiple tracking keywords.

The tools help you respond quickly and build stronger relationships with people who mention your brand.

Monitoring Social Media and Forums for Unlinked Mentions

Many important brand mentions occur where Google can’t collect them all. Typically, they’re Facebook groups, Instagram comments, Twitter, Threads, and TikTok captions. Also, Reddit, Quora, industry forums, and community groups

Awario specializes in monitoring social media

The solution is to use each platform’s internal search function with keywords: “Brand Name”, “Product Name”, “CEO Name”

Set alerts with BrandMentions.com or Awario. Two tools that specialize in monitoring social media and user-generated content (UGC).

Actively engage: like, reply to comments, thank, or explain information. Increase brand affinity and encourage more sharing.

When you spot a negative mention, respond quickly and politely, showing empathy for the person who reported it. If the issue is complex, move the conversation to a private channel to discuss further and find a solution. Once resolved, communicate a positive outcome to rebuild trust and brand image. It is also an opportunity to improve your products and services based on real feedback.

Analyzing Competitor Brand Mentions for Opportunities

Track where and how your competitors are being mentioned. You can learn a lot from their content strategy.

Discover what types of content are attracting mentions and shares. Find out which posts are going viral.

Use analytics tools:

Ahrefs: Check Content Explorer or Brand Mentions for your competitor’s domain.
BuzzSumo: Find content that’s going viral and which brands are being mentioned in the posts.
SEMrush Tool: Track both linkless and linkless mentions to find opportunities to “backlink” or create similar content.

Analyze competitor brand mentions to find opportunities with quick tools

Avoid Spamming Brand Mentions – It Can Backfire

Many businesses think that the more brand mentions, the better. However, if you intentionally create or promote too many unnatural (spammy) brand mentions, it can do more harm than good.

Users may lose trust if they see your brand appearing repeatedly. Google may flag this as SEO manipulation. Especially if the brand mention is stuffed into low-quality, irrelevant content.

Therefore, focus on building quality, natural, and truly valuable mentions. The content should be contextual, useful to readers, and aligned with the brand image.

Final Thoughts

So, what is a brand mention for SEO really? It’s more than just a name-drop. It’s an important SEO strategy that combines reputation, trust, and search visibility.

By actively monitoring online brand reputation, generating positive mentions, and creating a robust content ecosystem, you’re setting your brand up for long-term digital success.

Remember, whether linked or not, brand references in SEO serve as powerful credibility signals. If you find it difficult to increase brand mentions, you can hire an SEO outsourcing service to help your company. Having someone to manage your brand SEO will increase the effectiveness of your brand SEO and create more trust.