The new SEO imperative: Building your brand

In 2025, SEO strategies must evolve beyond Google's search engine to encompass the broader landscape of multi-modal search. Search behavior is increasingly dispersed across various platforms – including AI-powered search, TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube – making reliance on Google alone a limiting factor for organic growth.

Prioritizing holistic brand building across platforms and interactions is paramount. Your brand acts as the unifying element, regardless of whether users seek products, services, or information. While non-brand keyword optimization remains valuable, it shouldn't overshadow a comprehensive brand-building strategy.

This article explores:

• Strategies to enhance brand visibility and awareness.
• Key brand-focused KPIs for progress tracking.
• Collaboration with paid teams to bolster brand presence.

Expanding Brand Visibility: A Strategic Shift

Leverage Public Relations

Consistent PR investment is crucial. PR's value in brand building and integrity is higher than ever. While previously focused on backlinks and high-quality placements, PR now helps establish brand authority. Securing mentions in reputable publications signals credibility to both Google and LLMs. If you haven't invested in PR, now's the time. Manage expectations; PR builds influence and awareness, but direct lead generation may be limited unless significant wins are achieved on relevant topics.

Amplify Brand Voices

Actively engage key team members in speaking and writing on relevant topics. A diverse range of voices covering strategic and tactical aspects strengthens your brand's message. Identify suitable platforms and contribute actively, or utilize digital PR to gain access to these channels.

Develop Proprietary Content

Proprietary data and research are highly valued by LLMs and industry journalists. Identify unique perspectives and allocate resources to gather exclusive information. For example, in telehealth, research on average waiting times or referral intervals can provide valuable insights. This type of content will resonate strongly across key platforms.

Optimize Structured Data

Structured data is vital for Google search and for connecting your brand to broader industry data. Cleanly structured data facilitates ingestion by Google and LLMs, increasing brand visibility when relevant to a query.

Strengthen Owned and Partner Media

Maximize your website and partner collaborations to associate your brand with key topics, providing ample material for discovery platforms. This includes:

• Detailed case studies showcasing brand success stories.
• Consistent phrasing ("{brand} {adjective} {keyword}") to reinforce LLM associations.
• Partner content featuring your brand alongside competitors.
• FAQ pages highlighting brand usage of specific techniques and solutions.

Tracking Brand-Building Success: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

In addition to standard SEO KPIs (rankings, impressions, clicks, CTR), consider these brand-centric metrics:

• LLM Visibility: Calculated as the number of mentions divided by the number of questions inputted into LLM models. Regular analysis is crucial due to the dynamic nature of AI content.
• Brand Search Volume & Traffic Over Time.
• Brand Mentions on Key Audience Platforms: Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, etc.

Synergizing Paid and Organic Efforts: A Collaborative Approach

While direct-response campaigns may not significantly impact SEO brand building, top-of-funnel campaigns (YouTube, LinkedIn) offer organic benefits. Analyze correlations between PPC activities and increased brand search volume. When advertising on informative non-brand keywords, incorporate brand mentions to encourage broader referencing across platforms. Paid search influences brand association with key topics, making it a valuable partner in organic brand building. Close communication between paid and organic teams strengthens both efforts.

Conclusion

The recommendations outlined here will also enhance Google performance, particularly by increasing citations in AI Overviews and improving search result rankings. By adopting a broader SEO perspective and establishing brand authority, you'll move beyond keyword limitations and build a stronger brand presence across the organic landscape.

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