Do backlinks still matter for AI search?
Yes, and arguably more than before. Retrieval systems have to choose which of a thousand pages answering a question is worth citing, and they lean on the same authority signals search engines do: who links to you, who references you, and whether the wider web treats you as credible on the subject.
Why links carry over
Language models were trained on the open web and increasingly retrieve from it live. Neither process invented a new way to find out that a business exists or that it is credible. Both inherited one, and links are most of it.
This is the single biggest carryover and the least discussed, because it is less exciting than the idea that AI search requires starting over.
Why link volume is the wrong measure
Two programmes can produce identical link counts and wildly different AI visibility. What matters is whether the placements sit on sources these systems actually read, whether your name appears in a context that says what you do, and whether the mentions accumulate into a coherent picture.
Domain Rating does not capture any of that, and DR can be bought. The number worth checking on a prospective placement is the publisher's real monthly organic traffic.
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