Series

GEO & AEO

Generative and answer engine optimization (GEO, AEO): how AI search chooses what to cite, and how bklink labels content so it is cited accurately.

geo-aeo

Generative Engine Optimization and Backlinks: What Gets Cited in AI Search

Generative engine optimization is about getting cited in AI answers. Google says AI Overviews need no special optimisation beyond being indexed and snippet-eligible, OpenAI separates its search crawler from its training crawler, and the GEO study found quotations, statistics and citations lift visibility while keyword stuffing does not. Backlinks help a page get found and trusted, as in search, but do not buy a citation.

Palash Bagchi · September 23, 2026 · 7 min read

finance

Backlinks for Finance Sites: What Changes When Google Treats You as YMYL

Finance is one of Google's YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) categories, which means link-building for a finance site is judged on source credibility more heavily than volume. A handful of links from recognized financial publishers outweighs a much larger batch of generic guest posts.

Palash Bagchi · September 14, 2026 · 11 min read

Illustration comparing two backlink authority scores

Glossary

DR vs DA vs BV: What Each Website Rating Score Measures

DR (Domain Rating) is Ahrefs' own 0-100 backlink-authority score. DA (Domain Authority) is Moz's separate 0-100 score. They're built from different link indexes and different formulas, so the same site can show very different DR and DA numbers — and neither one is a Google ranking factor.

Palash Bagchi · September 14, 2026 · 14 min read