Why technical SEO alone is not enough to promote a website
In the previous articles, What SEO is and how it helps a website attract customers and Technical SEO: how to audit and configure your website, we explored page structure, H1–H3 headings, internal links and technical settings.
All of this helps Yandex and Google discover a website, crawl its pages and understand what they are about.
But another question follows.
Suppose a search engine finds ten well-configured websites offering roughly the same services. They all have clear headings, fast pages, a sensible structure and useful text.
How does it decide which website to show first?
Technical tidiness alone is no longer enough. A search engine needs to understand which sources it can trust more, which website has a real connection to its subject and whether other sources support the information it publishes.
This is where work on website authority begins.
Links from other websites, mentions of the company and author, customer reviews, publications on relevant platforms and consistent information across the web can all contribute.
None of these is a magic “rank first” button on its own. Together, though, they help a search engine see a real project with independent information behind it.
In this article, we will look at link authority, where to earn mentions and links, how to strengthen trust in a website and why this matters for both ordinary SEO and AI search.
Why ordinary SEO remains the foundation of AI search
There is a lot of hype around AI search right now.
It can feel as though familiar SEO no longer works, ordinary search results will soon be irrelevant, and the entire internet will revolve around Alice, Gemini and other AI services.
But AI search does not pull information out of thin air.
A search engine first needs to discover relevant pages, access their content, understand the subject and decide which sources to trust. The information it finds can then be used to generate an AI answer.
There is no need to treat SEO and AI search as opposing approaches.
If a search engine cannot discover a page, understand its structure or connect it to the right topic, AI search is unlikely to make effective use of its information either.
In plain English: a website first needs to work properly in ordinary search, then it can become one of the sources for AI search.
Technical accessibility alone is not enough, though.
When many websites fit a query, a search engine has to choose whose information to use. Website authority, external links, company mentions, author information, reviews and other trust signals start to matter here.
How AI search generates answers
AI search does more than recall an answer from its “head”. It can find current material in a search index and use it to answer a specific query.
This approach is often called RAG: “retrieve first, then generate”.
A website owner does not need to memorise the technology's name. The important principle is that an AI answer may draw on several pages, but those pages first have to be discovered and selected as suitable sources.
AI search therefore uses information already found and indexed by ordinary search, presenting it in a new format.
We will look at how sources are chosen from all those pages a little later.
What E-E-A-T is and why it matters for a website
Another term often comes up in discussions of website quality and authority: E-E-A-T.
It stands for:
- E: Experience, the author's first-hand practical experience of the subject;
- E: Expertise, their knowledge and professional competence;
- A: Authoritativeness, the authority of the author, company or website;
- T: Trustworthiness, the reliability and accuracy of the information.
In simple terms, E-E-A-T helps you look at content through a reader's eyes: who published it, whether that person understands the subject and whether they can be trusted.
An anonymous article full of general statements is one thing.
An article with a named author, real projects, customer reviews, company information, contact details and mentions on other platforms is another.
For example, I can write on my own website that I build fast websites and understand SEO well. So far, however, that is just my own claim on my own platform.
When information about Roman Mikhaylov and RM Systems appears elsewhere, in directories, profiles, articles, reviews and publications, a search engine can more easily connect it into a coherent picture.
Google itself explains that E-E-A-T is not a separate ranking factor or a switch you can turn on for your website.
My working hypothesis, however, is that E-E-A-T should be considered alongside link authority and an overall online presence. The more clear, consistent information exists about an author or company, the easier it is for a search engine to recognise the real project behind the website.
How AI search selects information for an answer
Search engines' exact algorithms are private and constantly changing. What follows is a simplified outline and my understanding of the process today, rather than a permanent formula for appearing in AI results.
Let us work through it without complicated diagrams or imagining a wizard inside the search engine deciding who gets the next customer.
Understanding the user's query in AI search
First, the search engine tries to establish what the person wants to find.
The query does not have to be perfectly phrased.
A user may make a mistake, use conversational language or not know the correct name of a service. AI search tries to understand the meaning and find suitable information.
For example, a person might not write:
“Fast landing page development for SEO”.
They might ask instead:
“Who can build a simple website that works properly and can be found on Yandex?”
AI search needs to understand that the person wants a fast website capable of attracting customers through search, beyond simply matching an exact set of words.
Website owners should therefore explain their services, customers' needs, work outcomes and experience clearly, alongside using relevant search terms.
Finding suitable sources for an AI answer
Once it understands the query, AI search looks for pages that might contain the right information.
Ordinary SEO comes into play again. A page needs to be accessible to crawlers, present in the index and relevant to the query. Clear headings, a sensible structure, useful text and a technically sound website all matter.
Simply appearing in search is not enough.
Suppose the system finds dozens of websites saying roughly the same thing. It now has to decide which pages actually help answer the question and which merely contain suitable SEO phrases.
That makes it important to cover the subject in depth as well as use the right search terms. Describe your process, show examples, explain difficult points simply and answer real customer questions.
The clearer and more useful a page is, the easier it is for a search engine to determine which queries its information can help with.
How AI search evaluates source credibility
After finding suitable pages, the system needs to decide which sources it can trust.
Fast loading matters, as do the amount, quality and accuracy of the information. The search engine considers the overall picture: the author, what is known about the company, real contact details, projects, reviews and mentions on other platforms.
You can make any claim on your own website. When directories, profiles, articles and reviews support the information about your company, it becomes more convincing.
The basic details should also agree. The company name, author name, services, contacts and address should be clear and, wherever possible, consistent across different resources.
If one website says “RM Systems”, another uses a completely different name, and the contact details keep changing, it is harder for a search engine to recognise the same company.
The more consistent information it can gather, the easier it becomes to connect the website, author and company.
How AI search creates an answer and chooses source links
After evaluating the information it has found, AI search produces an answer for the user.
It can combine information from several pages, shorten it and explain it in plain language. The user no longer needs to open ten websites and compare what each says; AI does some of that work for them.
For a website owner, the next step is particularly important: links to the sources.
If a search engine uses information from our page and considers it useful, it may display a link to the website alongside the answer. That creates an opportunity for a visit, a new reader and a potential customer. More useful information can create more such opportunities.
My working hypothesis is simple: the more high-quality, consistent information a search engine can gather about a company, its services and its author, the more likely it is to connect them and begin using the website as a source.
That is why I work on my own website and the wider online presence of RM Systems and the name “Roman Mikhaylov”.
If the information exists only on my website, it is simply what I say about myself. If the same details appear elsewhere and are supported by profiles, publications, links and reviews, the overall picture becomes considerably more convincing to a search engine.
What website link authority means in plain English
We have been talking about authority, mentions and AI search. Where do links themselves come in?
Imagine that every website is a separate person.
Someone can keep telling you how experienced, reliable and well-known they are. While they are the only one making that claim, you may reasonably wonder whether to believe them.
It is different when other people begin recommending them.
External links work in a similar way. When another website links to our page, it is effectively telling a search engine:
“There is information here worth paying attention to”.
These links contribute to website link authority, often discussed in terms of link equity. The more quality resources mention and link to a page, the more reason a search engine has to see that the website is known beyond its own claims.
Links do not all have the same value.
One link from a reputable, relevant platform can be more useful than dozens from dubious directories created solely to publish other people's URLs. The platform's reputation, subject matter, content quality and how naturally the link fits into the text all matter.
For example, a link to a developer's website from an article about website creation makes sense. The same link on a page selling tractors raises questions, unless the developer built a website for those tractors.
How to improve website link authority and credibility
SO WHAT SHOULD YOU ACTUALLY DO?
In simple terms, work on SEO, website authority and the company's overall online presence together.
The more quality information a search engine can find about a company, its services, projects and author, the more material it has to form a complete picture.
That does not mean scattering the same description across a hundred random websites.
Publish information on reputable platforms. Make it clear, accurate and consistent with the main website.
This is the hypothesis I am currently testing on myself.
My goal goes beyond getting as many links as possible.
I want to gradually build a clear network of mentions connecting RM Systems, Roman Mikhaylov, website development, SEO and real projects.
One platform may have a direct link to the website. Another may have a company profile. Elsewhere there may be an article, comment, project or customer review. What matters is that the search engine encounters consistent information and can connect it into a coherent picture.
How I promote RM Systems and my name online
I had already been developing my own online presence a little at a time. Now I have decided to approach it more deliberately and connect the RM Systems website with my profiles, publications, services and projects.
Even now, while discussing SEO and AI search, I am also adding another piece of content connected to RM Systems, Roman Mikhaylov, website development and search visibility.
It is an experiment within an experiment.
My aim is for a search engine to gradually assemble a chain of connected information:
- RM Systems: website development;
- Roman Mikhaylov: developer and author;
- articles: evidence of experience and knowledge;
- projects: evidence of practical work;
- reviews: confirmation from customers;
- profiles and publications: further connections between the author, company and services.
The more connections a search engine finds, the easier it is to understand who I am, what RM Systems does and which queries relate to my website.
Will it work exactly as I expect?
We will see. The first results are already appearing, and I will go on to show where you can publish information about yourself and your company, including for FREE.
The good news is that you can start this work for FREE.
