Brand Mentions for SEO: 17 Link Building Secrets [2025]

Brand mentions have become a powerful ranking factor, yet many businesses completely ignore them. Both direct and indirect brand mentions shape how search engines view your brand. Direct mentions call out your brand name specifically, while indirect mentions reference your products, services, or content without naming your company directly. These unlinked mentions work as genuine social proof because they're not self-promotional. Google recognizes these natural references as implied links that can boost your SEO performance.

Hence, brand mentions now deliver the same benefits as high-quality backlinks. When someone mentions your brand name, CEO, products, or published content, each reference adds to your digital authority.

This blog covers how to find brand mentions for SEO, evaluate, and turn both linked and unlinked mentions into opportunities to improve search visibility and domain authority.

What are Brand Mentions and Why They Matter for SEO

Brand mentions are any instances where your business, product, or website is referenced online. You'll find these digital citations across blogs, news articles, forums, social media, and review sites. 

Linked vs unlinked brand mentions

The difference between linked and unlinked mentions determines their SEO impact. Linked brand mentions include a hyperlink to your website, functioning as traditional backlinks that pass link equity and boost rankings directly. These hyperlinks work as votes of confidence, telling search engines your site is trustworthy on specific topics.

Whereas, unlinked brand mentions are references without hyperlinks. John Mueller from Google has stated that "if there's no link to your pages, then it's not a link", but these citations still provide benefits. They increase brand awareness, drive branded searches, and build your overall digital footprint.

What is an implied link?

The concept of "implied links" comes from a 2012 Google patent describing references to a target resource without requiring direct navigation. An implied link is any non-hyperlinked reference to your brand that search engines can recognize as a citation.

This recognition allows Google to connect your brand with specific topics and contexts. When a reputable publication mentions your company in an article about sustainability, Google learns that association even without a direct link.

6 Tips to Find Unlinked Brand Mentions For SEO 

Finding where people mention your brand without linking back takes some detective work. However, there are several tools to track these valuable opportunities.

1. Use Google Alerts

Google Alerts is your free starting point for mention monitoring. Head to Google Alerts and enter your brand name. Click "Show options" to set up frequency (as they happen, daily, or weekly), sources, and regions.

Choose "All results" instead of "Best results" to catch more mentions, especially if you're a smaller brand.

2. Use SEMrush Brand Monitoring

SEMrush's Brand Monitoring tool automatically scans the web for brand references. Go to Brand Monitoring, select "Brand" from the dropdown, and enter your brand name plus your email for alerts.

To find unlinked mentions or opportunities, filter mentions by clicking "Mention details" > "Backlinks" > "Without backlinks".

3. Use Ahrefs Alerts

Ahrefs Alerts gives you more detailed monitoring options. Navigate to the Alerts section, go to the Mentions tab, and click "Add alert".

Set up your search query with your brand name plus common misspellings using OR operators. You can also filter by domain rating, traffic thresholds, and exclude specific domains.

4. Use Mention.com

Mention monitors over one billion sources, including news sites, blogs, forums, and social media. The platform sends quick alerts and includes sentiment analysis, helping you prioritize which unlinked mentions to choose.

5. Use Search Operators on Google

You can manually search Google using advanced operators. Try this formula: "brandname" -site:yourdomain.com -site:facebook.com -site:linkedin.com (add other social platforms you want to exclude).

This isolates mentions while filtering out your site and social media. Use Tools > Any time > select timeframe to narrow results by date.

6. Reverse Image Search for Visual Mentions

For brand mentions, don't forget about visual content. Right-click any image and select "Search image with Google" or manually upload to Google Images. Look for "See exact matches" to find sites using your visuals without proper attribution.

Once you've found these mentions, the next step is figuring out which ones are worth your time to pursue.

11 Tips To Turn Unlinked Mentions into Backlinks

After finding unlinked mentions, turn them into backlinks through smart outreach.

1. Check domain authority and relevance

Start with the site's authority metrics. Look for an Authority Score of at least 30 or higher for quality backlink potential. The more authoritative the mentioning site, the more valuable a potential backlink becomes.

But authority isn't everything. Domain relevance matters just as much as mentions from sites within your industry carry substantially more weight. Check for keyword overlap between the mentioning content and your site to boost SEO impact.

2. Assess sentiment and context of the mention

Next, analyze if brand mentions are positive, negative, or neutral. Positive unlinked mentions from industry-related blogs, news articles, professional forums, and review sites offer the best conversion opportunities.

You also want to consider if the page provides "helpful content" by Google's standards, which offers original, insightful information with demonstrated expertise. These pages are more likely to link out when they add value for their readers.

3. Filter out low-quality or outdated mentions

Exclude brand mentions from sites that rarely link out externally. Prioritize pages with existing relevant outbound links, as they're more likely to add yours.

Avoid Private Blog Networks (PBNs) and focus on pages with a minimum monthly traffic of 50+ visits. This systematic evaluation leads to outreach that targets only high-value opportunities that improve SEO.

4. Find the right contact person

Your success depends on reaching the right person. Start with the article author. If there is no author listed, head to LinkedIn and search for content managers, SEO specialists, or editors at that company.

Tools like Hunter.io can help you verify email addresses and save time. Moreover, contact one person at a time to keep things professional.

5. Craft a personalized outreach email

For better results, focus on personalization. Customized emails achieve a 45% response rate, compared to just 8.5% for generic messages.

Keep your email structure simple:

• Thank them for mentioning your brand 

• Ask them to add a link (explain how it helps their readers)

• Thank them again

6. Use link-building tools to manage outreach

Managing multiple outreach campaigns manually gets messy fast while tracking brand mentions for SEO. Tools like BuzzStream or Respona help you stay organized. These platforms handle prospecting, track conversations, and manage multiple projects at once. Think of them as your outreach command center.

7. Follow up without being annoying

70% of email chains end after the first message. A polite follow-up after 5-7 days can increase response rates by 40%.

The best way is to limit yourself to one or two follow-ups maximum, and always stay respectful. Nobody likes a persistent pest.

8. Partner with influencers and creators

Focus on creators whose audiences match your target demographic. Skip the one-off collaborations. Build genuine, lasting relationships instead. The most effective partnerships right now include:

• Product giveaways and collaborations

• Influencer-led advertisements

• Product seeding (sending free products without expectations)

9. Run user-generated content campaigns

User-generated content influences purchasing decisions for 79% of people. Smart UGC campaigns get customers creating content that features your brand. Here's what works:

• Clear calls-to-action with branded hashtags

• Contests and giveaways as incentives

• Content you can repurpose across marketing channels

• The goal is to make it easy and rewarding for customers to showcase your brand

10. Use digital PR and guest posts strategically

Digital PR tactics like surveys generate data that journalists love to reference. Tools like Google Surveys can get you thousands of responses for under $100, creating newsworthy content.

Guest blogging still works when you focus on providing value rather than just getting links. Keep self-promotion links in your author bio to maintain authenticity.

11. Ask for reviews

Happy customers often want to support businesses. Make the review process as straightforward as possible by providing direct links to review platforms.

Respond to all feedback, positive and negative. This shows you care about customer experience and encourages others to share their thoughts.

To build organic brand mentions for SEO, you need to be consistent across multiple channels. Focus on creating genuine value, and the mentions will follow naturally.

Conclusion

Brand mentions for SEO are important as search engines get better at understanding brands. You need smart techniques and tools to find and convert these unlinked mentions. Tools like Google Alerts and SEMrush make tracking mentions straightforward, while a systematic evaluation process lets you focus on high-value opportunities. The key is treating outreach like relationship building. Your brand gets mentioned more than you think. The question is, are you finding those mentions and turning them into SEO wins? 

FAQ

How to do SEO for a brand?

Start by optimizing your website. Make sure your brand name is in your titles, meta descriptions, and headings. Also, your site should load fast and be mobile-friendly.

Create helpful content that solves problems your audience faces. Add your brand naturally in blog posts, case studies, or interviews. Set up and optimize your Google My Business profile. Keep your contact details updated and ask customers to leave reviews.

How to get brand mentions?

Brand mentions happen when someone talks about your brand online, with or without a link.

You can get mentions by launching newsworthy campaigns, like product launches or events. Reach out to journalists or use platforms like HARO. Work with influencers or other brands. Co-host giveaways, lives, or podcasts that expose your brand to new audiences.

Make content that people want to share. This could be data studies, infographics, or helpful tools.

What are brand keywords in SEO?

Brand keywords are search terms that include your business or product name. For example, "Nike running shoes" or "Starbucks near me" are brand keywords. They show that people already know your brand. These keywords usually convert well because the searcher trusts you. That’s why it’s important to track them in Google Search Console.