Offsite SEO In The AI Era: Links, Authority & Control Over Chaos (Chiang Mai SEO Conference 2025)

Off-site SEO is no longer just about links. In the AI era, authority, trust, and off-site context determine not only rankings, but also visibility in AI Overviews, LLM answers, and recommendation systems.

This deck is based on Szymon Słowik’s talk at Chiang Mai SEO Conference 2025 and explores how modern off-site SEO actually works today — beyond outdated simplified link-centric thinking and AI-driven hype.

You’ll learn:
- The real role of links in contemporary SEO, and why they still matter.
- How mentions, brand signals, and off-site context influence trust, retrieval, and rankings.
- Why mentions are not “new links”, but a parallel trust mechanism.
- How off-site signals impact AI search, AI Overviews, and LLM recommendations.
- Practical, controlled tactics for acquiring links and mentions without destroying brand positioning.
- How sponsored content and third-party publications can amplify authority, discoverability, and AI visibility.
- A clear mental framework for filtering SEO & AI noise and focusing on what actually moves the needle.

The core message is simple:
There is no “new SEO”, only accelerated systems. Brands that understand authority, trust thresholds, and off-site context — and can control them deliberately — will win rankings, AI visibility, and long-term discoverability across search engines and LLMs.

Slides include frameworks, real-world examples, and tactical insights from campaigns executed across multiple markets.

Transcript

1. Offsite SEO in the AI era: links, authority & control over chaos Chiang Mai SEO Conference 2025
2. What era of search are we currently in?
3. AEO, LLMO, AIO, GEO
4. LMAO
8. There’s no “new” Google. There’s louder Google.
9. There’s no “new” Google. There’s louder Google. Google has is AI search engine for a decade; AIO just made it visible. What matters: are you legible to its semantics, retrieval, and quality systems? Same with LLMs: they pull from other documents → your offsite context.
10. There’s no “new” Google. There’s louder Google. Google has is AI search engine for a decade; AIO just made it visible. What matters: are you legible to its semantics, retrieval, and quality systems? Same with LLMs: they pull from documents → your offsite context.
11. There’s no “new” Google. There’s louder Google. Google has is AI search engine for a decade; AIO just made it visible. What matters: are you legible to its semantics, retrieval, and quality systems? Same with LLMs: they pull from other documents → your offsite context.
12. Systems reward clear entities, credible sources, clean authority flow, and satisfied users.
14. FOMO FILTER step by step
15. Does it improve semantics, retrieval, quality, entities, authority flow, or discoverability? New shiny thing?
16. Does it improve semantics, retrieval, quality, entities, authority flow, or discoverability? New shiny thing? Yes: integrate into your foundation.
17. Does it improve semantics, retrieval, quality, entities, authority flow, or discoverability? New shiny thing? Yes: integrate into your foundation. No: park it.
18. https://datos.live/report/state-of-search-q1-2025/ Do you think users abandon Google and go to LLMs?
19. ChatGPT is growing but...
20. Search still runs the game!
21. AI search/answer engines cannot exist without grounding
22. Focus on SEO
23. → cheap → scalable → infinite Content in 2025
24. Offsite signals matters more than ever
26. → backlinks → mentions → users → brand identity Offsite signals:
28. backlinks mentions user behavior identity
29. mentions
32. → correlation =/= causation → always more brand mentions than links → almost every link is a brand mention (<a href=”brand.com”></a> → strong brands are mentioned more often
33. → correlation =/= causation → always more brand mentions than links → almost every link is a brand mention (<a href=”brand.com”></a> → strong brands are mentioned more often
34. → correlation =/= causation → always more brand mentions than links → almost every link is a brand mention (<a href=”brand.com”></a> → strong brands are mentioned more often
35. → correlation =/= causation → always more brand mentions than links → almost every link is a brand mention (<a href=”brand.com”></a> → strong brands are mentioned more often
37. Complementary systems mention link brand search
38. Mentions → recognition Backlinks → authority Brand-related search → confirmation
39. → hundreds of links → no branded traffic → demotion HCU
40. → brand mentions → branded traffic → more “tolerance” for links
41. Brand mentions alongside branded search make growing link velocity appear natural.
42. If you could change an unlinked brand mention from a good source into a df backlink... Would you?
43. df backlinks nf backlinks mentions
44. mentions links context
45. Random (irrelevant) links & brand mentions without the context can create the noise...
46. Random signals Controlled signals
47. LB tactic scalability control cost effect natural links random low low random digital PR low low high random link insertions medium medium high medium / risky PBNs medium high medium high / risky guest posts (cheap) very high medium low low / risky sponsored articles high very high medium depends on you
51. LB tactic scalability control cost effect natural links random low low random digital PR low low high random link insertions medium medium high medium / risky PBNs medium high medium high / risky guest posts (cheap) very high medium low low / risky sponsored articles high very high medium depends on you
52. WHEN DIGITAL PR IS OK?
53. WHEN DIGITAL PR IS OK?
54. WHEN NICHE EDITS ARE OK?
55. WHEN NICHE EDITS ARE OK? → contextual → come with significant document update → come from a page with traffic and other quality metrics
56. WHEN CHEAPER GUEST POSTS CAN BE OK?
57. WHEN CHEAPER GUEST POSTS CAN BE OK? → If they index, and have limit of outgoing link → 2nd tier
58. SPONSORED ARTICLES
59. SPONSORED ARTICLES within real media, industry magazines, blogs
60. Meal plan delivery in Poland
61. Car rental service in Miami
62. Should you buy links in 2026?
63. Paid links let you control the game: link velocity anchor-text referring domains traffic DR, TF, AS... number of outgoing links parasite potential placement within the document predictable budget longevity social media shares additional internal links time on a homepage
64. https://www.szymonslowik.com/link-building-sponsored-articles- reverse-engineering/ SEO Mastery Summit 2024
65. https://www.szymonslowik.com/data-driven-link-building/ BrightonSEO 2024
66. Don’t know where to buy articles?
67. There are some systems that demote links because of geographical irrelevancy. But it’s not 0-1 metric. It’s all about the context. Deliver the right context and buy links from cheaper markets. Language? Location? ccTLD?
69. AI OVERVIEWS HYPE
70. Pick link placements already ranking in your topic Target long-tail → “query fan-out” style topics Think of AI Overviews as parasite SEO placement AI Overviews + sponsored aricles
71. AI Overviews + sponsored aricles
72. AI Overviews + sponsored aricles
73. AI Overviews + sponsored aricles
74. Google (AI), ChatGPT... → zero click searches
75. → focus on mid, bottom of the funnel (onsite and offsite)
76. ✅ How much does an SEO audit cost? ✅ SEO audit price ✅ How much does a website audit cost? source: surferseo.com
79. source: surferseo.com
80. source: surferseo.com
83. It wasn’t a made up story! It was just an amplification
87. https://seonotebook.notion.site/The-Detailed-LLM-Traffic-Dashboard-with-a-Two-Click-Set-Up-1e38c368519180f297dec82a4f959a2d
88. Isn’t every piece of content marketing a form of LLM poisoning?
89. Repurpose PBNs!
90. Multiple models, different sources
91. Reverse engineer from other brands
92. Can’t get real wiki? Get a cheap one
93. Can’t get real wiki? Get a cheap one
94. Control your reputation → be ready for query fan-out
95. LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, X, TikTok, Instagram, SlideShare, SpeakerDeck, Crunchbase, Clutch, Google Business Profile, Bing Maps, Yelp, TrustMate, TrustPilot, Vimeo, Quora, Reddit, iTunes, Spotify, Spreaker Foundational links: social media & directories
98. Amplify your story!
102. Video SEO Publish on YouTube tutorial videos chatGPT → canva bulk creation → animated slideshow Embed videos in sponsored articles Gain momentum on YouTube Connect multiple touchpoints on the web Infogrpahics? Pinterest? more...
105. Use images (charts, infographics) within sponsored articles as backlinks
106. Guest articles in industry magazines
107. Press releases https://www.szymonslowik.com/buy-guest-post-links-why-how-and-where/
112. AI tools love listicles (structured content)
116. Incognito, VPN: UK
119. Niche down to a relevant tier
120. AI search → brand SERPs → ZMOT
123. Branded search → critical touchpoint
124. Featured posts
125. Pinned posts
126. Highlighted stories
127. Marketplace cannibalization → where branded search goes? → where users satisfy their intent?
128. UTM in GBP Picked up by LLM Referral traffic GA4 → wrong attribution
129. Links Mentions Listicles PBNs Guest blogging Sponsored articles Multimodal content Press releases Consistent brand signals Co-occurence with entities What works in 2025 and will work in 2026
130. Follow smart SEOs who test, research and analyze patents Patents, Whitepapers, case studies → RAG Fuel your custom GPT with it Ask questions How to stay updated without FOMO?
132. Thank you! https://www.szymonslowik.com/ https://takaoto.pro/en/ slowik@takaoto.pro