Google’s John Mueller On Brand Mentions

John Mueller discusses Google’s stance on leveraging brand mentions in search rankings. When asked if “brand mention” assisted with SEO and rankings, Google’s John Mueller said yes. John Mueller went into great depth on how Google does not use brand mentions.

What Exactly Is A Brand Mention?

When one website refers to another, this is a brand mention. In the SEO field, there is a widespread belief that if a site refers to another site’s area name or URL, Google will remember it and consider it a link.

Are Brand Mentions Beneficial to Rankings?

The one who posed the question was interested in brand mentions for ranking concerns. The individual has an interesting reason to do so since the concept of “brand mentions” has lacked thorough investigation. 

See Also: It’s Normal For 20% Of A Website To Not Be Indexed Says John Mueller

Google doesn’t use Brand Mentions, as per John Mueller

According to Google’s John Mueller, the “brand mentions” are not used for any link-related purposes.

Mueller explained:

Brand Mentions Can Help Increase Awareness

Mueller says that brand mentions may help spread a website, which is essential for building prevalence.

Mueller continued:

John Mueller on the Risky Sides of Brand Mentions

Afterward, around the 58-minute mark, another member brings it up again, wondering how Google would handle spam sites that falsely cite an organization.

As per a user, a brand mention cannot be disputed. Mueller concurred, stating that this is one of the issues that makes brand mentions challenging to exploit for ranking reasons.

John Mueller explained:

The Sources of Brand Mention

For more than a decade, the concept of “brand mentions” has shifted. “Brand mentions” is an entirely made-up concept. Any research papers or patents did not support it.

In 2012 the “brand notice” concept gained traction when a patent appeared to validate the idea of brand mention.

What Exactly Is Reference Query?

It is a search query that includes a link to a URL or a hostname.

The patent states:

The patent description, which appears at the top of the document, shows that it is associated with determining whether links with a site are free, as well as counting reference requests, and employing that data to create a “modification factor” that would rank sites.

The Concept of Brand Mentions Is Wrong

Due to the misunderstanding of the concept of “brand mentions,” it became ingrained in SEO belief frameworks.

However, you now know contemporary facts and understand why “brand mentions” are not certifiable. The SEO field had coined the “Brand Mentions” term.  Furthermore, John Mueller corroborated it.

See Also: Let people recognize your brand with link building