Backlinks, brand mentions, local citations, and LLM citations get used interchangeably. They're four different assets, and the 2025-2026 data values them very differently.
Google calls E-E-A-T, schema, and links "not ranking factors," then a leak and a courtroom say otherwise. A clear-eyed guide to how Google, ChatGPT, and Claude actually decide who gets ranked and cited.
Google's local pack now weights review recency, velocity, and response rate over raw count, plus profile freshness and on-page relevance. A clear-eyed system for ranking in Maps, for any local business.