PromptScoutWhat is Authority Signals?
Authority Signals are indicators that a source or entity is recognized as a credible reference within a topic area. Authority Signals can be based on expertise, topic coverage, and how often the source is referenced by other sources.
Quick definition
Authority Signals are signals that suggest a source is an established reference for a topic.
How Authority Signals works
- Authority Signals can come from breadth and depth of topical coverage.
- Authority Signals can come from consistent entity representation and structured data.
- Authority Signals can come from external references that indicate a source is commonly used.
- Authority Signals often interact with trust signals when systems decide what to surface.
Why Authority Signals matters
Authority Signals matters because authority can influence which sources are selected for answers.
Authority Signals affects:
- answer ranking and visibility in AI search results
- whether a page is treated as a default reference for a definition
- the stability of citations over time
Example use cases
- Building a content cluster that covers a topic comprehensively and links internally.
- Publishing consistent definitions across related pages to reinforce topical authority.
- Using schema markup to make entity attributes unambiguous.