Statistics

Cold emails still rule the roost, accounting for 45.1% of the link builders who rely on them as their prime

Backlinks still matter, but getting them is no longer as simple as publishing a page and waiting for other sites

AI Overviews now appear in nearly 25% of searches, while zero-click behavior and declining organic CTRs are reshaping traditional SEO.

Those sites that make it into the top positions in the listings have 1000 referring domains 96% of the time.

94% of AI citations come from earned media, not from brand-owned content or paid placements.  That single number explains why