👀 In this ecommerce podcast, we’re talking about building brand authority in AI search.

A few months ago James Gurd went to a Thrive event run by NOVOS, where Katie Mishner (SEO Team Director) and Jess Higgins (Digital PR Team Director) gave a practical talk on earning authority. We wanted to explore the topic in more depth, so we invited Katie and Daniel Cartland (Delivery Director) to join us on Inside Commerce.

Three reasons to listen:

1️⃣ It’s practical; there are ideas you can test straight away, such as running a simple query fan out prompt if you’re short on time and budget.

2️⃣ It questions the “good for everyone” product description. Dan explains why being clear about who a product is (and isn’t) for helps you match the longer, more detailed queries people now type into LLMs.

3️⃣ It gives a useful view of where citations come from. Katie shares an example from a travel client where the most cited source wasn’t Time Out, but an individual’s train blog.

Key discussion points;

- What authority means for an ecommerce brand, and where E-E-A-T fits in. It’s a rating framework, not a ranking factor.

- Why links carry less weight on their own, and why sentiment (how you’re mentioned) matters more.

- The pillars NOVOS use to measure authority: where you show up, relevance, where links point, cadence and longevity, and sentiment.

- Why product pages are a sensible starting point for AI search, without writing off category pages.

- How to reverse engineer what customers are looking for, starting with personas and then using query fan out and social listening.

Dan makes a key point about the risk of waiting:

“It almost turns SEO from a performance channel into a brand channel.”

He expects adoption to be gradual, so there won’t be an obvious moment to act. Brands that don’t start thinking about it early risk being left behind.

We also discuss why smaller, leaner brands may have an advantage here. There are also plenty of examples from Nike, Adidas, Nobody’s Child and Fourth Glade.

If you run or advise an ecommerce site, we think you’ll find it worth a listen.

Chapters:

• [00:30] - Introduction to the topic and guest backgrounds
• [03:50] - What authority means for ecommerce brands
• [05:55] - E-E-A-T explained: a rating framework, not a ranking facto
• [08:10] - How AI search changes authority: mentions and sentimen
• [13:30] - The pillars for measuring authorit
• [18:55] - Product-led digital PR for specific, long-tail querie
• [23:00] - Reverse engineering where to show up: niche citation
• [25:30] - From PLPs to PDPs: building useful conten
• [30:40] - Five reverse engineering method
• [39:45] - Why reviews and relevance matter for credibilit
• [41:30] - The risk of waiting on AI searc
• [45:20] - Why smaller brands can move faste
• [46:35] - Finding your niche: Nobody's Child and Fourth Glade