GEO vs SEO in iGaming: We Tested Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini
If you work in search, you’ve probably seen this argument on LinkedIn by now. One camp says generative engine optimisation (GEO) is its own discipline. The other says good GEO is just good SEO with a new label.
The GEO camp keeps pointing to one number. An Ahrefs study ran 15,000 prompts through ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity, and on average only around 12% of the URLs those assistants cited were in Google’s top 10 for the same prompt. On the face of it, that sounds like rankings don’t matter much to AI.
The pushback is just as interesting. AI tools don’t only search the question you typed. They split it into smaller sub-queries (people call this “query fan-out”) and pull sources for each one. So a page can be cited without ranking for your exact wording, while still ranking for something very close to it.
We work in iGaming, where the SERPs are about as competitive as search gets, so we wanted to see which side our own data backed up. We pulled the numbers ourselves: 20 Google searches, plus the same questions put to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini. The answer turned out to depend heavily on which AI you mean.
How we ran the test
We ran two tests on the same day, 29 October 2026, both from the UK.
Google’s AI Overviews. We pulled the live Google UK results for 20 high-intent gambling searches through Ahrefs: 10 betting terms (best betting sites uk, new betting sites, free bets, free bets no deposit, betting sign up offers, bet builder, each way betting, best odds guaranteed, grand national betting, cheltenham free bets) and 10 casino terms (online casino uk, best online casinos, new casino sites, free spins no deposit, casino welcome bonus, online slots, bingo sites, live casino, online roulette, paypal casinos). For each one we compared the URLs cited in the AI Overview with the URLs ranking organically.
The chatbots. We asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini the same nine questions, word for word, each in a fresh chat with memory and personalisation off:
- What are the best betting sites in the UK?
- What are the best new betting sites in the UK?
- How does each way betting work?
- Which UK bookmakers offer best odds guaranteed?
- What are the best free bets for the Cheltenham Festival?
- What are the best free bet offers in the UK right now?
- What’s the best online casino in the UK?
- What are the best new casino sites in the UK?
- Where can I get free spins with no deposit in the UK?
We logged every source each tool cited in its answer, then checked each one against Google UK rankings in two ways. First, does it rank in the organic top 10 for the matching search? Second, if not, does it rank top 10 for a close variant? That second check is the fan-out test: a search containing the same core phrase, such as “betting sites”, “best odds”, “cheltenham”, “free bet”, “casino” or “free spins”.
Finding 1: half of “AI search” won’t touch gambling
Before you can be cited, the AI has to answer. In UK gambling, two of the five barely do.
| Tool | Answered | Cited sources |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews | 5 of 20 searches showed one, all betting | 40 citations |
| ChatGPT | 9 of 9 | 31 citations across 7 answers |
| Perplexity | 9 of 9 | 34 citations across all 9 |
| Claude | 9 of 9, three without searching | 22 citations across 6 answers |
| Gemini | 1 of 9 | None |
Google showed no AI Overview on any of the 10 casino searches. The straight bonus searches (free bets, free bets no deposit, betting sign up offers, free spins no deposit, casino welcome bonus) didn’t get one either. The five that did were part comparison, part explainer: best betting sites uk, new betting sites, each way betting, best odds guaranteed and cheltenham free bets.
Gemini refused 8 of the 9 questions, citing its safety filters. That included “Which UK bookmakers offer best odds guaranteed?”, which is close to a factual question. The only one it answered was the each way explainer, with no sources. Google’s own chatbot won’t discuss gambling sites, yet Google Search puts AI answers on top of betting comparisons. “AI visibility” means very different things depending on which Google product you mean.
Claude answered everything but was the most cautious. It didn’t search at all for the two casino recommendation questions. It declined to rank new casinos, and it warned in most answers that the lists out there are written by affiliates.
Finding 2: Google’s AI Overviews cite pages that already rank
Across the five AI Overviews, Google made 40 citations (39 different pages, as one LiveScore page was cited twice). Twenty of them, exactly 50%, were also in the organic top 10 for the same search. That’s roughly four times the 12% overlap in the Ahrefs study.
That gap matters because Ahrefs measured ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity, not Google’s AI Overviews. So we ran the chatbots too (Finding 4). The 12% figure turns out to describe them well. It just doesn’t describe the AI answer that sits on top of Google’s results.
Look at it the other way round and it’s even clearer. Of the 9 pages ranking in the organic top three on those five searches, 7 were cited in the AI Overview. If you’re top three for a betting term that triggers an AI Overview, you’re very likely in it.
Finding 3: Google’s other citations rank for close variants
This is the fan-out argument, and on Google it holds up. We took the 20 cited pages that weren’t in the top 10 and checked what they do rank for. One of them, a LiveScore page, sat just outside at 11th. Of the other 19, which didn’t rank for the exact search at all, 18 held organic top 10 positions for a close variant of it.
The numbers are big, too. The Independent’s betting sites article doesn’t rank for “best betting sites uk”, but it ranks top 10 for 44 other “betting sites” searches. Racing TV’s each way calculator ranks second for “each way calculator” and top 10 for 43 each way searches in total, yet nowhere for “each way betting” itself.
Only one cited page, bet365’s best odds guaranteed help article, ranked for neither the search nor any close variant. Counting the variants, 38 of the 40 citations (95%) were pages already winning on Google for the topic, just not always for that exact wording.
Finding 4: the chatbots cite pages Google doesn’t rank
Across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude, only 8 of 87 citations (9%) were in Google’s top 10 for the matching search. That’s right in line with the Ahrefs study. Add in close variants and it rises to 44 of 87 (51%), against 95% for Google’s AI Overviews.
Perplexity was the closest to Google at 59%, then ChatGPT at 52% and Claude at 36%. So the fan-out argument explains about half of what the chatbots cite. It doesn’t explain the other half.
Those other 43 citations break down into four groups: 21 affiliate and sports media pages that don’t rank for the topic, 11 newspaper articles, 7 pages on sites unrelated to gambling and 4 Gambling Commission pages. The newspaper and regulator citations suggest the chatbots give weight to who published a page, not just how it ranks. The pages on unrelated sites show their source filtering is far from perfect.
Finding 5: each AI has its own favourite sources
Google’s AI Overviews lean on sports media and racing sites. The Jockey Club was cited 4 times, and Racing Post, LiveScore and Squawka 3 times each. They also lift operators’ own help pages: bet365, William Hill, Paddy Power and PokerStars help articles were all cited for BOG and each way questions, mostly without ranking top 10 for them.
Perplexity leans on national newspapers. 19 of its 34 citations (56%) came from the betting and casino sections of The Independent, The Standard, The Telegraph and AOL. The Independent and The Standard alone accounted for 15.
ChatGPT also uses the newspapers, with 8 of its 31 citations, but it’s the only tool that leans on the regulator. Six of its citations went to Gambling Commission pages, mostly the public register, as a prompt to check a site’s licence.
Claude cited no newspapers at all. Seven of its 22 citations were gambling pages hosted on sites whose main business is something else entirely: a sailing league, a darts venue, a dental practice, a local news site and a community trust among them. Claude warned that some of these sources looked odd and said it couldn’t verify the offers. ChatGPT’s wider source list for the free spins question pulled in six similar pages, though none made it into its in-text citations.
Finding 6: explainer questions often get no sources at all
On Google, “each way betting” pulled in 10 cited sources, the joint most of any search we checked. The chatbots mostly didn’t bother.
ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all answered “How does each way betting work?” from their own knowledge, with no web search and no citations. Only Perplexity cited anyone: Wikipedia, Sky Bet’s help centre, The Standard, The Independent and Sporting News.
The answers weren’t always tidy, either. ChatGPT’s worked example put the winning return at £130 in its table, then corrected itself a few lines later to £140. For explainer content, being the best page on the topic doesn’t guarantee a mention in a chatbot answer. The model may simply not look.
What this means for operators and affiliates
Both camps are partly right, and in iGaming the split falls along product lines. On Google, good GEO is just good SEO done properly: own the head term and its variants, and the AI Overview cites you. The chatbots are a different channel. They pick from a narrower set of sources, and half of what they cite doesn’t rank top 10 for anything close to the question.
For affiliates, that means breadth is the job. One page ranking for “best betting sites uk” isn’t enough on its own. The cited pages in our sample ranked for dozens of variants each, and that comes from depth of content backed by real authority. Steady, relevant casino and gambling link building into those hub pages does most of the work, because it lifts the whole cluster at once rather than a single term.
For operators, the quick win is your help centre. Clear, factual explainers on each way, BOG, cash out, acca insurance and similar topics got cited even when they weren’t ranking. Making sure those pages are crawlable, up to date and answer the question in the first few lines is cheap work with a real upside.
For ChatGPT and Perplexity, the newspapers are the shortcut. Their betting and casino roundups made up 26% and 56% of the citations respectively, so getting your brand reviewed and listed in those roundups is the most direct route into chatbot answers right now. That makes it a job for iGaming digital PR and placements more than on-page work.
And for both: don’t rebuild your casino strategy around AI just yet. Google showed no AI Overviews on the casino searches we checked, Gemini refused, and Claude declined to rank them.
A few honest caveats
- It’s a snapshot. Everything was run on 29 October 2026. AI Overviews come and go, and chatbot answers change from one run to the next, so the same question tomorrow could cite different pages.
- The sample is small. It’s 20 Google searches and 9 questions per chatbot, which comes to 127 citations in total. That’s enough to show a pattern, not to settle the debate for every market.
- One run per question. We asked each chatbot each question once, with memory off, from a UK connection. We didn’t test paid tiers, deep research modes or Copilot.
- “Close variant” is our definition. It means a Google UK search containing the same core phrase, ranking in the organic top 10. We can’t see any tool’s real fan-out queries, so this is the nearest proxy we have. Some cited URLs had moved or changed format, so where we couldn’t confirm a ranking we counted it as not ranking.
The short version
Is GEO just SEO? On Google, yes. 95% of the pages its AI Overviews cited already ranked top 10 for the search or a close variant. With the chatbots, only half. They lean on a small pool of newspapers and the regulator, and sometimes on pages from sites with no connection to gambling at all. Win the rankings across the whole cluster and Google’s AI follows. If you want the chatbots too, you also need to be in the roundups they read. If you want to know where AI tools cite your brand, see our iGaming GEO services.
Want to know where AI is citing you?
We can run the same check on your own keyword set in any market and show you where your casino and/or sportsbook is being cited and where you’re missing out. If that sounds useful, you can book a free strategy call and we’ll walk you through it.
Sources: Only 12% of AI Cited URLs Rank in Google’s Top 10 for the Original Prompt (Ahrefs, August 2025); Google UK SERP and organic keyword data via Ahrefs, pulled 29 October 2026; ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini answers to nine set questions, run 29 October 2026.
What Makes a Good Gambling Backlink? (And How to Spot a Bad One)
Many casino and betting links on offer do nothing for your rankings. These are the checks we run on every site before placing a link.
Are Trading Card Platforms Becoming More Like Gaming?
Partly. Online pack opening platforms use features familiar from gaming: animated reveals, pack tiers, published odds and instant sell-back. But every digital card pack still delivers a real trading card that can be shipped, traded or kept. The experience looks more like gaming. The product is still collecting.
And the format is going mainstream. Fanatics, GameStop, PrizePicks and now Coinbase have all moved into card rips. Here is how it works, who is offering it, how fast interest is growing and what it means for marketers.
How online pack opening works
Physical cards, often graded by companies such as PSA, are stored in a secure vault. Each one is linked to a digital record, so ownership can change without the card moving.
When you buy a pack, you are assigned one of those cards. After the on-screen reveal, you can usually:
- keep it in the vault or your online collection
- list or trade it on the platform
- have the physical card shipped to you
- sell it back to the platform at a set percentage of its value
Which platforms offer card rips?
| Platform | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Packs.com | Real sealed packs and single pulls for Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece and Riftbound, bought with Coins (1 Coin = $1). Cards can be shipped, sold back or kept in an online Backpack. |
| Packed | A mobile platform for opening real sealed trading card packs, with cards sold back for cash or shipped to the owner. |
| Ripz.gg | Pokémon-focused packs from around $6, with a catalogue spanning 52 sets. Pulls can be kept, sold back or shipped, and users can also trade and grade cards. |
| Clash.gg | Best known for CS2 cases and mystery boxes, with a dedicated card rips section. |
| Fanatics | Instant Rips on Fanatics Live, where breakers open digital twins of cards held in the Fanatics Collect vault. Owners can keep, sell on the Fanatics Collect marketplace or ship. |
| Ripit | Graded “slabs” of NBA, MLB and Pokémon cards, with US shipping and an offer system for selling pulls. |
| Underdog | Underdog Rips, a card pack product inside the Underdog fantasy sports app, powered by Phygitals. |
| Rips by Triumph | A mobile app where cards are revealed one by one, then sold back instantly, shipped or stored in Triumph’s vault. |
| HypeDrop | A mystery box site that includes Pokémon, Lorcana, One Piece and graded cards, with box contents shown before opening. |
Big companies are moving in
The clearest sign that card rips are going mainstream is who is now offering them.
Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, has announced its own digital collectibles product. In September 2026 it previewed pack openings in its app where each card revealed on screen matches a real physical card, which users can keep in storage or have shipped. It has confirmed Pokémon cards are included, but has not yet given a launch date, pricing or odds.
GameStop launched Power Packs in April 2026, digital packs of PSA-graded cards priced from $25 to $2,500.
PrizePicks launched PrizePicks Packs in October 2026 with basketball, football and Pokémon cards from $1. Its launch inventory included a one-of-one Cooper Flagg rookie card that reportedly sold for around $8 million.
Fanatics, the biggest name in sports collectibles, runs Instant Rips through Fanatics Live, and fantasy sports rival Underdog has added card packs to its app.
Gaming technology is following. Vegangster, a supplier to casino and betting operators, has added Phygitals’ graded card packs so its operator partners can offer them too.
When a crypto exchange, a video game retailer and the biggest fantasy sports apps all launch the same product within a year, it is no longer a niche.
How fast is interest in card rips growing?
Search data shows how quickly the format has taken off. Comparing estimated US monthly searches in October 2024 with October 2026:
Search data
How fast card rip searches are growing
Estimated US monthly Google searches, October 2024 vs October 2026
Branded searches for PackDraw, one of the largest pack opening sites, grew around sevenfold in two years, to an estimated 44,000 a month worldwide. Searches for PrizePicks Packs went from nothing to over 2,000 in its launch month. Generic terms such as "card rips" and "online pack opening" are still small, but they barely existed two years ago.
Google's own data shows the same pattern worldwide. Search interest in pack opening platforms such as PackDraw, Ripit, Ripz, Fanatics Live and Underdog Rips was close to zero in 2021 and 2022, began rising in 2024 and has surged in 2026.
What card rips share with gaming
- Animated reveals with rarity effects
- Tiered pricing, from entry-level to premium packs
- Published odds and item values per pack
- Instant results, with sell-back in seconds
- Verifiable draws, with some platforms using provably fair systems
What keeps them rooted in collecting
- Every pull is a real item. A physical card sits behind every digital record.
- Values come from the hobby. Prices are set by the wider collectibles market, not by the platform.
- Many users are collectors. They open packs to build sets and chase specific cards.
- Vaulting solves real problems. Storage, insurance, authentication and postal damage are all handled.
Are card rips regulated as gambling?
Not as of October 2026. No court or regulator has ruled that digital card packs are gambling, and platforms generally position them as collectibles. In the US, legal claims have argued that some randomised card breaks should count as lotteries under state law, but none has been decided.
How packs are treated will likely depend on the product and the market. Two recent examples show how quickly rules can change for fast-growing hybrid products:
- Sweepstakes casinos grew quickly in the US outside the licensed casino model. New Jersey, New York and California have since banned them, and California's law also covers suppliers, payment processors and affiliates.
- Skin gambling sites, where players wagered in-game items, led to a UK Gambling Commission prosecution and to a Washington state regulator ordering Valve to stop its platform being used for it.
Card rips are a different product, not least because they deliver physical items with established value. But fast growth tends to bring scrutiny, and the arrival of household names will only increase it.
What this means for marketers
Most demand is branded, for now. People search for platforms by name far more than for the category. Generic terms are growing from a low base, so an evergreen hub published now can rank before competition arrives. Update it rather than relying on one-off news posts.
Use both audiences' language. Collectors search for rips, pulls, grails and slabs. Gamers search for odds, drops and tiers. Cover both.
Apply strict age controls. Pokémon has a young audience. Never target or appeal to under-18s with paid, randomised products.
Be factual about value. Don't suggest packs are a way to make money. Show odds, values and terms clearly.
Keep it separate from gambling content. Licensed operators and affiliates should keep card pack content apart from their gambling pages and check the rules in each market first.
Planning content or links around a new product or market? Talk to our iGaming SEO team or book a free consultation.
FAQs
What are card rips?
"Ripping" is collector slang for opening packs. Card rips usually means opening packs online, where the reveal happens on screen and the pulled card is held in a vault or shipped.
What is a digital trading card pack?
An online pack opening where each pull is linked to a real card stored in a vault. The owner can keep, trade, ship or sell it back.
Is Coinbase launching trading card packs?
Coinbase has previewed digital packs backed by real Pokémon cards, which users can store or have shipped. As of October 2026 it has not confirmed a launch date or pricing.
Are card rips gambling?
No court or regulator has ruled that they are, as of October 2026. Treatment is likely to vary by country and US state.
Why are big companies offering card packs?
Card collecting has a large, engaged audience that overlaps with sports fans, gamers and crypto users, and digital packs give them a fast way to take part.
Correct as of October 2026. For general information only, not legal advice.
The Sportsbook SEO Calendar: Planning Content Around the Sporting Year
Content published in the week of a big event is usually too late to rank. Here is how to plan sportsbook SEO around the sporting year.
Brazil’s Betting Ban: What It Means for Operators, Affiliates and SEO Spend
Brazil has banned fixed-odds betting and its advertising. Here is what the measure covers and what operators and affiliates should do with their SEO spend.
How to Rank an Online Casino in Google: A Step-by-Step SEO Playbook
Casino keywords are some of the most competitive on the web. This is the step-by-step process we follow to rank online casinos in Google.
Greece’s Online Betting Market Is Growing Faster Than People Realise
Greece does not get talked about the way Sweden, the UK or Germany do when the conversation turns to regulated iGaming. It should. The latest figures from the Hellenic Gaming Commission tell the story of a market that is growing, digitising fast, and tightening its regulatory grip all at once. For operators and affiliates weighing up where to put their next wave of investment, that combination is worth a close look.
We work in this space every day, running link building, outreach and content campaigns for regulated betting and casino brands across Europe. So when a market starts moving the way Greece is moving, we pay attention. Here is our read on the numbers, what is driving them, and where the opportunity sits.
Greece's gambling regulator released its 2025 annual report in July 2026, and the top-line figures set the scene. The regulated market generated gross gaming revenue of €3.073billion last year, up 6.74% year on year. That growth was not evenly spread. Online revenue grew 11.75% across the year. Land-based grew just 3.8%. Remote gambling now accounts for 38.79% of the entire market, up from a smaller share the year before. Land-based still holds the larger slice at 61.2%, but the direction of travel could not be clearer. Digital is where the momentum is. The state benefited too. Gambling contributed roughly 1.17 billion euros to the Greek budget in 2025, an 11.2% increase year on year, with online operators alone contributing the largest chunk of that figure. A growing, taxable, regulated market is exactly the kind of environment that governments protect and operators can build inside with confidence.
Brands Running The Market
The competitive picture is defined by strong domestic brands. Stoiximan, now fully owned by Greek gaming group OPAP following OPAP’s acquisition of the remaining stake from Kaizen Gaming in mid-2025, remains the clear market leader in online sports betting and casino, holding around half of the licensed online sports betting market.
Novibet, part of the Allwyn group, sits in second position with a share in the region of 19 to 20%. International operators including Bet365, Bwin and Betsson hold smaller but meaningful positions. Kaizen Gaming, the Greek-founded operator behind the Betano brand, has pivoted its focus to international expansion following the Stoiximan divestment, which tells you something about how globally competitive Greek operators have become.
What matters for anyone entering the market is this: domestic incumbents are strong, but the field is not closed. With 24 licensed online operators live and more working through the licensing process, there is real competition and real room to win share, particularly among higher-value players where competition is more limited than in saturated Western European markets.
What Is Driving Growth?
A few forces are pushing Greek iGaming forward at once.
Sports betting sits at the centre of it. Greeks are passionate about football, and that enthusiasm translates directly into betting activity. Sportsbook is the anchor product for most operators in the market, and major sporting cycles amplify it further.
Demographics help too. The regulator noted that people aged 25 to 34 and 45 to 54 make up a disproportionately high share of online gamblers relative to their weight in the general population. That gives operators two distinct and valuable audiences: a digital-native younger cohort comfortable with mobile-first play, and an older, often higher-value group with more disposable income. Those two groups demand very different acquisition and content strategies, which is where a market-specific approach earns its keep.
Underlying all of it is a structural shift toward mobile. Rising smartphone adoption, better digital payment options and evolving player preferences continue to move activity onto phones and away from betting shops. Live dealer casino games are also gaining traction, offering the immersive experience that keeps players engaged for longer.
Regulation
In order to rank competitively in any international market for gambling, you need backlinks. The most important reason is because each backlinks is a trust signal to Google. The more authoritative the website is that is referring you, the more power and influence that backlink has. Which is why we target high quality mentions.
Capitalising on SEO Now
Here is the part that most market overviews skip. A growing, tightening, digital-first market like Greece changes the economics of search and content, and operators who move early on organic have a structural advantage.
When enforcement removes illegal operators from the equation, organic search demand consolidates around a smaller pool of licensed brands. The players are still searching. The question is who ranks when they do. In a market still maturing in terms of digital sophistication, the brands that invest early in authoritative content and a strong, relevant backlink profile lock in positions that become far more expensive to challenge later.
Greek-language content is a genuine moat. This is not a market you win by translating your UK pages and hoping. It rewards operators who build real topical authority in Greek, target the sports and casino terms that local players actually use, and earn links from relevant, trustworthy Greek and international sources. Sports betting content in particular, tied to the football calendar and major tournament cycles, is where a lot of the highest-intent search volume lives. We explain how we plan content and links around the sporting year in our guide to Sportsbook SEO.
And because the regulator is watching closely, compliance-aware content and outreach are not optional. Responsible gambling messaging, correct licensing signals and clean, defensible link building are what keep a brand safe while it scales. This is exactly the kind of regulated, high-scrutiny environment where a specialist partner matters more than a generalist agency.
Greece offers strong growth, EU-aligned regulatory stability, a decisive shift to digital, and a regulator actively clearing the market of illegal competition. It is less crowded than the mature Western European jurisdictions, and the operators who build organic visibility now will own it for years.
That is a rare combination, and the window to establish authority is open right now.
Work With A Specialist iGaming SEO Partner
At Omnia, iGaming is what we do. We run link building, guest post outreach and content production for regulated betting and casino brands in markets around the world, with deep experience navigating the compliance requirements that come with regulated verticals. If you are an operator or affiliate looking to build organic visibility in Greece, or across Europe, we can help you do it properly and defensibly.
Get in touch with the team at omniaagency.co to talk about your Greek market strategy.
Does Domain Authority Matter in SEO?
Anyone who’s spent enough time in SEO will have come across Domain Authority (DA) before. You’ll find it in nearly every single SEO report, audit, analysis, link sheet, etc.
But what does it actually mean? And should you be prioritising it in your SEO strategy?
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a metric that was developed by Moz, a popular third party SEO tool. Similar SEO tools use this same metric, sometimes with a different name and calculate it slightly differently too. For example, ahrefs.com has a Domain Rating metric.
A website is given a DA score between 1-100. The higher the number, the more authority the website is said to have and therefore the more likely it is to rank in search engines. Not only that but rank competitively for difficult terms.
DA is calculated based on the following:
- The number of linking root domains
- The quality and relevance of backlinks
- Website structure and SEO health
It is important to mention that DA is NOT a Google metric and is only used by third party tools for SEO purposes.
Does Google Use Domain Authority?
No. Google does not use the metric Domain Authority as a ranking signal.
There are over 200 ranking factors in Google’s algorithm and Google’s John Mueller has stated that Google does not consider DA.
Domain Authority is simply used as a relative measure, particularly for SEOs like ourselves when doing competitor analysis against websites ranking for keywords we are targeting. Typically if a website has a higher domain authority, it is worth checking out their SEO, including backlink profile and overall site health to see what can be replicated or further improved for our client’s sites.
Why Does it Matter?
As mentioned it is not a Google ranking factor, so why does it matter at all? Well, it does hold value in SEO.
You can see how your website stacks up against competitors. For example, let’s say we have a client wanting to rank for the term “online casino” with a Domain Authority of 5, we will explain to them that this would take a considerable amount of time and investment, considering right now as I’m writing this, here are the Domain Ratings of the Top 10 competitors in the US for the term “online casino”, according to ahrefs.com: 73, 80, 82, 70, 75, 77, 96, 74.
Client Case Study Example
We have been working with a client in the gambling industry to improve their SEO through link building. This client is already authoritative in the gambling industry, having been around for a long time and actually has gambling shops across the UK.
They came to us as they wanted to outsource their link building to a specialised iGaming SEO agency. Having seen that this company was already an authoritative brand, without maximising their SEO, we knew we could get results quickly.
Below, you can see an image which shows the quick improvements in clicks and impressions for our client, over the last 6 months, compared against the 6 months prior to when we started building backlinks for them. It is also important to mention that this is for non-branded keywords only.
One of the main reasons as to why this happened, apart from doing extensive research to find high quality, relevant link building opportunities, was because they already had authority in this industry.
This proves that whilst Google does not use Moz’s metrics or any other third party tool in its ranking algorithm, it does consider Authority as a trust signal, leading to better rankings.
Domain Authority Can Be Fabricated?
Firstly it is important to mention that Google does consider genuine authority. For example if your website has trust signals from other very high quality sources, this will certainly benefit your website. However, third party SEO tools, like Moz, can fall victim to fabricated metrics, Domain Authority being one of them.
One of the main aspects that DA is calculated from is the backlink profile of the website. The more backlinks a website has, typically the higher the DA. Of course quality beats quantity but you can still gain a relatively high DA from lots of backlinks, even if most of them aren’t genuine, trusted websites.
This can skew the data on SEO tools, leading to a website seemingly having a strong DA score, but when you delve deeper into their backlink profile, you find that there aren’t any links from genuine, trusted sources and it is full of “spam” sites and link farms.
This is one of the main reasons why Domain Authority alone is not a metric to go off when building links and it should be considered alongside other metrics such as referring domains, trust score, keywords, organic traffic, niche and more.
Different Tools, Different Score
Another important reason as to why Domain Authority alone is not enough to go off when finding link opportunities is because different tools use different scores. Ahrefs uses Domain Rating (DR), Semrush has Authority Score, Majestic has Trust Flow. Each uses different algorithms.
It also doesn’t reflect the quality or intent. It’s not always the case that a higher DA means better rankings as you will find lower DA sites ranking higher based on the quality of the site overall and the intent.
So, Does Domain Authority Matter?
Yes – but only in context.
As a standalone metric, Domain Authority is not enough to indicate the quality of a website and should be taken into consideration alongside other important metrics and ranking signals that Google have confirmed to us.
Whilst it is the case that genuine high quality websites will represent a strong DA score, you will also find that other websites, of much lesser quality can fabricate their metrics and share the same DA score through other blackhat techniques.
When mapping out an SEO strategy for your website or one of your client’s websites, use DA, DR or other similar metrics from various SEO tools as a guide and not as a definitive goal.
Stress Awareness Month 2024: 54% of Employees Are Stressed At Work
Stress Awareness Month 2024 takes place throughout April. Research conducted by Omnia Agency provides insight into the stress at work statistics, using data from a Lattice poll, to determine what both companies and employees can do to help manage stress levels and ways in which they can de-stress both inside and outside of the workplace.
It’s worrying seeing the increasing number of people experiencing stress inside the workplace. 54% of people are stressed at work with 11% reporting that the stress was significant and taking a toll on their work and life. Companies and organisations need to be doing more to support their employees.
How Stress Is Affecting Different Age Demographics
The data shows that those under 35 are the most stressed age group with 32% being burnt out at work in their current role.
Over 55s are less stressed than under 35s and a reported 8% of under 35s reported their stress as significant.
With 6% of those over 55s being significantly stressed and 14% of those under 35s being significantly stressed.
Reported Factors That Help De-Stress In Work
According to Lattice Poll, the best things to do to de-stress at work are:
- Flexible work policies (44% of people said this)
- Trust by their manager (40% of people said this)
- Regular praise (31% of people said this)
- Defined responsibilities (28% of people said this)
- Positive work culture (26% of people said this)
Stress Coping Mechanisms Outside Of Work
The best things to do outside of work are prioritising things you enjoy, most people who are stressed at work do activities like seeing friends, doing exercise or going on a hike.
How Managers Affect Work Stress
It is reported that 42% of employees feel that their employer does not believe their stress will affect their work.
Also, according to Lattice Poll, 38% of employees believed their employer did not care about their stress levels.
What Can Managers Do To Reduce These Numbers?
Managers can positively affect stress with understanding, realistic targets and positive feedback.
However, it is important to mention that managers are also experiencing high levels of stress, with 35% of managers or team leaders being stressed at work, and 42% of this being stressed because of the stress they put on themselves, according to Forbes.
What Can Organisations Do To Reduce These Numbers?
Ben believes that big organisations should have their own HR department that shows interest in their employees. Perhaps adopting new in-house strategies like weekly meetings or emails to employees that they can fill out, describing how they feel.
For example, the form could include a chart with different stress level percentages and employees can highlight which level they believe they are at currently those who are highly stressed can then be contacted by managers and other hierarchy where they can discuss the reasons for their stress and come up with solutions to reduce this.
Does Domain Age Impact Rankings?
For many years, SEOs have been under the impression that aged domains (domains that have existed for some time) can have a better chance of ranking compared to fresh (new) domains.
Buying domains that are listed for auction or even expired and building them out again has been a popular technique in the SEO industry, as they want to skip past the “Google sandbox” and see immediate, better rankings with a domain that has already existed in the SERPs.
But, what did Google have to say about this?
Google's Response About Domain Age
Well, John Mueller, from Google, was asked the following on X.com (formerly Twitter):
“Does the age of a domain name impact Google search rankings?”
In response to this, he said:
“No, domain age helps nothing.”
He also had a slight dig at domain autioners by mentioning that aged domains really only matter for those who want to sell you aged domains!
Is "Domain Age Ranking Impacts" Therefore A Myth?
It would seem that way.
Whilst Google and other search engines have access to data like domain age, they have stated in this instance that it is not a ranking factor. This means that as long as all the fundamentals of SEO are implemented correctly and you have a quality website to showcase to users, you should still have the same successes with a fresh domain.
Does This Mean You Should Stop Buying Aged Domains?
No, not at all.
Whilst what John Mueller said may well be true, there are still other benefits to buying aged domains.
Trust and Credibility
Older domains can be seen as more trustworthy and credible by search engines. This is based on the idea that a domain that has been around for a longer time is less likely to be a spammy or low-quality site. However, this is just one of many factors considered.
This is not to contradict what Google have said. What we believe could be true is that if a domain has ranked previously for keywords that you want to target, you may find it easier to rank for these terms again, with the help of other SEO ranking factors that we know are for certain, like quality content.
Historical Data and Backlink Profile
Older domains usually have more historical data and potentially a more robust backlink profile. Search engines use backlinks as an indicator of a website’s authority and relevance. A long-standing domain might have accumulated valuable backlinks over time, which can positively affect rankings.
Content Maturity
Older domains might have more content and have had more time to mature in terms of SEO. This means they could have a wider range of keywords they rank for, more indexed pages, and potentially more traffic – all positive signals to search engines.
How Long Does It Take To Rank A New Website With SEO?
Ranking a new domain in SEO can vary significantly based on several factors, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Generally, it might take anywhere from several months to a year or more to see significant ranking improvements for a new domain.
For example, if you have a website that is simply a blog, providing information on topics that are not really going to affect people’s lives, like “celebrity net worth” or a “sports blog”, then as long as you tick all the right boxes and have a good quality site, you can see rankings quite quickly.
However, if your new website is trying to compete in more competitive niches, especially YMYL (Your Money Your Life) niches, such as gambling, finance, health, etc. then it will take a lot longer for your domain to gain significant rankings as Google is skeptical about showing this information from a brand new site to users.
This may be when you look to use a domain that has already got authority in these niches and has some evidence of trust from search engines.
But nothing is guaranteed in SEO and there is nothing stopping you at some point down the line surpassing sites that have been around a lot longer if the experience you can offer users is deemed better than other sites you are competing against for keywords and ranking positions.
Conclusion: Domain Age Is Not As Important As SEOs Once Thought
Based on the information provided by Google themselves, we can conclude that domain age being a ranking factor is in fact a myth.
However, let us not forget that there are case studies that suggest otherwise as other SEOs have tested this in the past, but like with any ranking factor in SEO, the exact significance of it cannot be proven.
All we can do is take Google’s word for it, but don’t let this stop you buying an aged domain that suits your products/ services. You could also benefit from the backlinks and content that the domain already has.
What we can do is not worry too much about domain age when analysing the SERPs and not let an older domain that is ranking well put you off from competing against them for rankings. Instead of worrying about this, focus your efforts on improving your site in every way possible and offering users a bespoke experience.