Brand Mentions: The New Currency of AI-Era Growth for Las Vegas Businesses

Eric LaCasse
Jan 6
3 min read

This article was inspired by “How to earn brand mentions that drive LLM and SEO visibility,” published by Search Engine Land. Read the original here: https://searchengineland.com/earn-brand-mentions-drive-llm-seo-visibility-466728

The Shift: Brand Mentions Are the New Domain Authority of AI

Let’s be blunt: Brand mentions aren’t optional anymore — they’re the requirement for future growth in the AI world.

Search Engine Land makes this crystal clear: LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity don’t just look at links. They study how your business is talked about, what words show up around your name, and whether the internet consistently frames you as the trusted option.

That’s a massive shift away from the old SEO playbook of backlinks, PPC budgets, and keyword stuffing. And honestly? It’s about time.

For the first time, search is moving toward something actually human: How people see, experience, and speak about your business.

This is the arena where new brands will have a real chance to compete against old, established giants. Not by out-spending them. Not by gaming Google. But by becoming the business people naturally mention when the topic comes up.

Las Vegas: The City Where Attention Is the Economy

No city understands attention better than Las Vegas. Here, you don’t win by being the biggest — you win by being unforgettable.

That’s why brand mentions hit differently in this market.

While the rest of the country will slowly adopt AI-driven branding strategies, Las Vegas businesses will turn them into a national blueprint.

Because in Vegas, everything is about:

Being talked about
Staying top-of-mind
Owning the category in conversations

If AI search is becoming a giant conversation engine, Vegas is the city best positioned to dominate it.

Businesses here that learn how to shape their brand mentions — on socials, in reviews, in Reddit threads, in blogs — will rise faster and more sustainably than anything paid ads can touch.

Why I Agree with the Article: This Is the Future

Search Engine Land nailed it: Brand mentions are becoming the core visibility signal for LLMs.

When the article says that brand mentions now matter as much (or more) than links, I’m fully aligned. Because in practice? It’s already happening.

Brand mentions are the new Domain Authority of AI. Google invented Page Rank. AI search is inventing their Page Rank.

The companies people talk about the most — in context, with trust-loaded language — become the companies AI recommends the most.

A Real Client Example: Turning “Boring Industry” Into AI Visibility Fuel

One of my clients is a water delivery company — not exactly the sexiest industry in Las Vegas.

But here’s where brand mentions change the game.

Instead of trying to force backlinks or pump thousands into ads, we focused on how people naturally described the company:

“Professional”
“Polite”
“Always ready to help”
“Knowledgeable”

These aren’t just compliments. They’re semantic gold in the AI era.

LLMs don’t simply read star ratings. They read language.

And according to Search Engine Land, contextual wording in reviews, social posts, and third-party mentions is the exact type of footprint LLMs use to decide which businesses deserve visibility.

That’s why this small business has grown consistently — not because of volume, but because the quality of their mentions tells AI:

“This is the reliable local choice.”

That’s the power every Vegas business can tap into.

What This Means for Las Vegas Businesses Right Now

If you run a business in Las Vegas, here’s the hard truth:

"You are no longer competing for rankings, You are competing for mentions."

AI search is choosing winners based on:

Who is being talked about
In what context
How consistently
On how many platforms
With which descriptive keywords

This means the playing field is wide open.

A small HVAC business, tattoo shop, realtor, caterer, spa, or dog-groomer that earns the right kind of mentions can outrank — and out-recommend — national competitors who have relied solely on backlinks and ad spend for 15 years.

This is the most exciting shift in SEO in over a decade.