Did you know that the skills that make you a great writer — your unique voice, your expertise, your hard-won perspective — are exactly what search engines are now looking for?
That might sound like good news (and it is!), but there’s a catch. Google can only reward what it can find and verify. In a digital landscape now flooded with AI-generated content, Google is prioritizing authoritative voices over good writing. Good writing is a given. Who wrote it is becoming more important than ever.
As you may have guessed, the problem is artificial intelligence. AI platforms like Claude, Perplexity, and many others can churn out passable articles at scale, making it harder for independent writers and editors to stand out based on content alone. In response, Google has shifted how it ranks content. Its algorithms have shifted from evaluating pages to evaluating people. That shift changes everything for us as independent creatives.
Your personal brand shouldn’t be left up to chance. It’s an important marketing tool and essential for search engine optimization. SEO is how most potential customers will find you online, so it is more important than ever to pay attention to it.
Google’s Latest Algorithm Updates
Google rolls out updates to its search engine algorithm, or the code that crawls, discovers, and indexes websites for search. Updates are divided into various categories, but the ones you must pay attention to are called core updates.
A Google core update is a major change to its search algorithm. It changes how the search engine evaluates, ranks, and displays content. It’s not a tweak or a bug fix. It’s a major recalibration of what Google considers high‑quality, trustworthy, and relevant.
Here’s the simplest way to think about it:
A core update reshuffles the search results to better match Google’s evolving understanding of what users want and which sources deserve visibility.
During a core update, Google reevaluates all indexed pages using its new, updated criteria. This can cause your web page’s search rankings to rise, fall, or remain the same. Google may decide that some pages aren’t worth indexing, and take them out of its search results entirely.
Core updates evaluate E-E-A-T, or what Google considers experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, and that’s where personal branding comes into the picture. If Google can’t find anything else about you online, or if the information is inconsistent or outdated, it may decide your content isn’t worth ranking. And that’s a big problem in today’s search-driven world. Customers need to find you, and AI search and major search engines like Google are how they typically search for writing and editing services.
The last three core updates have been brutal to many websites, with the May 2026 update the harshest of all. I’ve seen websites lose hundreds of page rankings in a day! It’s a hard reality, but one we live in now in this age of AI-driven search. Our job, as business owners and freelancers, is to work with what we see to improve our business marketing. And that means refocusing on branding for yourself, your business, and your work.
Why Branding Has Become a Core SEO Strategy
Search Engines Now Rank Entities, Not Just Websites
You may have heard the term “entity-based optimization” floating around SEO circles. Here’s what it means for you in plain terms: Google is increasingly smart enough to recognize people, organizations, and concepts as distinct, knowable “entities,” not just keywords on a page.
When you build a consistent presence online, Google understands who you are and what you do. The more coherent and connected that digital footprint is, the more likely Google is to index, rank, and surface your content. Think of it as Google getting to know you — and deciding you’re worth introducing to its users.
E-E-A-T: Your Brand Is Your Ranking Power
Google evaluates content through a framework called E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
This is what it means:
- Experience: You’ve been in the trenches. You know this from doing it.
- Expertise: You have credentials, a body of work, and a clear niche.
- Authoritativeness: Others reference you, cite you, and seek you out, linking to your content.
- Trustworthiness: You show up consistently, with verifiable information, as a real human being.
For writers and editors who publish across multiple platforms, such as your own site, LinkedIn, guest blogs, and client publications, a coherent personal brand ties all that work back to you. Without it, Google may gloss over your website, considering it of low value. That sounds harsh, and it is. But again, the increasing volume of information published online means that Google has to decide what to rank and serve to searchers. Without enough information and trust signals from multiple sources, it can easily decide your pages aren’t worth ranking.
Branding Helps You Survive the Rise of Zero-Click Searches
One thing that continually evolves is this so-called age of “zero-click searches.” This means potential customers are increasingly not clicking through to websites. Instead, they are searching, getting an answer in AI-based search platforms, and leaving without clicking through.
Google’s May search update demonstrates this perfectly. While I was writing this article, I needed to confirm the acronym “E-E-A-T.” I used to type the acronym into the search bar, and several articles, including the source I wanted from Google, would appear. Now? Google’s own AI search tool displayed the answer. I had to hunt for the link. If all I wanted was a quick understanding of the term, I wouldn’t have needed to click through to a website at all. The search bar provided the entire answer in a snapshot.
Now here’s why branding is so important in the age of zero-click search. Customers searching on terms or need-based phrases may or may not end up on your website. But searching for “NAIWE” brings them right to the NAIWE website. It’s a brand name, and the website is the authoritative source of information about NAIWE! Searching for your name or company name as a brand name will bring people directly to your site.
A strong personal or company brand can circumvent AI search and the whims of Google, bringing potential customers directly to your website.
Authority Attracts Backlinks, Which Improves Your Search Discoverability
Another way to improve your search discoverability is through backlinks. A backlink is a link from an external website that points to yours. But here’s the catch: you have to earn backlinks naturally. Any attempt to game the system can result in harsh penalties from Google. I’ve seen sites entirely delisted for participating in link exchanges or buying links from spammy websites. It’s a trap many small business owners fall into, and the results aren’t pretty. One client had his entire site stripped from Google. Invisible. Three years of work were gone in an instant because he decided to participate in a giant ‘link swap’ that Google caught onto very quickly.
Links have to be earned. This is accomplished the hard way by publishing content such as online guides, original research, third-party articles, and more. It takes a lot of time, but think of it like compound interest: the more backlinks you earn, the more positive the SEO effect.
What a Strong Brand Looks Like in 2026
So what exactly is a personal or business brand? What does it look like?
A strong brand is:
- A clear, consistent professional identity across every platform where you show up
- A recognizable voice and point of view that sets you apart from the crowd (including the AI crowd)
- A digital footprint that reinforces your expertise through bylines, interviews, publications, and credentials
- A body of content tied to your name and your niche
- Social proof: testimonials, speaking engagements, guest posts, podcast appearances — the kind of third-party validation that tells Google (and potential clients) that others trust you too
You can read my past articles or view past NAIWE branding webinars to learn more.
How Writers and Editors Can Build a Brand Google Recognizes
Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Entity SEO
LinkedIn is one of the few platforms that Google indexes reliably and respects. Your profile is often one of the first results when someone searches your name, which means it’s a prime opportunity to reinforce who you are and what you do.
Start with your headline. Make it specific and keyword-rich. “Freelance Editor” is forgettable; “Developmental Editor for Nonfiction Authors | Specializing in Memoir and Personal Essay” tells Google (and potential clients) exactly what you do.
Your “About” section should read less like a resume summary and more like a professional introduction that weaves in your niche, experience, and perspective. And don’t leave the “Featured” and “Experience” sections sparse. Add links to your publications, bylines, interviews, and podcasts. Every credential strengthens your entity profile.
I add some personality to my LinkedIn About page, not for SEO purposes, but because it’s closer to my own personal brand. I like my online presence to have a clear voice and tone. Do what feels right for your brand. There’s no perfect way to write a LinkedIn page for personal branding.
Strengthen Your Website as Your “Home Base”
I like to say that all digital roads lead to home, which should be your website. Social platforms are borrowed land. You own your website. Google should get the best and clearest picture of your brand through your website.
Every independent writer and editor’s website should include:
- A detailed author bio that includes your credentials, your niche, and the kinds of clients or readers you serve. written with the keywords your audience actually searches for.
- Author schema markup (structured data) so Google can formally connect your name to your content. This is a small technical step with a big SEO payoff.
- A blog or portfolio that demonstrates your expertise over time, not just lists your services.
We used to teach people to put 90% or more of their branding efforts into their website, and while this isn’t wrong, it’s becoming increasingly clear that search today is messier than before. It’s more like a game of pinball than golf. In golf, you hit the ball from the tee to the hole — a straight line. In pinball, the ball shoots around wildly, bouncing from bumper to bumper for a while before it lands in its final destination. People looking for services today tend to be pinballs, bouncing around from Reddit to LinkedIn, ChatGPT to Facebook, looking at various things before finally landing on your website. While I still think your website is your most important asset, it’s also vital to pick one or two external sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, to build your brand.
Create a Consistent Content Strategy That Google Rewards
Consistency is king when it comes to branding. A consistent voice and tone, a consistent point of view, and consistently showing up in the same place will do more to build your brand than a fancy design or viral surge.
What I love about writers engaging in branding is that they already know how to write outstanding content. You’re all creators. You know how to write authoritative, expert content. You’re experts at the craft. So you’re a step ahead of everyone else, churning out AI content.
To get your brand seen and valued online and attract more potential customers to your website, focus on publishing original point of view content on platforms that Google actively indexes. This could be your website, LinkedIn, Medium, and industry platforms and publications.
Have a point of view. Have opinions. Share expertise. Talk about real-world scenarios and situations that illustrate your concept. These are all things that the AI-content world can’t replicate, and things that Google values more and more. And they are also things that build a personal brand.
Position Yourself as an Authority in Your Industry
This is where your expertise as a writer becomes your greatest asset. Think about the topics in your niche where you have a genuinely unique perspective. What do you know that others don’t? What do you see differently?
Develop signature ideas, frameworks, or ways of talking about your work that others will want to reference. Then pitch guest posts and interviews to expand your digital footprint beyond your own platforms. Every byline on a reputable site is another thread connecting your name to your expertise in Google’s knowledge graph.
A Few Real-World Examples
Consider the freelance editor who spent a year sharing short, consistent posts on LinkedIn about the craft of editing nonfiction. These posts aren’t self-promotion, just genuine insight. Over time, she became a recognized voice in that niche. Google began surfacing her name in searches related to developmental editing. New clients started finding her not through referrals, but through search.
This is what happens when you consistently show up with E-E-A-T. It does not happen overnight. I wish it did. But with consistent effort, it can yield visible results.
Branding Is All About Visibility
In a world flooded with AI-generated content, your personal brand is your competitive advantage. Your perspective, your experience, and your voice are things nothing, not even AI, can replicate.
Personal branding isn’t about ego. It’s not about patting yourself on the back. It’s all about being authentic, showing up consistently, and taking actions that help you get noticed in the right way, to Google and to potential customers.
Even if Google changes its algorithm tomorrow, your personal brand will continue yielding benefits for a long time to come.
Jeanne Grunert
The Branding and Marketing Expert
Jeanne Grunert is the president and founder of Seven Oaks Consulting, a business-to-business content marketing agency. She is an award-winning writer and direct marketing expert with over 30 years of writing, marketing, and business experience. Prior to founding Seven Oaks Consulting, Jeanne led marketing for divisions of McGraw-Hill Education, Teachers College Columbia University, The College Board, and retail, publishing, and financial service companies in the New York City area. Known worldwide for her exceptional leadership and communication skills, Jeanne works seamlessly across cultural and corporate barriers to achieve outstanding results. She holds an M.A. in writing and an M.S. in direct and digital marketing (awarded with distinction) from New York University, as well as certifications in social media marketing, content marketing, and adult education. Originally from the New York City area, Jeanne currently resides with her husband, John, and many pets on a 17-acre farm in rural Virginia. When not leading marketing teams through her work at Seven Oaks Consulting, she enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, and writing mystery novels.
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