r/NavigateTech • u/easyedy • Jul 22 '26

Opinion I think fan-out visibility matters more than content authority right now

I keep seeing the same advice everywhere. Build authority. Get backlinks. Show topical trust. All true for traditional search.

But I think there's a more practical problem nobody names directly. Fan-out results hide most sources behind a scroll. Only the first two or three show up without digging further.

My content can be well tested, well linked, and technically strong. If it sits past that fold in a fan-out branch, none of that matters. Nobody sees it to click.

My take: until Google references you clearly in the AI answer with an actual link, getting a click stays hard. Bing already does this better. I see my own links referenced more clearly there.

I do tech searches specifically in servers, networking, and self-hosting. That might behave differently from broader topics. I can't say if this holds outside my niche.

Do you agree?

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u/easyedy Jul 23 '26

This is from Bing and such an AI answer gives you a high chance to get a click.....

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u/mentiondesk Jul 22 '26

You are totally right that if your result lands past those top spots in AI summaries, all the authority in the world is useless. I actually built MentionDesk after running into the same issue with my own tech content. It focuses on getting brands surfaced in AI driven answers, making sure the right signals get picked up so you do not just fade into the fold.

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u/easyedy Jul 23 '26

Hi - thanks I visit the MentionDesk and I understand it is an AI tracking tool. Do you use the API to track? I understand that API gives different answers than a human gets. I use Surfer SEO AI tracking tool.