Link equity
Link equity is the ranking value a link passes from one page to another, which depends on the linking page's strength, relevance and the link itself.
Link equity is the ranking value a link passes from one page to the page it points to. A link from a strong, relevant page tells search engines the page it links to is worth showing. SEOs also call it link juice.
The idea goes back to PageRank, Google's original way of ranking pages by the links between them. Google says PageRank, much changed since, is still part of its core ranking systems.
What affects how much a link passes
Nobody outside Google knows the exact formula, but SEOs agree on the main factors:
- How strong the linking page is, mostly from the links pointing to it
- How close its subject is to your page's
- Where the link sits: a link in the body of an article counts for more than one in a footer
- How many other links the page has, since a page with hundreds of links spreads its value thin
- Whether the link is marked
nofollow,sponsoredorugc, which tells Google not to treat it as a vote
It flows inside your own site too. Your homepage usually has the most links pointing to it, and your internal links pass some of that on to the pages they point to.
Equity and AI answers
Link equity helps your pages rank, and Google's AI answers draw on pages Google ranks. Other AI platforms don't publish how they choose sources, but the ones that search the web start from search results, so pages that rank well are the ones they tend to read.
For example, a well-linked guide from Fernhill Coffee is more likely to rank for "how to store coffee beans," and so more likely to be among the pages an AI answer reads. Once it's read, what counts is whether the guide answers the question clearly.