# Authority Signals

> Where the open web talks about your brand.

URL: https://brandcrux.ai/authority-signals

Channel 03: Authority Signals.

## Overview

Directories (G2, Capterra, Crunchbase, Yelp), review sites (Trustpilot), editorial publishers (TechCrunch, industry blogs), and forums. Every public mention of your brand and your competitors, classified by citation type and ranked per topic.

The citation leaderboard ranks your brand and competitors per topic by directory, editorial, and review citation counts. The Gap List surfaces directories where competitors appear but your brand does not, each with a one-click submit link.

## Five citation types

Every URL, classified. For every authority topic and every target (your brand plus every active competitor), we discover up to 10 public URLs and auto-classify each into a citation type.

- **Directory.** Vendor or company directories where you are listed by name and category. e.g. G2, Capterra, Crunchbase, Yelp, BBB.
- **Review.** Aggregated review pages where users post first-hand experiences. e.g. Trustpilot, G2 Reviews, ProductHunt.
- **Editorial.** Long-form content published by media outlets and industry publishers. e.g. TechCrunch, news outlets, blogs.
- **Forum.** User-driven communities where your brand comes up in discussions. e.g. Reddit, Quora, Hacker News, Stack Overflow.
- **Social Listing.** Profile pages on social platforms that act as a brand directory. e.g. LinkedIn company page, Twitter/X profile.

## Why citations matter

AI engines pull from directories. SEO long-tail anchors hide there. When an AI assistant recommends a tool, it often grounds the recommendation in G2, Capterra, or Crunchbase content it has seen. Three directory listings means your brand appears in three search results when a user searches once. Directories are the cheapest, longest-lasting authority surface a brand can claim, and they are easy to miss without a tool watching them.

One search performed can return 3+ results if you are listed.

## Gap List

Where your competitors are listed and you are not. The Gap List surfaces directories where competitors appear but your brand does not, with a one-click submit link for each. A G2 or Capterra submission takes 30 minutes and pays back forever. Schedule the scan weekly and the gap list refreshes itself.

## In the BrandCrux loop

Authority Signals are one channel. Topic Authority is the composite. Every citation gets classified by type and tagged with the authority topic it belongs to. Per topic, your citation count rolls into the composite Topic Authority score alongside AI mentions, SERP positions, social engagement, and on-site crawl depth.

Where directories sit in the composite Topic Authority mix:
- AI mentions: 30%
- Web SERP: 25%
- On-site crawl: 15%
- Directory citations: 15%
- Social engagement: 15%

Related channels:
- AI Visibility: how AI engines see, mention, and recommend you.
- Web Search: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yandex rankings.
- Social Authority: competitor engagement on Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and more.
- Owned Analytics: Search Console and GA4 deep insights with an AI analyst.

## Get started

Find every directory you should be on. Free 300-credit trial. Directory scans cost 5 credits per topic by target. A 5-topic by 5-target scan equals 125 credits, and surfaces dozens of directories you did not know you were missing.

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BrandCrux is the brand authority tracker across channels. The crux of your brand across channels. https://brandcrux.ai