Link equity is the value or authority passed from one page to another through hyperlinks — a fundamental concept in PageRank-based SEO. Pages with high-quality inbound links accumulate more link equity and pass more value when they link out.
Link equity may contribute to AI citation authority, though its influence is debated — some data suggests domain authority is not a primary factor in AI source credibility assessments, while unlinked brand mentions may correlate more strongly with AI visibility. High link equity on key pages — service pages, entity pages, glossary entries — signals that external sources consider the content authoritative enough to reference. Internal link equity distribution also matters: ensuring that the most important pages for AI citation receive strong internal link support improves their retrieval priority.