Brands will shift from buying advertising space to reputation engineering
If Google doesn’t suggest your brand, you don’t really exist! It’s the new barometer of trust. And Google Suggest will make all the difference! Building authority is not a one-off campaign, but a holistic business strategy.
We are obsessed with “likes,” click-through rates, and positions on results pages. However, these indicators only measure surface visibility, which is often purchased and always precarious.
What if the real test of a brand’s authority took place elsewhere… in a space free of advertising: the search bar?
“Appearing in Google’s suggestions has become the most powerful signal of trust in the digital world, and what it reveals about your brand’s real place in the minds of your customers,” warns Jean d’Alessandro, SEO expert and administrator of the Web Solution Way agency.
Beyond visibility, the quest for trust
In the attention economy, visibility is an obsession. Marketing dashboards are full of indicators designed to quantify it: impressions, reach, share of voice… Yet this race for visibility at all costs masks a fundamental truth: consumers have never been so exposed to advertising, and have never been so adept at ignoring it. Their skeptical filters are sharper than ever.
“Faced with this crisis of confidence, mere presence is no longer enough,” continues Jean d’Alessandro. “Brands must seek out more authentic signals of authority, proof of their relevance that cannot simply be bought.”
The question is no longer “how to be seen?” but “how to be believed?” The answer may lie in the world’s most widely used tool, not on its results page, but in the fleeting moment that precedes it . Your brand’s suggestion in the Google search bar, that universal trusted third party, has become the true barometer of digital trust.
Google Suggest, the mirror of collective intent
It is important not to view Google Suggest as a simple algorithm that “decides” to promote a brand. It should be understood as a sociological phenomenon: a mirror that reflects with remarkable accuracy what the market collectively thinks and searches for. It does not create reality, it confirms it.
This mechanism is based on what could be called algorithmic social proof.
When thousands of users independently and organically associate a need (“eco-friendly running shoes”) with a solution (“Your Brand”), they send a massive signal to Google. The algorithm then simply recognizes and validates this connection that already exists in the minds of consumers.
The power of this suggestion lies in its psychology. For the user, it is not perceived as an advertising intrusion, but as cognitive assistance. It validates their thinking, confirms that they are not alone in seeking this, and offers them a shortcut to the most likely answer. It is an implicit recommendation, devoid of any apparent commercial interest, and therefore infinitely more credible than any advertising banner.
The limits of the advertising model in the face of the need for trust
For years, Google Ads has been the default answer to any need for visibility. It is a powerful tactical tool, but one that is now showing its fundamental limitations in the area of trust.
The “Ad” label has become a marker of mistrust. It instantly signals to the user that they are looking at a paid commercial message, immediately activating their defenses. Even if the ad is relevant, it will always be viewed with a higher degree of skepticism than an organic result.
The advertising model generates transactional trust, not relational trust. It can convince a user to make a one-time purchase, but it does not build the long-term attachment, loyalty, or preference that characterize strong brands. It is an interaction based on immediate need, not on established authority.
Advertising indicators are incapable of measuring a brand’s real authority. A high advertising budget can perfectly mask a lack of brand awareness, a poor reputation, or an inferior product. It measures the ability to pay, not the ability to convince in the long term. It is a veil that can hide a brand in poor health.
Building the authority needed to become a suggestion
“Appearing in Google Suggest is therefore not a technical trick, but the result of a deliberate strategy to build authority,” continues Jean d’Alessandro. “It is a sign of a healthy brand whose relevance is recognized by its market.”
To achieve this, several pillars must be solidly built, each feeding the signals that Google’s algorithm interprets.
- Value creation (content marketing):
When a brand becomes the go-to source of information in its field, it changes search behavior. Users no longer just look for answers, they look for answers from that brand. They type “[topic] + [Your Brand],” creating the association that Google will eventually suggest. - Third-party validation (Press Relations & Influence):
Trust is a transfer. A mention in a respected media outlet or a positive review from a recognized expert transfers some of that credibility to your brand. This transfer materializes in spikes in direct searches for your name, reinforcing your brand awareness signal. - Customer experience (Reviews and Community):
Exceptional customer satisfaction is the most powerful driver of reputation. Happy customers don’t just buy again; they talk, they compare, they defend. They generate searches such as ” ” “[Your Brand] reviews,” “[Your Brand] vs. competitor,” creating an ecosystem of conversations that anchors your legitimacy.
From audience rental to trust ownership
Building authority is not a one-off campaign, but a holistic business strategy. It requires perfect orchestration between content, public relations, and community management. The challenge for brands is to move from a logic of buying advertising space to a logic of reputation engineering.
New areas of expertise are emerging to manage this influence and ensure that every positive action contributes to building the signals of trust that algorithms, and therefore customers, will recognize.
The next decade of marketing will not be about who has the biggest advertising budget, but who has the greatest share of trust in the minds of consumers. Visibility can be rented, but trust must be earned.
Google Suggest is therefore no longer just a tool, concludes Jean d’Alessandro. “It is the most accurate and ruthless dashboard of this trust. It reveals who the real opinion leaders are, the essential references and the brands that really matter to their audience… Being absent from this dashboard is admitting that your brand is not yet a reference.”
