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đź‘• WTSMerch now available
🎟️ WTSFest tickets on sale for Melbourne, London, Portland, & Philadelphia
Author: Erin Simmons (they/them)
Last updated: 23/10/2025
At October 2025’s BrightonSEO, I shared this story about how to earn brand trust and visibility through community.
We're often stuck chasing visibility, and that's an exhausting game. Because visibility doesn’t begin with rankings or reach. It begins with trust.
And trust always begins with people.
Let's get into it...
People are overwhelmed with information.
There are so many places to go when you want to find an answer and even more sending you unprompted advice - search, social, newsletters, videos, Reddit threads, AI summaries, email, and even Slack / Discord / WhatsApp communities. Not to mention your family, neighbors, news, snail mail, and more.
We have more sources of information than ever before:
We’re surrounded by endless sources of information - from search and social to Slack, WhatsApp, the news, neighbours, newsletters, and more. No wonder so many folks are wondering: who do I trust?
With that comes the constant question: Who, what, and where do I trust?
Brands feel that overwhelm too.
If your audience is scattered across all these spaces, it can feel like you have to be everywhere at once just to be seen.
Paying attention to every channel, every algorithm, every update. And that pressure to constantly show up and earn trust is exhausting.
But here’s the twist: showing up and then earning trust is the wrong order.
Visibility [everywhere] is a byproduct of trust.
And trust doesn’t start with brands - it starts with people.
We’ve had a ton of different ways that passing information through the web has evolved over the years.
And since the beginning of the internet, people have always been at the forefront.
In the early internet days, people turned to chat rooms and forums for advice - spaces built on person-to-person trust.
Then came search and for a while - personal blogs and websites reigned supreme. Then brands began to find their footing there too.
The launch of social media created new ways for people to connect directly. Brands quickly jumped on the bandwagon.
Then influencers emerged - people whose trust and expertise carried weight. Brand influencers soon followed.
Eventually, we started seeing creators - individuals who became brands themselves.
Across every shift - chat rooms, forums, social, influencers, creators, and now AI — one truth has stayed consistent:
Trust always starts with people.
And the brands jumped on board these people-led trends, going to the place where trust is being exchanged each time.
But later on, we’ll chat about a specific error I think brands have been making all these years - entering spaces where trust is being exchanged as brands instead of as people behind the brands.
Before that, let’s get into trust in search over time…
Let’s drill in on one of these sources of information and talk about trust in search over time.
Trust in search engines rose steadily for three years - until AI Overviews disrupted how people perceive where information comes from.
Source: Edelman's 2025 Trust Barometer
According to Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer, the percentage of people who trust search engines has risen steadily over the past 3 years after a sharp decline from an overall trust loss in media and information across the board during COVID.
That 3 year rise wasn’t random - it reflected what search engines were doing differently.
In 2021, Google released the Product Reviews update, which started prioritising information written by real people - not faceless brand sites, not scraped lists, but lived experiences.
Then in 2022, we saw E-E-A-T expand to include experience - again prioritising firsthand, lived experience of the author.
In 2023, the Hidden Gems update began surfacing more forums and community discussions - influencing visibility for user-generated content (UGC) forums and niche expert communities like Reddit.
Search results were visibly prioritising people, and at the same time, trust in search was rising.
Then came AI Overviews in 2024.
And suddenly… we weren’t quite sure whose information we were seeing anymore.
People’s behaviour shifted in response.
Growth Memo ran a UX study comparing search results with and without AIO.
When the AI summary wasn’t on the page, 57% of people clicked through to organic results:
Without AI Overviews, most people click through to organic results - showing strong trust in traditional search.
Source: GrowthMemo 2025 | UX Study of AIO
When the AI summary appeared, that number dropped to 40%:
When AI Overviews appear, organic clicks drop and community or video clicks rise - proof that when trust in tools dips, people turn to people.
Source: GrowthMemo 2025 | UX Study of AIO
So where did those clicks go?
Community and video.
When trust falls, people go looking for people. Even when the tools don’t give us that (or tell us where their info is from at all), we find it anyway.
And the thing is, the tools always catch up.
That three-year rise in search trust we just looked at? It happened because search engines started prioritising people again. And we’re already seeing it happen now in AI - surfacing Reddit, social, and other human-led sources.
The pattern always repeats - tools and brands follow the trends of people.
We’re already seeing the tools catch up and the following are examples across 3 industries that will give you a view into why trust comes first and visibility follows in action.
Let’s start with TomboyX, an eCommerce brand out of Seattle that sells gender neutral underwear and clothing. I worked with this brand for quite a few years and saw first-hand how engaging with our audience in-person and online helped grow their trust in us.
TomboyX never needed to tell people how inclusive or comfortable their products were - their customers did it for them.
So many folks took it upon themselves to share their own photos and opinions directly on Instagram. (I think that photo of me all the way on the right was predicting my move to the UK before I knew it was a possibility!)
On Reddit, they talked about the quality, fit, and got ahead of a consistent customer pain point - the price.
One post said:
“Nice and soft, but pricey. Worth it in my opinion.”
That’s not brand messaging; that’s trust in action.
Google Search & AI Mode
And when you search “gender neutral underwear”, TomboyX shows up at the top - not just in organic listings, but also inside AI Overviews.
Because the algorithms are following where trust already exists.
When I moved to the UK, I started looking for local dive spots - and one name kept coming up: Porthkerris Divers.
TikTok
I saw it in TikTok videos through people’s mentions, hashtags, and location tags
No ads, no big SEO push - just divers tagging them, telling stories, and sharing experiences.
Porthkerris came up again in Reddit as one of the #1 spots to go in Cornwall.
ChatGPT
And when I asked ChatGPT where to dive in Cornwall, guess who came up?
Porthkerris again.
Because AI isn’t inventing trust - it’s reflecting it.
And then there’s Profound, one of our wonderful WTSPartners and a company that’s done this so well. I see them involved in so many communities and talking people to people.
Profound doesn’t chase visibility. They build relationships.
Slack community
You see that in our WTS Slack community where people freely share Profound as a tool they’re using and testing:
Others shared their experiences on LinkedIn:
How Profound helped scale their analysis, using the data for their customers, “leading the way in conversational analytics.”
Perplexity
Now, when you search in Perplexity for “best AI search visibility tools,” Profound appears right there in the top results.
There’s the visibility.
This is the endgame.
People vouching for you on their own - everywhere.
Because when you earn trust from real people, those people then share about their trust in you. And search and AI use that as a signal and uplift their voices singing the praises of your brand.
Visibility becomes a byproduct of the trust you’ve taken the time to build.
If there’s one shortcut I can give you this is it: show up where trust is already being exchanged.
We saw earlier that when people lose trust in a tool, they don’t give up on seeking information - they go find people. And most of the time, that happens in communities.
Slack groups. Discord servers. WhatsApp chats. Industry forums.
The spaces where people talk freely, share proof, and ask for honest opinions.
Purna Virji spent some time studying how trust builds inside what’s often called dark social, and found that these private spaces are where decisions are actually made.
Trust isn’t built in public - it’s built in private spaces. Discords, Slacks, and WhatsApp groups are where opinions form before they ever reach a feed
People might research in public, but they decide and look for proof in community.
So before you even get to how to earn trust, find a place where it’s already being exchanged.
Then you can begin on the three things that matter most in earning trust:
Show up regularly, not just when you need something.
Consistency builds familiarity, and familiarity builds trust.
In our Women in Tech SEO community, Dana DiTomaso is a perfect example of this.
She’s an analytics expert and a long-time member. Her consistency is undeniable - in our Slack alone she’s posted over 1,300 messages (probably closer to 2,000 by now).
Every one of those messages - knowing that Dana well covers the next two pieces of how to engage to earn trust - compounds other’s trust in her.
The quickest way to build credibility in a community is to help without expecting anything back.
Dana does this too - sharing resources, not just her own work, but anything she knows will help someone else.
I love the example below where she shared Ruth Burr Reedy’s Whiteboard Friday - nothing to do with her company, Kick Point.
Not content created by Dana. In theory, nothing to gain from it. Just pure helpfulness.
People remember the people that help them. People trust the people that truly help them.
Finally, be human. Be yourself.
Share your excitement, share when you don’t know something, share vulnerably!
The example that Dana posted in our Motivation channel about how she keeps every lanyard from every talk she’s given - so when any doubt creeps in, she can look at them and remind herself of what she’s accomplished.
Beautiful.
That kind of vulnerability - saying “I don’t know” when you don’t, showing excitement, admitting nerves - that’s what makes people connect with you.
Because you’re not your brand. You’re a person behind your brand.
And that’s why Dana is trusted.
Dana runs Kick Point, but she shows up as Dana.
And because of that, people - including me - recommend her, remember her, and talk about her. Because she’s consistently helped us as herself.
That’s visibility as a byproduct of trust in action.
So let’s put this all together.
A word of caution - I hear a lot of brands skipping right to “we should build a community.”
My recommendation: don’t start there.
Building a community from scratch takes time, money, and a huge amount of effort to get the momentum going.
Before you ever get to that point, you can do so much by joining the spaces where trust already lives. Test it - smaller time and monetary investment. See if it’s right for you.
Here’s the path I recommend:
Find --> Join & engage --> Partner --> Expand or build
Let’s walk through it piece by piece.
There’s a few ways to go about this to understand what communities exist for your audience and where you should start.
Old fashion search
What are your brand values?
Let’s say they’re education and DE&I.
Who is your audience?
Maybe your audience is technical SEOs (can you guess what community example I’m leading you towards here?!)
Now combine those and search for spaces where those overlap.
Build your queries based on your audience and values to find an intersection that makes sense for your brand:
Ask your customers directly
“What industry communities do you belong to?”
At WTS, we include this question in our annual survey, and the answers help us find other communities our members are part of - which often leads to great partnerships.
Follow the mentions
Who’s being mentioned in newsletters, podcasts, and guest posts?
That’s often how you’ll find which communities are active and trusted.
Once you’ve found a community, don’t rush in and start posting.
Join and listen first.
What does “helpful” look like in this space?
We share this directly on WTS’s website - to be helpful in our space means giving and receiving:
Find what makes sense, what you can offer from your brand. In this case, you decide how you can contribute - by helping people make connections, learn, be seen, or grow.
What are people talking about?
Here’s an example of members asking how to publish guest blogs or how to build their personal brand.
If you have a high performing blog and the ability to hire guest writers - there’s your helpful in!
Now you’re ready to participate.
And this is where trust starts to build. Remember the 3 keys to building trust? Be consistent, be helpful, be yourself.
Let’s run through an example.
Be consistent
Meet Jojo Furnival, a brilliant WTSer who runs marketing at Sitebulb.
Showing up over and over again in our Slack community.
Be helpful
Jojo is reaching out to these member who are looking to grow their personal brand and offering them an opportunity to be amplified on Sitebulb’s blog.
Consistency bonus: Jojo has even created a WTS section specifically for Sitebulb's blog that includes all member-created content! That's how consistent this help is!
Be yourself
And Jojo shows up as her whole self, not as Sitebulb.
Sharing her excitement, love of ACDC, values, and her desire to see every single WTSer’s dog.
Visibility is a byproduct of trust
Jojo built trust and people are happy to share about the opportunities they received and how it helped them:
Let’s say all that went well and you’re thinking this community path is definitely for you. Many communities have the opportunity to partner with them.
Partnerships are simply an extension of being helpful - scaling it through collaboration with the community.
As a WTSPartner, Sitebulb collaborated with WTS to create a pretty epic training course. They started with a survey to find pain points of our community (and their audience) with the promise of a resource.
They followed through on that promise, publishing their findings and what they saw as a need:
From there, they filled that need with a free training program that amplified two WTS members - the brilliant Sam Torres and Tory Gray.
Over 3,000 SEOs took that training!
And so many amplified Sitebulb, Sam, & Tory - furthering not only Sitebulb’s visibility, but their commitment to help amplify WTSers.
Just an absolute brilliant trust building experience, resulting in yet again - visibility being a byproduct of trust.
Let’s say you want MORE COMMUNITY!
Expand in your current community
What other opportunities does the community you partner with have? Event exhibition? Newsletter sponsorship? Other community initiatives? Something custom?
Sitebulb expanding their partnership with WTS by exhibiting at our last WTSFest London conference:
Expand to more communities
Repeat this exercise in other communities that have your audience. Sitebulb does this - you can see in the example below they also support the wonderful Freelance Coalition for Developing Countries!
Build your own
Maybe now you’re at the point where it makes sense. And you have a built in audience that trust you when you launch!
This is a wholllllle other blog post, so big that it’s actually a book:
When you’re ready, read Areej AbuAli’s book, Community Building for Marketers.
It’s your roadmap.
At this point, hopefully you’ve realized something:
You don’t have to be the one making your brand show up everywhere.
When you focus on showing up for people - consistently, helpfully, and as yourself - they’ll help you show up everywhere that matters.
That’s the thread that runs through all of this.
You can’t force visibility, and you can’t outsmart every algorithm update.
But you can earn trust - trust scales, trust compounds, and trust doesn’t go away with the next algorithm update.
So instead of asking, “How do we get more visibility?”
Start asking, “How do we earn more trust?”
Because when people trust you - when people start recommending you everywhere, when search and AI systems start reflecting those signals - that visibility becomes inevitable.
Visibility is a byproduct of trust.
And that’s how you move from overwhelm to organic growth that lasts.
Erin Simmons (they/them) - Managing Director, The WTS Community
Erin is Managing Director at the Women in Tech SEO community—focused on maintaining safe, inclusive, and helpful spaces. With 15+ years in marketing and analytics, they now focus on better understanding people and connecting them to the relationships and resources that support them most.