{"id":194731,"date":"2026-01-19T05:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T10:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=194731"},"modified":"2026-01-19T05:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T10:40:12","slug":"ahrefs-top-blogs-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ahrefs-top-blogs-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Top 5 Blog Posts of 2025 (And What Made Them&nbsp;Work)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-txt\">We\u2019re sharing the content that worked hardest for us in 2025, to give you an idea of what might work for you in&nbsp;2026.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>And, naturally, we wanted to remind you of some of our best&nbsp;blogs&nbsp;\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below, we\u2019ve used <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/a> to find our most-viewed articles published in&nbsp;2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were inspired by <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/our-top-5-blog-posts-in-2025-to-help-you-with-your-marketing-in-2026\/\">Amanda Natividad\u2019s SparkToro post<\/a>. Great stuff from Amanda as usual\u2014check it out for more content ideas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_dgv6sa8cv1i4\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Our top 5 blogs in 2025\" data-section=\"blogs-2025\"> Our top 5 blogs in&nbsp;2025&nbsp;<\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, three of our five most-visited articles were research studies, created using data from Ahrefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The remaining two included an SEO blog and an article generated almost entirely by&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We have filtered out blogs published pre-2025, or those updated in&nbsp;2025.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1692\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/table-showing-ahrefs-top-5-blogs-of-2025-with-blo.jpg\" alt=\"Table showing Ahrefs' top 5 blogs of 2025 with blog titles, view counts (96.1K to 26.5K), and author names with profile photos.\" class=\"wp-image-194732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/table-showing-ahrefs-top-5-blogs-of-2025-with-blo.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/table-showing-ahrefs-top-5-blogs-of-2025-with-blo-402x425.jpg 402w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/table-showing-ahrefs-top-5-blogs-of-2025-with-blo-768x812.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/table-showing-ahrefs-top-5-blogs-of-2025-with-blo-1452x1536.jpg 1452w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s get into&nbsp;it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_8kvdtk29p29p\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%\" data-section=\"overviews-reduce\">1. AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5% <\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks\/\">AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%<\/a> was our most-viewed article overall, driving ~96,000 visits since it was published back in April, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1288\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-81-2k-unique-vi.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs analytics dashboard showing 81.2K unique visitors, 74.4% bounce rate, and traffic spike in April for an 'AI Overviews Reduce Clicks' blog post.\" class=\"wp-image-194733\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-81-2k-unique-vi.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-81-2k-unique-vi-676x425.jpg 676w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-81-2k-unique-vi-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-81-2k-unique-vi-1536x966.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This research tapped into our first-party data to tackle the question every SEO has been asking this year: how much traffic are AI Overviews actually stealing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We analyzed 300,000 keywords and found that when an AI Overview appears, the top-ranking page sees 34.5% fewer clicks compared to similar queries without one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By comparing clickthrough rates before and after Google\u2019s AI Overview rollout, we measured the real impact: position #1 for informational keywords dropped from a 0.056 CTR to just 0.031 after AI Overviews appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The data confirmed what many of us suspected\u2014AI Overviews are significantly reducing traffic to top-ranking pages, even when those pages still hold the #1&nbsp;spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_7dz56nxembw9\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors\" data-section=\"analysis-overview\">2. An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors&nbsp;<\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overview-brand-correlation\/\">An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors (75K Brands Studied)<\/a> came in at number two. I wrote this piece of research to confirm, once and for all, whether PR and off-site brand mentions were the most important factor when it came to AI visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1286\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-28-7k-unique-vi.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs analytics dashboard showing 28.7K unique visitors, 62.4% bounce rate, and 21m 3s visit duration for blog post 'An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors' over one year.\" class=\"wp-image-194734\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-28-7k-unique-vi.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-28-7k-unique-vi-677x425.png 677w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-28-7k-unique-vi-768x482.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-28-7k-unique-vi-1536x965.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a theory I kept hearing everywhere at the time, but I (like others, it turns out) wanted to see the cold hard data. Together with Ahrefs\u2019 Data Scientist, <a href=\"https:\/\/sg.linkedin.com\/in\/xibeijia-guan\">Xibeijia<\/a>, I analyzed 75,000 brands to assess how eleven different branded search factors correlated with AI Overview visibility\u2014we\u2019ve since <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-brand-visibility-correlations\/\">repeated this study for ChatGPT and AI Mode<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our biggest finding? Branded web mentions <em>do<\/em> correlate strongly (0.664) with AI Overview presence\u2014more so than any other factor, including backlinks or domain rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also found that if your brand sits in the bottom 50% of web mentions, you\u2019re essentially invisible to AI systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_5i9tb39bs0t1\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. AI Content Creation: My Process for High-Quality, SEO-Friendly Articles\" data-section=\"content-creation\"> 3. AI Content Creation: My Process for High-Quality, SEO-Friendly Articles&nbsp;<\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-content-creation\/\">AI Content Creation: My Process for High-Quality, SEO-Friendly Articles<\/a> was our third most-viewed blog, racking up ~30K&nbsp;views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1291\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-25-1k-unique-vi.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs analytics dashboard showing 25.1K unique visitors for AI content creation blog post, with 77% bounce rate and spike in early January\" class=\"wp-image-194735\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-25-1k-unique-vi.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-25-1k-unique-vi-674x425.jpg 674w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-25-1k-unique-vi-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-25-1k-unique-vi-1536x968.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/in\/despina-gavoyannis\">Despina Gavoyannis<\/a> created this practical SOP (standard operating procedure) for marketers wanting to integrate AI into their content workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This guide walks through her exact process for using AI as a tool\u2014not a replacement\u2014for creating content that&nbsp;ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The post covers everything from finding rankable keywords and identifying search intent, to adding original info that AI can\u2019t generate on its&nbsp;own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despina\u2019s SOPs have performed especially well via Google Discover traffic\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"861\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/screenshot-of-google-search-console-showing-top-pa.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of Google Discover report in Google Search Console showing top pages with clicks and impressions. First page (ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-content-creation\/) has 15,985 clicks and 570,533 impressions.\" class=\"wp-image-194736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/screenshot-of-google-search-console-showing-top-pa.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/screenshot-of-google-search-console-showing-top-pa-680x286.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/screenshot-of-google-search-console-showing-top-pa-768x323.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/screenshot-of-google-search-console-showing-top-pa-1536x646.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Google Discover users seem to engage deeply with practical, step-by-step SOPs that help them complete real&nbsp;tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_9hwyh1ntvm9f\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. What Is llms.txt, and Should You Care About It?\" data-section=\"what-llmstxt\">4. What Is llms.txt, and Should You Care About&nbsp;It?&nbsp;<\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-is-llms-txt\/\">What Is llms.txt, and Should You Care About It?<\/a>: Ryan wrote this explainer in just a couple of hours using ChatGPT. Now it\u2019s our fourth most-viewed blog of&nbsp;2025.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not bad \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1230\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-23-7k-unique-vi.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs analytics dashboard showing 23.7K unique visitors over one year for a blog post about LLMS-TXT, with a traffic spike in April.\" class=\"wp-image-194737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-23-7k-unique-vi.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-23-7k-unique-vi-680x408.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-23-7k-unique-vi-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-23-7k-unique-vi-1536x923.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The post breaks down llms.txt, a proposed standard designed to help large language models understand and access structured content from websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While some developers are experimenting with it, no major LLM provider currently supports it as part of their crawler protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ryan\u2019s take: It\u2019s a solution in search of a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Search engines already crawl and understand content using existing infrastructure like robots.txt and sitemap.xml\u2014LLMs use much of the same&nbsp;setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, Ryan built a seven-part <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/my-complete-ai-content-process-for-ahrefs\/\">AI content process<\/a> and has since created 6+ wholesale AI blogs, which, together, have driven ~63,000 views to&nbsp;date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can watch how he does it on the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/podcast\">Ahrefs Podcast<\/a> below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div style=\"display: contents;\">\n\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-d7lbx8rfocq\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n\t<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n\t\t<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-d7lbx8rfocq\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/D7LBx8RFOcQ?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/D7LBx8RFOcQ?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It just goes to show that AI generated content really <em>can<\/em> perform well. Use Ryan\u2019s process to tackle trending and emerging topics before your competitors do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_obanvqi6m2g\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"5. Google Says \u201cLinks Matter Less\u201d\" data-section=\"google-says\">5. Google Says \u201cLinks Matter Less\u201d&nbsp;<\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/links-matter-less-but-still-matter\/\">Google Says \u201cLinks Matter Less\u201d\u2014We Looked at 1,000,000 SERPs to See if It\u2019s True<\/a>: Google has been telling SEOs that links are less important than they used to be, and many in the industry have accepted this as&nbsp;fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But is it actually true?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/patrickstox\">Patrick Stox<\/a>, Ahrefs\u2019 Technical SEO expert, decided to settle the debate with&nbsp;data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1291\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-blog-post-perfo.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs analytics dashboard showing blog post performance metrics for 'Google Says \u201cLinks Matter Less' study: 22.9K unique visitors, 78.4% bounce rate, and 16m 4s visit duration with traffic spike in January.\" class=\"wp-image-194738\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-blog-post-perfo.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-blog-post-perfo-674x425.png 674w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-blog-post-perfo-768x484.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ahrefs-analytics-dashboard-showing-blog-post-perfo-1536x968.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He analyzed the top 1 million keywords by search volume, calculating Spearman correlations between SERP rankings and 20 different SEO metrics including domain rating, backlinks, referring domains, and internal links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, guess what? Links still matter\u2014a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the correlation dropped slightly since a similar 2019 study (from 0.27 to 0.21 for total backlinks), links remained one of the strongest ranking signals, especially for high-volume, competitive queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research also showed that links matter even more for informational content, local queries, and branded searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So while Google may be hedging on the importance of links publicly, the data tells a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_o1dutp6fojc1\"><\/a><div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Our top 5 articles across every other traffic source\" data-section=\"articles-across\"> Our top 5 articles across every other traffic source&nbsp;<\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly to the <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/our-top-5-blog-posts-in-2025-to-help-you-with-your-marketing-in-2026\/\">SparkToro team<\/a>, most of our top content in 2025 was research-based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, <strong>56% of our most-viewed posts<\/strong> (across every channel) were research blogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1771\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-top-blogs-2025.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs' most viewed blogs of 2025 by content types\" class=\"wp-image-194763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-top-blogs-2025.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-top-blogs-2025-384x425.png 384w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-top-blogs-2025-768x850.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-top-blogs-2025-1388x1536.png 1388w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Our top 5 articles also tended to differ slightly from source to source.<br><br>Here are our top performers across organic search, AI search, direct, and social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top blogs by search traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-512\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-512 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Blog<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Views<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Type<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">1<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-content-creation\/\">AI Content Creation: My Process for High-Quality, SEO-Friendly Articles<\/a><br>\n<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">20.6K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">SEO blog<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">2<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks\/\">AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%<\/a><br>\n<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">19.5K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">3<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-is-llms-txt\/\">What Is llms.txt, and Should You Care About&nbsp;It?<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">15K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">AI generated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">4<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-rank-for-keywords\/\">How to Rank for a Keyword (8&nbsp;Steps)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">12.8K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">SEO blog<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">5<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/links-matter-less-but-still-matter\/\">Google Says \u201cLinks Matter Less\u201d\u2014We Looked at 1,000,000 SERPs to See if It\u2019s&nbsp;True<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">11.4K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-512 from cache -->\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/best-seo-blogs\">13 of the Best SEO Blogs (Beyond the Usual Suspects) - Ahrefs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top blogs by AI traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-513\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-513 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Blog<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Views<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Type<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">1<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks\/\">AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">3.3K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">2<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overview-brand-correlation\/\">An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors (75K Brands Studied)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">1.8K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">3<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-percentage-of-new-content-is-ai-generated\/\">74% of New Webpages Include AI Content (Study of 900k&nbsp;Pages)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">~1K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">4<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-is-llms-txt\/\">What Is llms.txt, and Should You Care About&nbsp;It?<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">~900<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">AI generated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">5<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-content-optimization-tools\/\">The Best AI Content Optimization Tools for&nbsp;2025<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">~800<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Best list<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-513 from cache -->\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top blogs by direct traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-514\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-514 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Blog<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Views<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Type<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">1<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks\/\">AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">52.3K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">2<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overview-brand-correlation\/\">An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors (75K Brands Studied)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">17.8K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">3<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-traffic-study\/\">63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 150k&nbsp;Sites)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">9.7K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">4<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/the-great-decoupling\/\">The Great Decoupling (or Why Your Clicks Are Down While Impressions Are&nbsp;Up)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">9.3K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Thought leadership<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">5<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-content-optimization-tools\/\">The Best AI Content Optimization Tools for&nbsp;2025<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">8.6K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Best list<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-514 from cache -->\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top blogs by social traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-515\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-515 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Blog<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Views<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Type<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">1<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks\/\">AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">7.4K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">2<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/fastest-growing-companies-and-startups\/\">The 50 Fastest-Growing Companies (January 2025)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">4.5K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">SEO blog \/ Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">3<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overview-brand-correlation\/\">An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors (75K Brands Studied)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">4.3K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">4<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/links-matter-less-but-still-matter\/\">Google Says \u201cLinks Matter Less\u201d\u2014We Looked at 1M&nbsp;Pages<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">4K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">5<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/most-expensive-keywords\/\">100 Most Expensive Keywords for Google Ads in&nbsp;2025<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">3.9K<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">SEO blog \/ Research<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-515 from cache -->\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-194731-_kjjuud1cl75r\"><\/a>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what we learned from our top blogs of&nbsp;2025\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Test claims people are skeptical about<\/strong>: When official narratives don\u2019t match what people see IRL, data-driven research will get you attention. That\u2019s why Patrick\u2019s research was so widely viewed\u2014it provided hard data that challenged Google\u2019s narrative.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pick debates people care about<\/strong>: The best research answers questions your audience is actively debating, not ones you think they should care&nbsp;about.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Get in early on trending topics: <\/strong>Many of these posts worked because they jumped on trending topics early. Some didn\u2019t even have search demand when we started writing about them\u2014we just kept our ear to the ground on social media and in communities, and wrote about the topics driving discussion. Then, over time, those topics naturally gained search volume. That\u2019s why 4 of our top 5 articles were also our most-viewed articles in search.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t be afraid of AI-assisted content:<\/strong> One of our top posts was whipped up in an afternoon with ChatGPT, and still pulled in huge amounts of traffic. For timely topics or straightforward explainers, AI can get you 80% of the way there\u2014just add your edits, pepper in some original examples, and ship&nbsp;it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Give people SOPs they can steal<\/strong>: Not everything needs to be a data study. Step-by-step processes people can actually follow and adapt for their own work consistently perform well.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use data nobody else has access to<\/strong>: Three of our top five posts used Ahrefs\u2019 first-party data to answer questions no one else could. If you have proprietary data or access to information that other people don\u2019t\u2014use it. Whether that\u2019s customer surveys, internal sales metrics, support ticket trends, user behavior analytics, financial data, or even aggregated insights from client work\u2014unique data gives you a competitive moat that\u2019s impossible to replicate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to AI, the only certainty is uncertainty. What worked in 2025 might not work in 2026. But that\u2019s exactly why we\u2019ll keep sharing what we&nbsp;learn!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And, naturally, we wanted to remind you of some of our best&nbsp;blogs&nbsp;\ud83d\ude09 Below, we\u2019ve used Ahrefs Web Analytics to find our most-viewed articles published in&nbsp;2025. We were inspired by Amanda Natividad\u2019s SparkToro post. Great stuff from Amanda as usual\u2014check it<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,73],"tags":[],"coauthors":[464],"class_list":["post-194731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ahrefs-insights","category-content-marketing","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Our Top 5 Blog Posts of 2025 (And What Made Them Work)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019re sharing the content that worked hardest for us in 2025, to give you an idea of what might work for you in 2026.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ahrefs-top-blogs-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Top 5 Blog Posts of 2025 (And What Made Them Work)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019re sharing the content that worked hardest for us in 2025, to give you an idea of what might work for you in 2026.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ahrefs-top-blogs-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-19T10:40:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-19T10:40:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta 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