Petition to Change the Dictionary: What It Teaches Us About Digital Authority

There was a time when people turned to dictionaries or encyclopedias to settle arguments. Now, they just Google it.

However, Google doesn’t write the definitions itself; it pulls from authoritative sources like Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam-Webster. But with the introduction of AIOs and featured snippets, most people never click through to these pages. They take the snippet and run with it. 

Now, we’ve stopped asking. ‘What does the dictionary say?’ and started asking, ‘What does Google say?’ That single change has huge implications for how knowledge, expertise, and authority are defined online.

This extends beyond definitions as well. Google’s featured snippets, AIOs, and answer boxes now act as the go-to for information across search queries, whether that’s medical symptoms, how-to guides, celebrity ages – you name it. Whatever shows up first becomes the reality for the majority of people. 

The CUPRA petition highlights this shift. Language evolves faster than the traditional publishers’ update (we don’t even need to start on Gen Z slang). But when Google pushes forward outdated or even incorrect information, there can be uproar. 

For brands, this should serve as a wake-up call. Digital visibility is authority.

Digital authority is how much trust your brand has online. It’s measured by your visibility in search engines, your reputation across the web, and how often people treat you as the “go-to” source in your industry. 

This CUPRA petition shows us the rules of digital authority in action. If you want to be seen as the go-to source within your industry, you need to follow those rules to be noticed.

If you’re appearing in AIOs or featured snippets, you look like the expert. The same is true for your brand. If you rank at the top, people see you as the authoritative source within your industry. This can increase trust amongst users and keep you at the front of their minds when it comes to purchasing decisions.

The definition for “horse racing” sits in a featured snippet, a little box that attracts huge visibility and often answers the query without a click. For your brand, that’s exactly where you want to be: owning the snippet and dominating the SERPs. Securing that position not only puts you at the very top of the page but also places your brand at the forefront of industry conversations.

If you don’t control your digital presence, you’re leaving it up to chance. This is where SEO, content marketing, and PR overlap. By producing consistent, high-quality content and being cited in the right places, your presence will be built into something authoritative that Google notices.

The Oxford definition might take years to change. But Google’s results can shift in days if new, authoritative content appears. That speed is both a risk and an opportunity for brands.

The CUPRA petition highlights something bigger than racing – who decides what’s real in the digital age? 

The main problem isn’t that Google is pushing bad answers, but that some people treat whatever AIO says as fact. When AI pulls from outdated, biased, or low-quality sources, that error gets amplified at scale and could be really harmful.

This is why digital authority is so powerful.

So, what’s the takeaway for brands watching this debate play out?

Don’t let your competitors be the authority within your niche. Own your keywords and conversations through a solid content and SEO strategy. Publish blogs, guides, and resources that show your expertise. If people are Googling questions surrounding your industry, make sure you’re the one popping up to give them the answer. Your content should be structured so it’s easy for Google to pull into featured snippets, with clear headings, bullet points and concise answers.

Great PR campaigns can help with this. Secure backlinks, PR coverage, and partnerships, with solid landing pages on your site to help build brand awareness, trust, and potential conversions. Having great customer reviews can also feed into building good authority signals. Expert interviews are also a great way to show your company’s knowledge within their field. With the help of SEO content specialists, you can transform all your knowledge into SEO friendly blog posts, to ensure it will rank. Amy covered this in a recent blog post here.

Authority isn’t something you can secure overnight. Just like Oxford has taken decades to become one of the default dictionaries, your brand authority is built on consistent visibility and trust. Getting into AIOs doesn’t mean you’re going to stay there, and content is going to need constant optimisation and tweaks as your business changes and grows, and new trends emerge. A strong piece of content or PR coverage can quickly shift your results, but sustained authority comes from a long-term strategy. 

It depends on competition and effort. A strong piece of content or PR coverage can quickly shift search results, but sustained authority comes from a long-term strategy.

That’s the real lesson from the ‘racing’ petition: digital authority matters for more than just definitions. It can position you as an expert within your field and ultimately drive conversions – but this has to be done with a long-term strategy in mind, as algorithms don’t stand still; they’re constantly changing.