Verification-first AI trust & authority consolidation

The shift from backlinks to entity-based trust signals is climaxing, with new frameworks like OKF v0.2, ski ramp effect, and Google AI Max paid-search dimension. Consumer trust remains low (30% comfort). Recent articles reinforce E-E-A-T, earned media, and cryptographic provenance (C2PA). The latest article adds a crucial paid-search coordination challenge.