PageRank

An algorithm that quantifies a web page's global importance by recursively analyzing the quantity and quality of its incoming hyperlinks.

PageRank: the foundational Google algorithm, developed by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford in 1998 (The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the Web). The core concept models a 'random surfer' who follows links, assigning a probability distribution to all pages on the web: this probability is the page's rank. A page's score is weighted by the rank of the pages linking to it, meaning a single link from a high-authority source (e.g., a PageRank 8/10 site) transfers more 'link equity' than multiple links from low-authority sources (e.g., a PageRank 2/10 site). While PageRank is now one of over 200 ranking factors, its link-analysis principles remain central to modern search engine optimization (SEO).

https://ilpubs.stanford.edu/422/