Why Modern Link Building Demands More Than Just Links

For years, backlinks have been a confirmed Google ranking factor, but the landscape is shifting as AI-powered search engines and large language models (LLMs) weigh signals differently. It's now common to see AI tools like ChatGPT surface information from sites with little or no domain authority, challenging the old assumption that only followed links matter for visibility.

Recent studies, including research from Semrush, show a strong correlation between the quality of a site's backlinks and its prominence in AI search results. However, acquiring backlinks remains challenging: outreach reply rates are low, control over how other sites link is limited, and link decay is inevitable. After working with over 90 SaaS brands, I've found that combining three approaches-link building, linkable assets, and digital PR-delivers the best results when they reinforce each other.

Three Approaches to Link Acquisition

Each method plays a distinct role. Link building is direct: you ask for links, whether through guest posts, fixing broken links, or requesting links in brand mentions. Linkable assets are content pieces-like tools, templates, or data roundups-that naturally attract backlinks without explicit outreach. Digital PR focuses on pitching stories to media outlets, aiming for coverage that may result in links or brand mentions due to the story's newsworthiness.

While both link building and digital PR require outreach, the nature of the ask differs: one seeks links, the other seeks coverage. Linkable assets can earn links organically, but promoting them through digital PR can amplify their reach. Notably, the value of a brand mention in a top-tier publication can sometimes outweigh a standard followed link, especially as AI search increasingly values mentions over backlinks. In fact, a recent study found that visibility in AI Overviews correlates more strongly with brand mentions (0.664) than with backlinks (0.218).

Link Building: Control and Limitations

Link building offers the most control over which pages receive links, making it effective for driving authority to commercial pages. Tactics like guest posting allow for control over link context and anchor text, provided editorial standards are met. However, Google's link spam policies make scaling this approach difficult, as buying links or excessive exchanges are penalized. The 2024 Google Search document leak suggests that poor-quality backlinks are now devalued or ignored, reinforcing the need to focus on fewer, higher-quality links. For most brands, link building is best reserved for landing pages and bottom-of-funnel content, where other methods struggle to deliver direct backlinks.

Linkable Assets: Passive Link Generation

Linkable assets fall into two categories: self-earning assets that attract links naturally, and PR-promoted assets that require outreach. Examples include free tools, industry lists, templates, and statistical roundups. These formats can generate links as long as they are discoverable through search or existing channels. However, they rarely attract media coverage on their own. For instance, Canva's business name generator earned nearly 2,000 followed links from unique domains, but none from major media outlets. Such tools often support journalists' stories rather than being the story themselves.

Aggregated third-party data can also earn natural links, as writers often cite the first credible source they find. At my company, this approach recently secured a link from a U.S. Chamber of Commerce article with over 30,000 monthly organic clicks. Still, these assets rarely drive links to commercial pages. To transfer link equity, internal links from linkable assets to key landing pages are essential.

Digital PR: Unpredictable but Powerful

Digital PR campaigns can promote original assets, expert commentary, or timely takes on news. While a successful campaign can be syndicated widely, results are unpredictable-even experienced PR professionals can't guarantee coverage. Campaigns can be relaunched or reframed to improve outcomes. Costs vary: research based on proprietary data may only require analysis and visuals, while large surveys can cost thousands. Blending first-party, third-party, and open data often yields strong stories at reasonable cost. For example, a SaaS company combined third-party data with insights from Semrush and Google Trends to create a statistical asset that earned over 50 unique domain links, including from Entrepreneur and Shopify.

Surveys can be supplemented with free data sources to add depth without inflating costs. Gusto, for instance, surveyed 1,000 U.S. workers about AI-related job anxiety and layered in Google Trends data for state-level insights, resulting in more than 40 unique domain links to the campaign page.

Integrating Strategies for Maximum Impact

As AI search grows in influence, brands must approach off-page SEO holistically. The goal is to build high-quality links, establish topical authority, and secure consistent brand mentions. Combining link building, linkable assets, and digital PR creates a feedback loop: link building can jumpstart a linkable asset, which can then support commercial pages via internal links. Self-earning assets can become PR-worthy stories, and digital PR can open new link building opportunities by identifying outlets that mentioned your brand but didn't link.

Tracking the impact of these efforts requires multiple views: referral traffic and revenue from links, correlation between links and page performance, AI visibility and citations of assets, and overall brand visibility by topic and market. The ultimate aim is to become the go-to resource for your chosen topics, ensuring that when someone researches your area, your brand is already central to the conversation.

For a deeper look at how AI search engines prioritize brands with deep topical focus, see this analysis using Semrush data: how repeat mentions drive true visibility in AI search.