Link building has been the most contentious area of SEO for over two decades — and for good reason. Links are still one of Google's most important ranking signals. But the strategies that work have changed dramatically, and the strategies that used to work can now actively harm your rankings. Here's an honest assessment of the state of link building in 2025.
Why links still matter
Google's core algorithm still treats links as votes of confidence. A link from a relevant, authoritative site to your content is a signal that your content is worth referencing. This fundamental logic hasn't changed since PageRank was introduced in 1998. What has changed is Google's ability to distinguish genuine editorial links from manufactured ones — and its willingness to penalise the latter.
What no longer works
Link schemes and paid links: Buying links, participating in link networks, and reciprocal link schemes all violate Google's guidelines and can result in manual penalties. Google's Penguin algorithm (now integrated into the core algorithm) processes link spam signals continuously. The short-term ranking gains from link schemes are almost never worth the long-term risk.
Directory and citation spam: Mass submission to low-quality directories provides minimal link equity and can negatively affect your link profile. Directories that exist solely to provide links — rather than to serve any genuine user need — are essentially ignored by Google.
Guest post farms: The practice of publishing thin guest posts on low-authority sites purely for link acquisition has been largely devalued. Google has become very good at identifying content created primarily for link acquisition rather than genuine audience value.
What still works
Digital PR and earned media: Getting your business referenced in genuine news articles, industry publications, and authoritative blogs is still one of the most effective link building strategies. This requires having something genuinely newsworthy to say — research, data, expert commentary, notable achievements — but the links earned this way are high-quality and durable.
Creating genuinely linkable content: Original research, comprehensive guides, useful tools, and unique data that others in your industry want to reference. If you publish something that people genuinely want to link to, links will come. This sounds obvious, but most businesses don't invest in creating genuinely linkable assets.
HARO and journalist sourcing: Help a Reporter Out (now Connectively) and similar services connect journalists with expert sources. Being quoted in articles on authoritative publications drives genuine editorial links and builds E-E-A-T simultaneously.
Broken link building: Finding broken links on relevant sites and suggesting your content as a replacement is still a legitimate and effective strategy. It requires research but produces genuine editorial links with a reasonable conversion rate.
Partnership and supplier links: Businesses you work with — partners, suppliers, associations — often have websites where a link to your business makes genuine sense. These are editorial in nature and low-risk to pursue.
Links and GEO
For GEO purposes, link quality matters more than link quantity. Being referenced by authoritative industry publications, news outlets, and domain-leading sites creates the kind of entity authority that AI engines recognise and reward with citation likelihood. Focus on earning a smaller number of genuinely authoritative links rather than accumulating large volumes of low-quality ones.