# Link Building — Marketing Skill for AI Agents

Build links to pages, not domains, and only after confirming links are the bottleneck. Run a page-level link gap: compare referring domains to your target page against the three to five pages that outrank it. If they have several times your referring domains from relevant sites, it is an authority gap; if link counts are similar, fix the page first. Point internal links from your strongest pages at the target, then start with the low-effort, high-quality tactics: unlinked mention reclamation, partner and integration pages, and fixing moved or broken links. Add "best X" list inclusion for AI citations. Qualify every prospect on relevance and legitimacy, keep outreach under 100 words with one ask and one follow-up, and let the linking site choose the anchor. Paid placements must carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".

> Maintained by Corey Haines · v1.0.1 · Updated 2026-10-19

Install: `npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills`
Source: https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/link-building

## How it works

1. **Confirm links are the bottleneck** — The agent checks the target page first: indexed, matching intent, covering what the top results cover. Then it runs a page-level link gap against the three to five pages that outrank it, because DR-versus-DR comparisons hide the real gap. Similar link counts mean a content or intent problem, so it routes you to seo-audit instead of outreach. A domain with few links anywhere gets foundation work first.
2. **Find something worth linking to** — Outreach for a page with nothing to cite converts poorly and invites paid-link offers. The agent inventories linkable assets: statistics and data roundups, free tools and calculators, glossary pages, templates and checklists, and integration or partner pages. It places the asset near the target page and links to the target from it, so authority actually reaches the page that needs it.
3. **Pick tactics by effort and quality** — Tactics run top-down from a table rated by effort and quality. Unlinked mention reclamation, partner and integration pages, and moved or broken link fixes come first because they need no new content. "Best X" list inclusion follows for AI citations, then resource pages, broken link replacement, and editorial guest articles. Digital PR, directories, reviews, and communities hand off to their own skills.
4. **Prospect from gaps and AI citations** — The agent builds the list from domains linking to two or more competitors but not you, the third-party pages AI engines cite for your target prompts, tactic search operators, and existing relationships. Each prospect is scored on relevance, legitimacy, AI citation, value to the target page, and reachability. Domain rating is used to sort, never as the qualifying test.
5. **Draft outreach for approval** — Drafts lead with the prospect's page and what was noticed on it, make one ask, give the exact URL, and stay under 100 words, with one follow-up about a week later. Templates cover unlinked mentions, broken links, "best X" evaluations, and resource pages. The agent drafts for you to approve and never sends outreach without explicit approval of the list and the copy.
6. **Check the risk and measure** — Every plan carries risk notes against Google's spam policies (updated 2026-08-28): no followed paid links, no niche edits, no private blog networks, no exact-match anchors in guest posts. Measurement tracks new referring domains to target pages, rankings, mentions on AI-cited pages, AI recommendation rate, and the outreach funnel, reported by target page rather than as one total.

## When to use it

- "link building"
- "linkbuilding"
- "backlinks"
- "get more backlinks"
- "link prospecting"
- "link gap"
- "competitor backlinks"
- "unlinked mentions"
- "link reclamation"
- "broken link building"

## What's inside

**The playbook covers:** Before Starting, Step 1: Confirm Links Are the Bottleneck, Step 2: Have Something Worth Linking To, Step 3: Pick Tactics by Effort and Quality, Step 4: Prospect, Qualify, Reach Out, Step 5: Stay Inside the Rules, Step 6: Anchors and Pace, Step 7: Measure Both Outcomes, Running It as a Loop, Tools, Output Format

### Reference library

- [Prospecting and Outreach](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/link-building/references/prospecting-and-outreach.md) — How to build a prospect list, qualify it, write outreach people answer, and track it so nobody gets pitched twice.
- [Risk Policy](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/link-building/references/risk-policy.md) — What Google treats as link spam, how to judge a link vendor or a paid placement, and what to do if the profile already has problems. Policy checked against Google Search Central's spam policies, last updated 2026-08-28. Re-check before advising on a borderline case.
- [Link Building Tactics](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/link-building/references/tactics.md) — Playbooks for each tactic in the SKILL.md table: how to find targets, what to send, and what to watch for. Outreach templates are in prospecting-and-outreach.md.

## Example

**Prompt:** Our pricing page is stuck at position 9 for 'invoicing software for freelancers'. Help me build backlinks to it.

**Diagnosis · /pricing at position 9**

Before outreach, check the page. If /pricing doesn't cover what positions 1–8 cover for "invoicing software for freelancers" (feature comparison, freelancer-specific use cases, FAQs), more links won't move it; that's a seo-audit fix.

Next, run a page-level link gap: referring domains to /pricing versus the three to five pages above it, not your DR versus theirs. If they have several times your referring domains from relevant sites, it's an authority gap and links will help.

Free first step: add internal links to /pricing from your strongest blog posts and any invoice templates, with plain anchors.

**First tactics**

1. Unlinked mentions: search "[brand]" -site:yourdomain.com and ask writers who already named you to link the mention to /pricing.
2. Partner pages: payment processors and accounting tools you integrate with likely keep integration directories. Ask for the listing and a docs mention.
3. "Best X" lists: find the "best invoicing software for freelancers" articles that name two or more competitors but not you, plus the ones ChatGPT and Perplexity cite. Offer a free account, pricing, and screenshots for an honest evaluation.
4. Linkable asset: a free invoice template or late-fee calculator can earn links on its own, then pass authority to /pricing internally.

**Outreach draft · unlinked mention**

Subject: Thanks for including [brand] in [article title]

Hi [name],

Thanks for mentioning [brand] in "[article title]". The line about [specific detail] was spot on.

Would you link the mention to [pricing URL]? It shows freelancers exactly what each plan includes, which fits that section.

[sender name]

Risk note: if any list asks for payment, the link needs rel="sponsored" and a disclosure, and it won't pass ranking credit.

## More things to ask

- An agency offered us 20 do-follow guest post links on DR 60+ sites for $3,000. Good deal?
- ChatGPT never mentions us when people ask for the best project management tool for agencies. How do we get mentioned on the sites it pulls from?
- Ahrefs says we have 340 toxic backlinks. Should I disavow them all?
- Write an outreach email asking a blogger to swap links with us. We'll link to them from our partners page if they link to our homepage.

## FAQ

### How do I know if I need backlinks or better content?

Compare referring domains to your specific page against the three to five pages that outrank it. If competing pages have several times your referring domains from relevant sites, you have an authority gap and link building helps. If link counts are similar and they still win, the gap is content, intent, or freshness, so fix the page first. If they rank with few links, better content and internal links will likely do it.

### What are the easiest backlinks to get?

The first three tactics need no new content. Unlinked mention reclamation asks sites that already name you to add a link, so the writer has already decided you're relevant. Partner, integration, customer, and vendor pages come from existing business relationships. Moved and broken links are links you already earned: 301 redirect dead URLs to the closest live page, then ask high-value sites to update links pointing at redirects.

### Is it against Google's rules to pay for backlinks?

Paying for visibility is fine. Paying for ranking credit is not. Google's spam policies (updated 2026-08-28) treat followed paid links, goods or services exchanged for links, niche edits, and private blog networks as link spam. Sponsored listings, newsletter placements, and paid "best X" inclusions are allowed when the link carries rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" with a visible disclosure. They can still pay off in referral traffic and AI citations.

### How do I tell if a link building vendor is safe?

Five checks. Do they sell do-follow links priced per link or by domain rating? That's selling ranking credit. Can they show placements on sites with real audiences and named authors? Do those sites publish anything for a fee, with "write for us" pages on every topic? Can you pick exact-match anchors on guest posts? Do they report only link counts and DR, with no rankings or traffic? Legitimate agencies sell the work, not guaranteed links.

### How do backlinks help with AI search and citations?

AI engines build shortlists from what third-party pages say, so a mention on a page an engine already cites helps even without a link. Run your category's prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews, list the "best X" articles, comparisons, review pages, and threads they cite, and put those at the top of the prospect list. Log mentions on AI-cited pages as wins whether or not the writer adds a link.

### Should I choose the anchor text for my backlinks?

No. Natural link profiles are mostly branded, URL, and generic anchors, so ask for the link and leave the wording to the linking site. Keyword-rich anchors in guest posts, advertorials, and syndicated press releases are a named example of link spam. In guest articles, use a branded or plain-language link in the author bio and at most one contextual link. Spread links across the pages that need them rather than stacking matching anchors on one page.

## Related skills

- **seo-audit** — Diagnose whether a page's problem is authority or the page itself
- **content-strategy** — Link-earning formats and linkable assets
- **free-tools** — Tools and calculators that earn links
- **public-relations** — Journalist requests, data-led PR, podcasts
- **directory-submissions** — The foundation layer of links and discovery
- **referrals** — Review programs for G2, Capterra, and other review platforms
- **community-marketing** — Reddit and community participation
- **ai-seo** — Citation mix, prompt tracking, and on-site work for AI answers

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Canonical: https://marketing-skills.com/skills/link-building