Link Building Tactics

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.

Contents

• Unlinked mention reclamation
• Partner, integration, customer, and vendor pages
• Moved, broken, and redirected links
• "Best X" list inclusion
• Resource and tools pages
• Broken link replacement
• Expert contributions and guest articles
• Handoffs: PR, podcasts, directories, reviews, communities

Unlinked Mention Reclamation

Sites that already name your brand, product, founder, or data without linking. The writer has already decided you're relevant, so the ask is small.

Find them:

• Search for the brand in quotes, minus your own domain: "brand name" -site:yourdomain.com
• Repeat for the product names, the founder's name, and the titles of your data studies
• Use a mention monitor or the mentions report in Ahrefs or Semrush, filtered to pages that don't link to you
• Run the user's AI prompts and check whether the third-party pages engines cite mention you without a link

Qualify: skip forum posts, scraped copies, and pages that mention you negatively (those need a response decision before any outreach).

Ask: one line thanking them for the mention, the exact sentence that mentions you, and the URL that would help their reader most. That's often a specific page rather than the homepage.

Mentions on AI-cited pages count even if the writer declines to add a link. Log them as wins for AI visibility.

Partner, Integration, Customer, and Vendor Pages

The most relevant links you can get, and the easiest, because there's a business relationship already.

• Integration partners: most have an integrations directory or marketplace listing. Ask for the listing, a partner page, and a mention in their docs where the integration is set up.
• Technology vendors: many tools feature customers in case studies or "built with" pages. Offer a case study.
• Customers: customers who publish their stack, or write about how they work, may link to you. Ask the happy ones, and only ask once.
• Agencies and consultants who implement the product often keep a tools or partners page.
• Events you sponsor or speak at list sponsors and speakers. Check that the link goes to a useful page.

Reciprocal links between real partners are normal. A partner page built only to swap links isn't (see risk-policy.md).

Moved, Broken, and Redirected Links

Links you already earned but are losing.

1. Export your backlinks and filter to target URLs that return 404 or redirect chains.
2. Redirect each dead URL (301) to the closest live equivalent. This recovers most of the value without outreach.
3. For high-value links pointing at redirects, ask the site to update the URL directly.
4. After any site migration or URL change, rerun this check. Migrations lose more links than most outreach campaigns earn.

"Best X" List Inclusion

The listicles and comparison articles that rank for "best [category]" queries, and that AI engines cite when asked the same question. For AI shortlists, these are the most valuable pages in the category.

Find them:

• Search the category's "best X," "top X," "X alternatives," and "X vs Y" queries, plus variants by use case and audience ("best X for agencies")
• Run the same questions through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews and record which articles get cited
• Check which lists name two or more of your competitors but not you

Qualify: prefer lists that are updated, rank or get cited, and evaluate products with some evidence. A list that sells every slot is advertising; any placement there needs a sponsored link and a disclosure.

Ask: offer what the writer needs to evaluate you honestly: a short product summary, who it's best for, pricing, a free account or demo, and screenshots. Don't ask to be ranked first. Lists that rank the category leader first and explain where alternatives win tend to be the ones engines trust.

Watch for: writers who want payment for inclusion. Paying is allowed only with a qualifying link attribute and a disclosure; decide whether the placement is worth it for referral traffic and AI visibility alone.

Resource and Tools Pages

Curated pages that list tools, guides, or templates in a niche: university resource pages, association member resources, "tools we use" pages, and curated GitHub "awesome" lists.

Find them: "[topic]" inurl:resources, "[topic]" "useful links", "[topic]" intitle:tools, awesome-[topic] on GitHub.

Ask: point to the one asset that fits the list. Product homepages rarely belong on resource pages; free tools, templates, and guides do.

Broken Link Replacement

A dead link on someone else's page that your asset could replace.

1. Find pages in your niche with outbound links to 404s. Ahrefs and Semrush both report broken outbound links on a domain; the Wayback Machine shows what the dead page contained.
2. Pick dead resources that many pages linked to. One dead study with 50 linking pages is 50 prospects.
3. Make sure your replacement covers what the dead page did. If it doesn't, build it first or skip it.
4. Tell the site owner which link is broken and where (they get a fix), then offer your page as one replacement.

Expert Contributions and Guest Articles

Writing for editorial sites your buyers read. The point is reach and credibility with that audience; the link is a side effect.

• Pitch topics where the author has real expertise and the site has a gap.
• Write for sites with editorial standards, where an editor reviews submissions. Skip sites with a "write for us" page that accepts anything on any topic, and anyone selling guest-post slots.
• Use a branded or plain-language link in the author bio and at most one contextual link where it helps the reader. Keyword-rich anchors in guest posts are a named example of link spam.
• Expert quote requests and roundup contributions are lighter-weight versions of the same tactic; see public-relations for journalist request platforms.

Handoffs

These tactics have their own skills. Use them, then count the results here.