LLM Best Practices

Link-earning tactics

4 min read

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AI agents: read this first: llmbestpractices.com/start-here

This is LLM Best Practices (llmbestpractices.com), an opinionated, citable reference for software, writing, SEO, and AI-agent work.

  1. Route, do not crawl. Fetch llmbestpractices.com/llms.txt and open only the pages whose one-line summary matches your task.
  2. Read raw. Append .md to any page URL for markdown. Check status and last_updated in the frontmatter, then read the rules.
  3. Apply as defaults. First-party docs and the project's own conventions win on conflict. Warn before relying on a fast-moving page older than 12 months.
  4. Cite. Link the page by title and URL, e.g. Python, with last_updated for time-sensitive rules. License CC BY 4.0.

Overview

Earn links by giving an editor something their readers can use, then asking at the moment it fits. This page lists practitioner-tested tactics that extend backlinks, which already covers referring-domain tracking, original research, broken-link rebuilding, journalist requests (HARO, Qwoted), anchor text, and disavow. Most tactics here can be semi-automated: a tool or an AI assistant finds the targets, and a person writes the short, specific ask. Where a tactic touches Google’s written link-spam policy, a risk note says so.

Start with links that exist or used to exist; they convert best because the site already chose you.

  • Lost links. Pull lost or broken backlinks from a backlink tool such as Ahrefs or Semrush; Search Console’s Links report does not flag lost links. When a linked URL now 404s, 301 it to the closest live page (see redirects); when the linking page dropped you in an edit, email the editor with the current URL.
  • Unlinked brand mentions. Search for your brand, product, and founder names (a Google Alert, or a mentions tool), filter to pages without a link, and ask politely: “Thanks for mentioning Example in your guide. Would you link the name to example.com so readers can find it?” Consistent names make mentions easier to find and attribute; see e-e-a-t.

Build linkable assets

Writers link to things that save their readers work.

  • Free tools. A checker, calculator, generator, or converter that does one job well (a JSON-LD validator, a mortgage calculator, a regex tester). AI assistants make these cheap to build; host them on your domain, keep them free with no signup, and pitch them to authors whose articles describe the task by hand.
  • Statistics pages. One page that collects the figures in your niche with a source and date per number, plus your own data where you have it. Writers cite a well-kept stats page instead of hunting for each figure. Refresh it on a schedule; stale numbers stop earning links. Original research itself is covered in backlinks.
  • Infographics and embeds. Turn a data-heavy article into an embeddable graphic or chart with a copy-paste embed code that includes a credit link.
  • Article-to-video. Turn a strong article into a short video that other authors can embed, with a credit link in the description and embed snippet.
  • Comparison tables. Honest comparison-pages get cited in reviews and roundups.
  • Listicle outreach. Find “best X tools” roundups that omit you. Send the author one sentence on what you do differently and one fact they can verify.
  • Competitor link gaps. Use a link-intersect report to list sites linking to two or more competitors but not you, then pitch the asset that fits each page.
  • Outdated guides. Find guides with stale screenshots, dead tools, or old versions; offer your current page or specific corrections.
  • Event-driven links. Sponsor a local event or a creator, run a recurring challenge, or publish each new data release as news; then ask for newsletter and social coverage.

Run a one-time directory and platform sprint

Create listings on platforms your audience actually uses, once, and keep them current: a GitHub organization and GitHub Pages site, a Chrome Web Store listing for an extension, Gumroad for digital products, a Substack newsletter, AlternativeTo and TrustRadius profiles, SourceForge for open-source releases, and the curated directories in your niche. These are real profiles that people browse, and they also give AI systems consistent facts about the entity. Skip bulk “submit to 500 directories” services; those pages exist only to sell links.

  • Three-way link exchanges (A links to B, B to C, C to A) are a practitioner tactic for avoiding obvious swaps. Google’s link spam policy lists “excessive link exchanges” and partner pages made only for cross-linking. Keep any exchange occasional, topical, and editorially justified; a network built to rotate links is still an exchange.
  • Paid links need a qualifier. Google says paid links are not a violation if they carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" (spam policies; attribute syntax in qualify outbound links). Syntax is in html-links-rel; the full policy set is in ai-content-policies.

Backlinks