# Link building and digital PR for SaaS Which links move Google rankings and AI citations, how digital PR earns them, and what we refuse to do: PBNs, paid link farms. Measured. We automate it. Canonical: https://ignura.com/backlinks Last updated: 2026-10-27 Author: Ignura ## In short - Google still uses links: it says PageRank remains part of its core ranking systems. It also ignores links bought for ranking, and its SpamBrain system looks for both sides of that trade. - Fewer links decide things than you’d think. In our test, 17 of 33 first-page Google results had no referring domains to the page itself, and neither did 55 of 122 pages the AI engines cited. - So we go after links that bring readers, from pages in your category, and we refuse PBNs and link farms. - Good links compound: each keeps passing value as long as the page stands. Start with a free Growth Check. ## Which links move rankings Google says it has systems that understand how pages link to each other to work out what pages are about and which are most helpful, and that PageRank continues to be part of its core ranking systems. The links that help are on relevant pages, in the text, put there because they help the reader. A link from a page about your category, which people read, beats ten from pages nobody visits. ## Which links move AI answers AI engines don’t count links. They read pages. A link inside a comparison that ChatGPT cites works twice: Google counts the link, and the engine reads your name on the page. That’s why our link list and our citation list end up mostly the same list. **55 of 122** pages cited by the AI engines had no other sites linking to them in DataForSEO’s index. ## Digital PR for B2B People link to things they can’t get anywhere else: your own data, a benchmark from your product’s anonymised numbers, a tool or calculator, a clear expert answer for a journalist on deadline. We do this ourselves. The numbers on these pages are our own measurement, published with the raw data, which is exactly the kind of thing people cite. ## What we refuse Private blog networks, paid link farms, link swaps at scale and guest posts written only for the link. Google’s spam policies call buying or selling links for ranking spam; paid links are fine marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Its December 2022 update used SpamBrain to detect both sites buying links and sites selling them, and Google says credit from unnatural links is lost when they’re neutralised. ## Why links compound A good link keeps working for as long as the page that holds it stands. Each one makes the next pitch easier, because you’re now the company with the data. Month 2 starts from month 1’s links, not from zero. ## Mistakes we see - **Buying links from “DR 70” sites.** Google says it neutralises unnatural links. You pay and get nothing, or worse. - **Counting links, not readers.** A link nobody clicks from a page nobody reads is a number in a tool. - **Guest posts nobody reads.** Written for the link, ignored by readers, and easy for Google to spot. - **Exact-match anchors everywhere.** Real people don’t link like that. Natural anchors read as natural. ## What our AI does - Finds the pages that rank and get cited for your questions, and who links to them. - Spots mentions of your company that don’t link yet. - Tracks every link you gain and lose, weekly. - Suggests data stories from your own product numbers. ## What we do - Run the PR: the story, the data, the pitch and the follow-up. - Ask for links where they help the reader, never for payment. - Turn down any link we’d be embarrassed to show you. - Report the links that bring visitors, not only the count. ## The first four weeks 1. A link audit: who links to you, to your rivals and to the pages that get cited. 2. Unlinked mentions turned into links, and one data story chosen. 3. The data story goes to journalists and to the authors of cited pages. 4. New links counted, the visitors they sent, and the next story planned. ## The deal Named in 5 of your 20 buyer questions by week 4, or you don’t pay the second half. $8,000 for four weeks, half to start. Then $4,000 a month, with a month’s notice to stop. ## Questions ### How many links will we get? We don’t sell by the link. We report every link we earn and which ones bring visitors. ### Do you do guest posts? Only on sites your buyers read, with something worth reading. Never as a link scheme. ### What about Domain Rating? It’s a third-party score, and good links raise it as a side effect. Our domain authority page explains what it does and doesn’t tell you. ### Will bought links hurt us? Google says its systems neutralise unnatural links and the credit they passed is lost. At best you’ve wasted the money. ## Sources - Ignura: [Six SOC 2 buyer questions on ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Google, 27 Oct 2026 (the data)](https://ignura.com/data/search-2026-10-27.json) - Google Search Central: [A guide to Google Search ranking systems](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) - Google Search Central: [Spam policies for Google web search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) - Google Search Central: [Qualify your outbound links to Google](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/qualify-outbound-links) - Google Search Central: [December 2022 link spam update](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/12/december-22-link-spam-update) Book a 15-minute call about your website: https://ignura.com/book