Last Updated: April 2026
How We Build Links: The Upgrade Links Methodology
This page is for people who want to understand exactly what happens inside a link building campaign before committing to one.
We explain our methodology in full — the criteria we use to select publications, the way we approach outreach, the quality controls we apply to every placement, and the thinking behind decisions other agencies do not explain.
The Core Principle: Editorial Value First
Every decision in our process starts with one question: does this provide genuine editorial value to a real publication and its readers?
If the answer is yes, we pursue it. If the answer is no — regardless of the domain authority score or the ease of placement — we do not.
This principle rules out a significant portion of what the link building industry calls "opportunities":
- Guest post networks that accept any content for a fee
- "Sponsored post" placements labelled as editorial
- Link insertions into existing articles on sites that sell this service openly
- Roundup pages maintained primarily to generate link sales
- PBN links of any type
What remains is a smaller, harder-to-access set of genuine editorial opportunities — and that difficulty is precisely what makes them valuable.
Publication Vetting: How We Choose Where to Place
Before any outreach begins, every target publication goes through a vetting process.
Traffic verification
We check every publication’s organic traffic using third-party tools and cross-reference with publicly available data. A publication with low or declining traffic — regardless of its domain rating — is deprioritised. Real audiences matter.
Editorial standard assessment
We read the publication. We look at whether articles are written by real journalists or contributors with genuine expertise. We check whether the publication maintains clear editorial policies. We look for signs of indiscriminate link selling: excessive "write for us" pages, obvious sponsored content without disclosure, or a pattern of thin content.
Topical relevance scoring
We score every publication against your specific industry and content topics. A publication that covers your industry regularly, with depth and expertise, scores significantly higher than a general business publication with occasional tangential coverage.
Link profile analysis
We examine who links to the publication and who the publication links to. A publication embedded in a legitimate editorial ecosystem carries genuine authority. A publication that links indiscriminately to all types of clients is a red flag regardless of its metrics.
Footprint check
We check whether the publication appears on known lists of link-selling sites, whether it has been penalised historically, and whether its link profile shows patterns consistent with paid link programmes.
Only publications that pass all five checks enter our target list.
Outreach: Why We Do Not Use Templates
The link building industry runs on email automation. Hundreds of templated pitches, low response rates accepted as normal, and placements on whatever sites respond.
We do not operate this way — not because we could not, but because it does not produce editorial links.
Editors at real publications can identify templated outreach immediately. They receive dozens of identical pitches every day. A template pitch signals that the sender has not read the publication, does not understand its audience, and has nothing genuinely valuable to offer.
Our outreach approach:
Research before writing
Before we write a single word of outreach, we read recent articles from the target publication, understand what topics are performing well, identify gaps in their coverage, and assess what type of content or expert source would be most valuable to that specific editor or journalist.
One angle per publication
Every pitch is built around a specific editorial angle relevant to that publication. This takes more time. It produces a response rate that makes the time worthwhile.
Value-first positioning
We lead with what we can offer — original data, expert commentary, a story angle, access to a subject matter expert — not with what we want (a link). Editors who find genuine value in what we offer include the link naturally.
Follow-up that respects boundaries
We follow up once, briefly, if we have not received a response. We do not send five-email sequences. Editors remember aggressive follow-up, and not positively.
Content Quality Control
Where we produce content as part of a placement — an article, a data piece, expert commentary — it goes through a defined quality process.
Every piece is written by a specialist with genuine knowledge of your industry. We do not use generalist writers who cover everything. Editors at specialist publications can tell the difference immediately.
Content is reviewed against the publication’s style guide and recent editorial output before submission. We do not submit content that reads as if it was written by someone who has never read the publication.
Your team reviews every piece before submission. Nothing goes out without your approval.
What Makes a Link Valuable
Not all links are equal. These are the factors that determine how much authority a link passes:
Topical relevance — A link from a publication in your industry passes more authority than a link from an unrelated high-authority site. Google assesses links in topical context.
Editorial independence — A link that exists because an editor chose to include it passes more authority than a link that exists because money changed hands. Google’s algorithms are designed to identify and discount the second type.
Publication authority — The domain rating, traffic volume, and link profile of the referring domain all contribute to the authority value of the link.
Anchor text — The text used to link to you signals relevance. We use natural, varied anchor text that avoids over-optimisation while building keyword relevance over time.
Link placement — A link within the body of an article carries more weight than a link in a sidebar, footer, or author bio.
Publication trajectory — A link from a publication that is growing in authority and traffic compounds in value over time. A link from a declining publication loses value.
We optimise for all six factors on every placement.
How Links Impact AI Search Visibility
This is the dimension most link building agencies do not address.
Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Google AI Overviews do not rank URLs. They synthesise answers from content they consider authoritative — editorial content from real publications, cited research, expert commentary.
When your brand is consistently mentioned in genuine editorial content across real publications, several things happen:
Brand entity strengthening — AI systems build a richer understanding of what your brand does, who it serves, and what it is authoritative on. This makes your brand more likely to be referenced in AI-generated answers.
Citation likelihood — AI systems trained on or crawling editorial content are more likely to cite brands that appear consistently across multiple authoritative sources. A single high-authority editorial mention carries more AI citation weight than a hundred link farm placements.
Knowledge graph signals — Consistent editorial coverage in real publications feeds Google’s Knowledge Graph — the entity database that underpins both traditional search rankings and AI Overview generation.
We track AI citation wins — brand mentions in Perplexity, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews — as part of every monthly report.
Ready to See Our Process Applied to Your Site?
Request a free authority audit → — we review your site, your competitors, and record a personalised Loom video with a specific 90-day plan.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do you use any automation in your outreach?
We use tools for research and tracking, not for writing or sending outreach. Every pitch is written individually. We track responses and follow-ups in a CRM, but the human writing the pitch is the one sending it.
How do you ensure links are not removed after placement?
We cannot guarantee permanent placement — no agency honestly can, since editorial decisions are made by third-party publishers. What we can tell you is that genuine editorial placements are far more durable than paid placements. Our 12-month link retention rate is above 94%.
Do you build links to inner pages or just the homepage?
Both, based on your keyword strategy. We build links to the specific pages that most need authority — typically your highest-commercial-intent service or product pages, with homepage links used to build overall domain authority.
How do you track keyword impact from individual links?
We cannot attribute specific ranking changes to specific links with certainty — no one can, because Google’s ranking signal is a combination of hundreds of factors. We track keyword positions over the full campaign period and show correlation between authority growth and ranking improvements in monthly reports.