A recent study by editorial.link (link building agency), conducted between March and May 2025 with 518 SEO professionals, confirms that despite the rise of AI search, links are still essential for ranking.Of the SEOs surveyed:
- Freelancers (24.9%), agency SEOs (44.4%) and in-house SEOs (29.9%).
- Mainly from Europe (46.3%), United States (25.5%), United Kingdom (16.2%) and other regions (12%).
Link Building Study 2025
The data speaks for itself:73.2% of respondents state that backlinks influence rankings in AI-generated results.
This suggests that the search algorithms feeding LLMs (Large Language Models), such as ChatGPT or Gemini, continue to value the authority transmitted through links.Although LLMs don’t directly process SEO signals like backlinks, their answers are often built from previously well-ranked content, where links remain a key ranking factor.Overall, this Link Building study shows that the signals links send to Google continue to influence rankings, even in AI-driven search environments.
Let’s break it all down:Link Building Trends
This part of the study analyzes the main Link Building trends over the past year.- Influence on AI: 73.2% of experts say inbound links influence AI-generated search results.
- Nofollow links: 78.8% believe that nofollow links do impact rankings.
- Unlinked brand mentions: 80.9% of specialists believe that unlinked mentions indirectly influence rankings by strengthening brand authority, trust, and online reputation.
- Buying links in the industry: 91.89% are convinced that their competitors buy backlinks. The same figure as in the previous 2024 study.
- Google’s ability to detect paid links: 55.98% believe that Google cannot tell paid links apart, especially when integrated into relevant content or quality guest posts.
- Can you rank without backlinks? 64.9% believe that yes, it’s possible to rank well on Google without inbound links, especially in low-competition niches with strong On-Page SEO optimization.
- Because Google (SGE/Gemini): Uses results from authoritative sites as the basis for its responses.
- And ChatGPT: Relies on Bing results, where backlinks also carry weight.
This reflects SEOs’ shared perception: despite advances in AI-generated content, authority built through links remains a key ranking factor.
Link Building ROI and Budget
The study also reveals the costs of link building. According to the respondents, the results are as follows:- Minimum budget: According to surveyed SEOs, to stand out in highly competitive niches, an average monthly budget of between $2,000 and $10,000 is needed, depending on the industry and business size.
- SEO budget allocation: On average, agencies allocate 32.1% of their SEO budget to Link Building, while in-house teams allocate 36.03%. Some companies treat Link Building as its own marketing channel, with a separate dedicated budget.
- Cost per link: The average “acceptable” price for acquiring a high-quality link is $508.95.
- Rising costs: 80.9% anticipate that Link Building costs will continue to rise in the next 2–3 years.
- Timeframe for results: 57.1% expect to see the results of their link strategies within 1–3 months. Although results may come sooner in some cases, in general at least one quarter is needed to notice link impact on SEO.
- Outsourcing: 56% of respondents outsource at least part of their Link Building tasks, turning to specialized agencies or freelancers.
- Sectors with the highest budgets: 61.0% point out that the gaming and betting (gambling) sector requires the highest budgets, with individual links costing up to $50,000. Followed by other industries: Law – 16.4%, finance – 11.6%, health & wellness – 7.1%, and loans – 6.8%.
The study shows that the greater the competitive difficulty, the higher the justified spend on authority links. This trend positions Link Building as a key part of the SEO budget, especially in highly competitive industries.
Most Effective Link Building Strategies
When it comes to the strategies delivering the best results, experts highlight digital PR and creativity in link acquisition:- Leading digital PR: 48.6% of respondents say digital public relations (PR) is currently the most effective Link Building tactic. This involves creating engaging content (infographics, studies, news) and distributing it to earn natural links from relevant media and portals.
- Unique opportunities: 66.6% believe that seeking unique and original link opportunities brings more benefits than simply copying competitors’ link profiles. This reinforces the importance of creativity and industry analysis to identify untapped relevant sites. It also reflects a clear commitment to originality and differentiation as a competitive SEO advantage.
- Priority pages for linking: 52.7% prioritize acquiring links to product or service pages (key business pages), followed by blog posts with 38.4% and homepage with 7.1%. Very useful for earning natural links and distributing authority.
- Anchor texts: In terms of anchor text, 41.7% prefer partial match anchors, compared to 25.1% choosing exact match. Brand or generic anchors complete the strategy with 20.5%, but partial match anchors predominate as they provide relevance and naturalness while avoiding over-optimization.
- Risky but effective tactics: Most SEOs surveyed still use “grey hat” tactics such as PBNs (private blog networks), which they rank as the most effective among risky strategies.
These trends show that surveyed SEOs favor modern approaches such as digital PR and originality in link creation. The focus is on quality content and relevant contexts that justify links.
Most Used Link Building Tools and Metrics
Ahrefs is considered the best all-in-one SEO tool, which is no surprise given it has the largest market share among SEO platforms.The question in this case was: If you could only choose one domain authority metric, which would you pick? And here’s the response:DR and UR (Ahrefs): 64.1 % Authority Score (Semrush): 15.4 % DA and PA (Moz): 11.6 % CF and TF (Majestic): 8.9 %
Once again, Ahrefs stands out with over 64% of respondents preferring DR and UR as their main domain authority metrics.
Link Building Risks
The Link Building study also delves into the most common challenges SEO professionals face when executing link strategies—from site evaluation criteria to cost and resource management.- Red flags: 89.0% avoid sites with many spammy or low-quality outbound links, low authority, or declining organic traffic. This highlights the importance of analyzing the quality of a site’s link profile before placing links. Spam and poor content are the most decisive warning signs.
- Poor/low-quality content: 86.3% consider low-quality content a major red flag.
- Link marketplaces: 63.1% are open to buying links from specialized marketplaces as long as site quality is high. In other words, many avoid spam but don’t fully dismiss these sources if the domain and content are relevant to their sector.
- Operational difficulties: 75.1% consider the high cost of premium links their biggest challenge. Additionally, 67.2% say it’s difficult to scale Link Building without sacrificing quality.
- Disavow tool in Google Search Console: Only 39.0% report still using Google’s disavow tool.
- Overall complexity: 55.2% consider Link Building “the hardest part of SEO.” This reflects the general perception that, despite its effectiveness, link building requires time, resources, and expertise.
Link Building Study Conclusions
The results show that:- Professionals are very cautious about quality and avoid suspicious sites.
- They fear high prices and acknowledge difficulties in management and measurement. Still, SEOs know that investing in quality links is essential to rank in competitive niches.
- Backlinks still matter just as much as always, even in the AI era.
- Agencies and in-house teams allocate one-third of their SEO budget to Link Building (and are preparing for that cost to increase).
- The most effective strategies combine digital PR, creativity, and rigor in site selection.
What this study makes clear is that Link Building remains crucial to achieve and maintain visibility on Google, in LLMs today and in the near future. So you can request a quote with Getalink: