Is Link Building Still Relevant to SEO?

Is link building still worth it?

The death of the backlink has been predicted countless times, yet links keep proving their worth. Google has spent years trying to reduce the influence of manipulative links, though the evidence is clear that genuine links still carry serious ranking weight. The method has changed far more than the importance.

Links are still a top signal

Despite the headlines, backlinks remain one of the most important ranking factors in 2026. Google's own systems still lean heavily on links to judge authority and trust. Independent studies keep finding that higher-ranking pages tend to have stronger link profiles. One widely cited analysis found the top result has nearly four times the backlinks of those just below it. Links are not going anywhere.

What has actually changed

The real shift is from quantity to quality. The old game of piling up hundreds of cheap links from directories or random blogs is finished, because Google now spots and ignores or penalises it. What counts today is relevance and trust. A contextual link from a site that genuinely covers your topic is worth far more than a pile of unrelated ones. We explain the kind Google rewards in How Google values editorial links from real publishers.

Why the myth persists

So why does the links are dead idea keep coming back? Partly because Google has publicly downplayed links for years, partly because the spammy tactics that used to work now backfire. People see their old approach fail and conclude link building is over. In reality, only the bad version died. Done well, with relevant earned links, it works as well as it ever did. The myths that get sites into trouble are covered in Backlink myths that lead to penalties.

Links matter for AI search too

There is a newer reason link building matters as well. AI search tools, like AI Overviews and assistants, lean on signals of authority and trust to decide which brands and sources to cite. Strong, relevant links and the brand mentions that come with them are a big part of that picture. So good link building now supports your visibility in both classic search and AI search at once, as we cover in How backlinks support AI search visibility.

So what should you do now?

The answer is simple: keep building links, just build the right ones. Focus on earning relevant, quality links through strong content, digital PR and genuine outreach, rather than chasing volume. A smaller number of trusted, on-topic links will do far more than a heap of weak ones. If you are starting out, What is link building in SEO and How to Get Backlinks are good places to begin. Our Backlink Services team builds links the modern way. The full method is in The Complete Guide to Backlink Building.