Link Building · Paysites and Studios
The standard playbook assumes publishers who will not return your emails. This is the version that works when half the internet declines the outreach on principle.
The method
Mainstream outreach in this category converts at a fraction of normal rates, and most of that is category refusal rather than anything about the pitch. Programmes built on volume outreach fail here. Programmes built on a smaller number of genuinely receptive source types work, and the resulting profile is harder for a competitor to copy precisely because it was harder to build.
Industry media and trade publications. The comparison and roundup ecosystem, which is also the layer AI engines cite most heavily. Partner and integration pages, which are frequently the highest-authority links available and cost nothing but a conversation. Original data and tooling that gives someone a reason to cite you. Conference and association listings.
A roundup that links to you is a ranking signal and a citation source simultaneously. This is the strongest argument for running link building and AI visibility as one programme rather than two: in restricted categories the source lists overlap almost completely, and buying them separately means paying twice for one outreach motion.
This category is saturated with vendors selling placements on networks that exist only to sell placements. They work until they do not, and the cleanup is more expensive than the original programme. We will tell you when a competitor is visibly buying, and we will not match it.
Category specifics
The method does not change between industries. The questions buyers actually ask, the sources the engines trust, and the rules you have to advertise inside all do.
Prompts we run for this category
Rules this category advertises inside
Citation layer
Each engine resolves a local recommendation through a different set of sources. These are the ones that decide whether a paysite gets named — and most of them are not your website.
Scope
Specifics rather than adjectives — and an equally specific list of what it does not cover, because unclear scope is the most common cause of a bad first quarter.
Included
Not included
What to expect, when
3 questions
We do not quote a number, because a guaranteed monthly count can only be met by buying placements. We report referring domains earned, the source type, and whether the same source shows up in your AI citation map.
Because you inherit the cleanup. We will show you what they are doing and what it is worth, and you can make the call knowing the downside is a recovery project rather than a penalty notice.
Yes, and mostly in who says no. The tactics are ordinary; the prospect universe is a fraction of the size, so selection matters far more than volume and a scraped list is close to worthless.
Before any retainer, we run fifty prompts across four engines and show you exactly where you stand against the operators being named instead.
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