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Link building research · Last checked 23 October 2026

Link Building Statistics 2026: 419 Stats, Each Traced to Its Original Source

Most link-building stats pages copy each other, so the same numbers get passed around for years without anyone checking them. We traced every figure here back to the study, survey or Google statement it came from, checked the number on the source page, and marked how current it is.

By Usman Tauqir, Top Search Agency · Next refresh Q1 2027

Key numbers
419
statistics, each linked to its primary source
260
Verified · primary source from 2024 or later
157
Outdated · primary source found, published before 2024
2
Circular · repeated everywhere, no original found

Link building statistics at a glance

The current numbers, with the year of each source. All 419 statistics, with their original sources, are in the database below.

Links and rankings

  • Referring domains are still the link metric most tied to rankings, at a 0.255 correlation with top-20 positions (Ahrefs, 2025)
  • That link-to-ranking correlation has softened, from 0.29 in 2019 to 0.22-0.24 in 2025 (Ahrefs, 2025)
  • Pages in Google's top 10 have a median of 6 referring domains, against an average of 112 (Semrush, 2024)

Costs

  • SEOs put a fair price for one high-quality backlink at $508.95 (Editorial.Link, 2025)
  • A guest post costs $461 on average through a vendor, and $295 bought direct from the site (BuzzStream, 2026)
  • 96.2% of sites selling guest posts are low quality; only 1.37% are high quality (BuzzStream, 2026)

Outreach

  • The average outreach reply rate is 0.85%, across 31 million emails (BuzzStream, 2025)
  • Reply rates fall 68% as campaigns grow, from 1.15% (1-50 emails) to 0.37% (1,001-5,000) (BuzzStream, 2025)
  • Digital PR outreach gets a 13% response rate, against 3% for sales sequences (Hunter, 2026)

AI search

  • Backlinks correlate with AI Overview visibility at 0.218, about a third of branded mentions (0.664) (Ahrefs, 2025)
  • Only 37.9% of URLs cited in AI Overviews rank in Google's top 10, down from about 76% in July 2025 (Ahrefs, 2026)
  • An AI Overview cuts the No. 1 result's click-through rate by 58% on average (Ahrefs, 2026)

Still widely quoted, but outdated: “94% of content gets zero links” (2019); “a paid link costs $361.44” (2018); “75% of posts have zero external links” (2015). 157 of the 419 stats we traced are from before 2024 and 2 have no original source at all.

Cite this page

Using a number in an article, deck or report? Copy a ready-made citation below. To quote one statistic, use the Copy citation button next to it: you get the stat, its original source and a link to this page. Charts have an Embed button.

Plain textTop Search Agency (2026). Link Building Statistics 2026: 419 Stats, Each Traced to Its Original Source. https://topsearchagency.com/link-building-statistics/
APATauqir, U. (2026). Link building statistics 2026: 419 stats, each traced to its original source. Top Search Agency. Retrieved 23 October 2026, from https://topsearchagency.com/link-building-statistics/
HTML link<a href="https://topsearchagency.com/link-building-statistics/">Link Building Statistics 2026 (Top Search Agency)</a>

Key numbers

The 11 figures we would quote first, chosen for recency, sample size and how directly they answer the questions journalists and marketers ask. Each one links to the original source.

8%

Google users clicked a traditional result link in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, versus 15% when it did not.

Pew Research Center: Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results · 2025 · 900 US adults' browsing data; 68,879 Google searches (March 2025)

Verified

  1. 0.255

    Across the top 1M US keywords, the number of referring domains to a page correlates 0.255 with its top-20 Google position, the strongest of the link metrics tested.

    Ahrefs: Google Says "Links Matter Less" (Patrick Stox) · 2025 · Top 1,000,000 US keywords by search volume; Spearman correlation vs top-20 positions

    Verified

  2. 0.218

    Backlinks correlated with AI Overview brand visibility at only 0.218, roughly a third of the correlation for branded web mentions (0.664).

    Ahrefs: AI Overview brand visibility correlation study (75K brands) · 2025 · ~75,000 brands (DR > 40)

    Verified

  3. 37.9%

    By early 2026 only 37.9% of URLs cited in AI Overviews also appeared in the top 10 results for the query, down from ~76% in July 2025.

    Ahrefs: AI Overview citations from top-10 pages (2026 update) · 2026 · 863K keyword SERPs; 4M AI Overview URLs

    Verified

  4. 96.2%

    96.2% of sites selling guest posts are low quality; only 1.37% are high quality or top tier.

    BuzzStream: The Cost of Guest Posts, Based on 500k Sites [Updated 2026 Data] · 2026 · 257,267 sites with Ahrefs DR, traffic and price data from a link marketplace (of ~500k collected)

    Verified

  5. 0.85%

    Across 31 million outreach emails in 86,000 campaigns, the average reply rate was 0.85%.

    BuzzStream: How Effective is Spray and Pray in PR? (We Analyzed 31M Emails To Find Out) · 2025 · 31 million emails, 86,000 campaigns

    Verified

  6. 86%

    86% of journalists say at least some of their published stories started with a PR pitch; 14% say none did.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified

  7. 3.4X

    B2B SaaS sites that publish original research grew referring domains 80.0% on average, 3.4X the rate of sites without research.

    Stratabeat: 2025 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2025 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024

    Verified

  8. 38%

    38% of webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer accessible a decade later, versus 8% of pages that existed in 2023.

    Pew Research Center: When Online Content Disappears · 2024 · Just under 1 million pages from Common Crawl snapshots, about 90,000 per year 2013-2023

    Verified

  9. 32.3%

    32.3% of mobile pages use rel="nofollow" on at least one link, nearly the same as in 2024.

    HTTP Archive (Web Almanac): Web Almanac 2025: SEO chapter · 2026 · HTTP Archive crawl of millions of home and inner pages (desktop + mobile), July 2025 data

    Verified

  10. 1T

    Google extracts about 1 trillion web links and de-duplicates them to about 100 billion that it processes for possible indexing, per the 2025 US v. Google remedies opinion.

    US District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Amit Mehta): United States v. Google LLC, Memorandum Opinion on remedies (Doc. 1436, filed 2 Sept 2025) · 2025

    Verified

Our data: links across 97 early-stage SaaS sites

Original figures from Top Search Agency’s early-stage SaaS benchmark: 97 B2B SaaS and AI companies with 1 to 10 staff, mostly in the US, reviewed September to October 2026. Reported as aggregates only; no company is named or identifiable.

  1. 102

    Median referring domains per site (middle half: 44 to 186). The median site had 210 backlinks, about 2.2 per linking domain.

  2. 48%

    Share of all referring domains in the sample held by the top 10% of sites (10 of 97).

  3. 67%

    Of sites with 100+ referring domains, the share still getting under 100 estimated organic visits a month (34 of 51).

  4. 35%

    Of sites with 100+ referring domains, the share with no keyword in Google's top 10 (18 of 51).

  5. 0.42

    Rank correlation (Spearman) between referring domains and estimated organic visits: moderate. Between referring domains and ranking keywords it is 0.45.

  6. 85%

    Share of sites with a third-party authority score under 20 out of 100 (median 10; 72 sites scored).

Past about 40 referring domains, more links did not raise the odds of real trafficShare of sites with 100+ estimated monthly organic visits, by referring-domain quartile (97 early-stage SaaS sites)
12%3–39 RDs33%44–101 RDs32%102–186 RDs33%193–2,428 RDs

Quartiles of about 24 sites each. Visits are third-party estimates for US Google.

Ranking keywords keep rising with referring domains, even where traffic does notMedian ranking keywords per site, by referring-domain quartile (97 sites)
23–39 RDs644–101 RDs16102–186 RDs56193–2,428 RDs

Medians. Most of those keywords rank outside the top 10.

48% of early-stage SaaS sites have fewer than 100 referring domainsDistribution of referring domains across 97 sites
Under 5026%50 to 9922%100 to 24938%250 to 4999%500+5%

Referring domains = unique websites linking to the site.

How these figures were produced

Backlink and referring-domain counts come from a third-party backlink index; authority is that index’s 0 to 100 score (available for 72 of the 97 sites). Ranking keywords and estimated visits are third-party estimates for US Google. Quartiles split the sites into four groups of about 24 by referring domains. Comparisons show association, not cause: sites with more links also tend to be older, larger and better funded. The full benchmark report is at Early-Stage SaaS Search Visibility Benchmark.

Coming in the Q1 2027 refresh

Backlinks vs AI citations: do links still decide who gets named?

Every roundup now asks whether backlinks matter for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google’s AI answers. Most answers rest on one-off screenshots. We are running a controlled study and will publish the results here, with the data.

Question

Do referring domains, authority and unlinked brand mentions predict how often a SaaS company is named or cited in AI answers to buyer questions, once its Google rankings are taken into account?

Sample

At least 300 B2B SaaS and AI companies across 10 or more software categories, stratified by size from seed stage to established, so the result is not driven by a few category leaders.

Prompts

About 20 buyer prompts per category (“best X for Y”, “X alternatives”, “how to choose X”), run on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, each repeated on several days to measure how stable the answers are.

Measures

For each company: share of answers that name it, share that link to it, and position in the answer, set against referring domains, authority score, brand-mention volume, review-site presence and Google top-10 rankings for the same prompts.

Analysis

Rank correlations plus a multivariable model, so we can say whether links add anything beyond rankings and brand mentions. We will publish the prompt list, the anonymised dataset and the code, and report null results as plainly as positive ones.

What our pilot hints at

In a small pilot from the benchmark above (28 sites, 197 ChatGPT answers), referring domains barely tracked how often a company was named (Spearman ρ = 0.07). The median company that was named at least once had 183 referring domains; companies never named had 162. The sample is far too small to conclude anything, which is why the full study exists.

All 419 link building statistics

Filter by topic, year or status, or search for a publisher or keyword. Every row links to the primary source. Use Copy citation for a ready-made reference, or download the current view as a CSV.

62% of the link-building statistics we traced come from a 2024-or-later primary source419 statistics by status after tracing each one to its origin
Verified260Outdated157Circular2

Verified = primary source found and published 2024 or later. Outdated = primary source found, published before 2024. Circular = no primary source found.

38% of the figures still in circulation are pre-2024 or have no traceable sourceStatistics by publication year of the primary source

2024 or laterBefore 2024

79Before 20202220201820212920221120234620241232025912026

Counted by the year the original study, survey or statement was published.

Costs & budgets 27

  1. $461

    A guest post bought through a typical vendor costs $461 on average.

    BuzzStream: The Cost of Guest Posts, Based on 500k Sites [Updated 2026 Data] · 2026 · 257,267 sites with Ahrefs DR, traffic and price data from a link marketplace (of ~500k collected)

    Verified
  2. $295

    A guest post costs $295 on average when bought directly from the site rather than through a vendor.

    BuzzStream: The Cost of Guest Posts, Based on 500k Sites [Updated 2026 Data] · 2026 · 257,267 sites with Ahrefs DR, traffic and price data from a link marketplace (of ~500k collected)

    Verified
  3. 96.2%

    96.2% of sites selling guest posts are low quality; only 1.37% are high quality or top tier.

    BuzzStream: The Cost of Guest Posts, Based on 500k Sites [Updated 2026 Data] · 2026 · 257,267 sites with Ahrefs DR, traffic and price data from a link marketplace (of ~500k collected)

    Verified
  4. 39.6%

    39.6% of sites selling guest posts have zero monthly organic traffic.

    BuzzStream: The Cost of Guest Posts, Based on 500k Sites [Updated 2026 Data] · 2026 · 257,267 sites with Ahrefs DR, traffic and price data from a link marketplace (of ~500k collected)

    Verified
  5. $572

    Sports sites are the most expensive guest post niche at $572 per post through a vendor, followed by News & Media at $567.

    BuzzStream: The Cost of Guest Posts, Based on 500k Sites [Updated 2026 Data] · 2026 · 257,267 sites with Ahrefs DR, traffic and price data from a link marketplace (of ~500k collected)

    Verified
  6. $508.95

    SEOs put the average acceptable price for one high-quality backlink at $508.95.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  7. $8,406

    $8,406 a month is the average minimum budget SEOs say is needed to compete for links in highly competitive niches.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  8. 32.1%

    Agencies allocate an average 32.1% of their SEO budget to link building; in-house teams allocate 36.03%.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  9. 80.9%

    80.9% of SEOs believe link building will get more expensive over the next 2-3 years.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  10. 57.1%

    57.1% of SEOs expect to see link-building results within 1-3 months; 33.0% expect 3-6 months.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  11. 75.1%

    75.1% of SEOs say the high cost of premium backlinks is their biggest link-building challenge.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  12. 61.0%

    61.0% of SEOs say gambling is the industry that requires the highest link-building budgets.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  13. 75%

    75% of link builders are given 6 months or less to prove the value of their link building.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  14. 56%

    56% of link builders plan to invest more in link building in the next 12 months; 9% plan to invest less.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  15. 40%

    Only 40% of link builders feel their reports effectively convey the value of link building.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  16. 28%

    Just 28% of link builders measure increased revenue from organic visits to the pages they build links to.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  17. 45%

    45% of link-building agencies and freelancers charge a retainer; only 8% price per link.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  18. 84%

    84% of link-building agencies and freelancers do not use performance or bonus pricing models.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  19. 59%

    59% of link-building agencies and freelancers saw demand for their services increase over the past year; 9% saw it fall.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  20. 25%

    25% of in-house SEOs spend $10,000-$25,000 a month on link building, the most common budget band.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  21. 32%

    32% of SEOs say it typically takes 1-2 hours to build a single link; 24% say 3-5 hours.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  22. 49%

    49% of SEOs say links take 1-3 months to positively affect rankings and traffic; 30% say 3-6 months.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  23. 27%

    27% of in-house teams that outsource spend $1,000-$2,500 a month on link building; 21% spend $10,000-$25,000.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2021 · 2021 · survey of 250+ digital marketers (54% agency, 33% in-house, 13% freelance)

    Outdated
  24. 60%

    60% of in-house marketers dedicate less than 10% of their overall marketing budget to link building.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2021 · 2021 · survey of 250+ digital marketers (54% agency, 33% in-house, 13% freelance)

    Outdated
  25. $361.44

    A paid niche-edit link cost $361.44 on average in an Ahrefs outreach test of 450 sites.

    Ahrefs: Should You Buy Backlinks in 2024? It Depends · 2018 · outreach to 450 sites across nine competitive niches

    Outdated
  26. 12.6%

    Only 12.6% of sites contacted by Ahrefs were willing to sell a link.

    Ahrefs: Should You Buy Backlinks in 2024? It Depends · 2018 · outreach to 450 sites across nine competitive niches

    Outdated
  27. $77.80

    A paid guest post cost $77.80 on average in Ahrefs' test pitching 180 sites.

    Ahrefs: Should You Buy Backlinks in 2024? It Depends · 2018 · guest post pitches to 180 sites across nine niches

    Outdated

Industry practice 25

  1. 35.3%

    35.3% of SEO leaders paid for, or approved payment for, a sponsored backlink in the past 12 months.

    uSERP: The State of Backlinks in 2027: What 116 SEO Leaders Say · 2026 · survey of 116 SEO professionals (47.4% Director/Head of SEO)

    Verified
  2. 53.4%

    53.4% of SEO leaders say digital PR delivered their strongest link-building results in the last 12 months.

    uSERP: The State of Backlinks in 2027: What 116 SEO Leaders Say · 2026 · survey of 116 SEO professionals (47.4% Director/Head of SEO)

    Verified
  3. 40.5%

    40.5% of SEO leaders name guest posting as the tactic with the biggest gap between how much it is used and how well it performs.

    uSERP: The State of Backlinks in 2027: What 116 SEO Leaders Say · 2026 · survey of 116 SEO professionals (47.4% Director/Head of SEO)

    Verified
  4. 58.6%

    58.6% of SEO leaders rank topical relevance as the most important factor for a single link; only 11.2% pick DR/DA.

    uSERP: The State of Backlinks in 2027: What 116 SEO Leaders Say · 2026 · survey of 116 SEO professionals (47.4% Director/Head of SEO)

    Verified
  5. 56%

    56% of SEOs outsource at least part of their link building; 44% keep it all in-house.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  6. 91.9%

    91.9% of SEOs are convinced their competitors buy backlinks.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  7. 64.1%

    64.1% of SEOs use Ahrefs' DR/UR as their go-to authority metric for evaluating links.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  8. 55.2%

    55.2% of SEOs consider link building the most challenging part of SEO.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  9. 39.0%

    Only 39.0% of SEOs still use Google's disavow tool.

    Editorial.Link: Link Building Statistics 2026: 70+ Stats From a Survey of 518 SEO Experts · 2025 · survey of 518 SEO professionals (44.4% agency, 29.9% in-house, 24.9% freelance)

    Verified
  10. 29%

    Only 29% of link builders consider their link building efforts successful.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  11. 61%

    61% of in-house organisations manage their link building entirely in-house.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  12. 32%

    Only 32% of link-building teams follow a documented, repeatable process.

    BuzzStream (with Citation Labs): Link Building Trends Report (2025) · 2025 · survey of 300+ SEOs and link builders (BuzzStream & Citation Labs; data compiled by Mantis Research)

    Verified
  13. 70%

    70% of link-building agencies and freelancers offer no guarantee on link volumes or link metrics.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  14. 64%

    64% of in-house SEOs do not use external agencies or freelancers for link building.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  15. 67%

    67% of SEOs use Ahrefs' Domain Rating to judge a link's quality; 42% use Moz Domain Authority.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  16. 53%

    53% of SEOs use rankings to measure link-building effectiveness, followed by search visibility (36%).

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  17. 69%

    Only 30% of SEOs use paid links, yet 69% believe paid links positively influence rankings.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  18. 82%

    82% of SEOs use Ahrefs for link building; 51% would pick it if they could use only one tool.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2022 · 2022 · survey of 270 SEOs (agency, in-house, freelance)

    Outdated
  19. 63%

    63% of SEOs believe buying links positively influences rankings, yet only about 27% use paid links.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2021 · 2021 · survey of 250+ digital marketers (54% agency, 33% in-house, 13% freelance)

    Outdated
  20. 61%

    61% of SEOs trust Ahrefs' link data most, ahead of Google Search Console (17%) and Majestic (9%).

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2021 · 2021 · survey of 250+ digital marketers (54% agency, 33% in-house, 13% freelance)

    Outdated
  21. 85%

    85% of SEOs believed links would still be a Google ranking signal five years later; 64% said ten years.

    Aira: The State of Link Building Report 2021 · 2021 · survey of 250+ digital marketers (54% agency, 33% in-house, 13% freelance)

    Outdated
  22. 90%

    90% of link builders used content publication and promotion as a link-building tactic in 2016.

    Page One Power (with Moz and Credo): 2016 State of Link Building Survey · 2016 · 435 respondents, 14 questions each

    Outdated
  23. 60%

    More than 60% of link builders said link building was more integrated than not with their other marketing processes.

    Page One Power (with Moz and Credo): 2016 State of Link Building Survey · 2016 · 435 respondents, 14 questions each

    Outdated
  24. 65%

    65% of marketers say link building is the hardest SEO tactic. Widely repeated, but no survey behind it has ever been found.

    SEO Tribunal (earliest appearance found): SEO statistics roundup · 2019 · No study cited

    Circular
  25. 93%

    93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Repeated in link-building roundups for over a decade with no study ever linked.

    SEO Tribunal (earliest appearance found): SEO statistics roundup · 2019 · No study cited

    Circular

Outreach & tactics 48

  1. 4.5%

    The average cold email sequence reply rate was 4.5% in 2025, based on 31 million emails.

    Hunter: State of Email Outreach 2026 Report · 2026 · 31 million emails sent by Hunter users in 2025 + decision-maker survey

    Verified
  2. 13%

    Digital PR outreach gets a 13% average response rate, versus 3% for sales outreach sequences.

    Hunter: State of Email Outreach 2026 Report · 2026 · 31 million emails sent by Hunter users in 2025

    Verified
  3. +106%

    Sending three messages instead of one increases total replies by 106% (6.8% vs 3.3%).

    Hunter: State of Email Outreach 2026 Report · 2026 · 31 million emails sent by Hunter users in 2025

    Verified
  4. +56%

    Emails with two custom personalisation attributes get a 56% higher reply rate than non-personalised emails (5.6% vs 3.6%).

    Hunter: State of Email Outreach 2026 Report · 2026 · 31 million emails sent by Hunter users in 2025

    Verified
  5. 4.4%

    Outreach sequences with open tracking enabled had a 4.4% reply rate, versus 7.4% without tracking.

    Hunter: State of Email Outreach 2026 Report · 2026 · 31 million emails sent by Hunter users in 2025

    Verified
  6. +158%

    Sequences sent to 21-50 recipients get 158% more replies than those sent to 500+ recipients (6.2% vs 2.4%).

    Hunter: State of Email Outreach 2026 Report · 2026 · 31 million emails sent by Hunter users in 2025

    Verified
  7. 300 words

    Pitch emails under 300 words get the highest open and reply rates, with more than double the reply rate of longer emails.

    BuzzStream: Does (Email) Length Matter? What 5M Emails Tells Us About Engagement · 2026 · 5M emails (first emails in digital PR sequences)

    Verified
  8. 54.16%

    Pitch subject lines mentioning an exclusive had a 54.16% open rate, versus 37.16% without.

    BuzzStream: 6 Million Subject Lines Analyzed: What Actually Gets Journalists to Open · 2026 · 6 million subject lines

    Verified
  9. 50.81%

    Subject lines that mention the target publication had a 50.81% open rate versus 39.25% without, yet only about 1% of senders do it.

    BuzzStream: 6 Million Subject Lines Analyzed: What Actually Gets Journalists to Open · 2026 · 6 million subject lines

    Verified
  10. 43.1%

    Subject lines that state the finding got a 43.1% open rate and 1.37% reply rate, versus 39.8% and 0.88% for teaser lines.

    BuzzStream: How to Phrase Your Subject Line to Get Opens [New Data Study] · 2026 · ~148,000 digital PR pitches across 39 million emails

    Verified
  11. 48.8%

    Subject lines using ratios such as '1 in 5' opened at 48.8%, versus 42.3% for percentages.

    BuzzStream: How to Phrase Your Subject Line to Get Opens [New Data Study] · 2026 · ~148,000 digital PR pitches across 39 million emails

    Verified
  12. 21.6%

    Outreach sent from 1-2-year-old domains averaged a 21.6% open rate, versus 34.9% for 5-6-year-old domains.

    BuzzStream: Does Domain Age Affect Email Open Rates? Here's What Our Data Shows · 2026 · 14.3 million emails from 1,785 sending domains, ~June 2025-June 2026

    Verified
  13. 18.8%

    Only 18.8% of digital PR pitches include images in the email body, and 0.1% use attachments.

    BuzzStream: Should You Use Images When Pitching Journalists? [New Data] · 2026 · ~5.6 million emails

    Verified
  14. 68%

    Journalist requests on the relaunched HARO are up 68% year over year and subscribers up 54%.

    HARO / Featured.com: Featured CEO Brett Farmiloe on What Still Wins a Journalist in Ten Seconds · 2026

    Verified
  15. 21%

    21% of over two million HARO pitches reviewed are now fully AI-generated; human-written pitches are three times more likely to be featured.

    HARO / Featured.com: Featured CEO Brett Farmiloe on What Still Wins a Journalist in Ten Seconds · 2026 · 2 million+ pitches reviewed

    Verified
  16. 3.43%

    The average cold email reply rate across Instantly's platform in 2025 was 3.43%; the top 10% of senders exceeded 10.7%.

    Instantly: Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026 · 2026 · Billions of cold email interactions, Jan 1-Dec 18, 2025

    Verified
  17. 42%

    58% of cold email replies come from the first email; follow-ups generate the remaining 42%.

    Instantly: Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026 · 2026 · Billions of cold email interactions, Jan 1-Dec 18, 2025

    Verified
  18. 1.5%

    The median cold email reply rate on Woodpecker was 1.5% across 56,614 campaigns; email 4 in a sequence gets about half the replies of email 1.

    Woodpecker: Cold Email Benchmark · 2026 · 56,614 campaigns, last 90 days of 2025

    Verified
  19. 17.7%

    17.7% of sites on guest-post vendor lists were dead or parked (568 of 3,204 domains).

    Lilach Bullock: Guest Posting Statistics 2026 · 2026 · 3,204 unique domains behind 4,894 guest post listings, live HTTP check Sept 2026

    Verified
  20. 4.9%

    Cold email campaigns with follow-ups averaged a 4.9% reply rate, versus 3% without follow-ups.

    Hunter: The State of Cold Email 2025 · 2025 · 11 million cold emails sent in 2024 + survey of 217 decision-makers

    Verified
  21. 5.8%

    Campaigns with 50 or fewer recipients averaged a 5.8% reply rate, versus 2.1% for campaigns with 1,000+ recipients.

    Hunter: The State of Cold Email 2025 · 2025 · 11 million cold emails sent in 2024

    Verified
  22. 48%

    48% of decision-makers appreciate follow-up emails and 27% don't mind them; 25% find them annoying.

    Hunter: The State of Cold Email 2025 · 2025 · Survey of 217 decision-makers

    Verified
  23. 0.85%

    Across 31 million outreach emails in 86,000 campaigns, the average reply rate was 0.85%.

    BuzzStream: How Effective is Spray and Pray in PR? (We Analyzed 31M Emails To Find Out) · 2025 · 31 million emails, 86,000 campaigns

    Verified
  24. 68%

    Reply rates fell 68% as campaign size grew, from 1.15% (1-50 emails) to 0.37% (1,001-5,000 emails).

    BuzzStream: How Effective is Spray and Pray in PR? (We Analyzed 31M Emails To Find Out) · 2025 · 31 million emails, 86,000 campaigns

    Verified
  25. 12.08

    Outreach campaigns of 51-100 emails earned the most links, averaging 12.08 links per campaign; 1,001-5,000-email campaigns earned under 3.5.

    BuzzStream: How Effective is Spray and Pray in PR? (We Analyzed 31M Emails To Find Out) · 2025 · 31 million emails, 86,000 campaigns

    Verified
  26. 1.28%

    Outreach campaigns using a single email template had the highest reply rate, at 1.28%.

    BuzzStream: How Effective is Spray and Pray in PR? (We Analyzed 31M Emails To Find Out) · 2025 · 31 million emails, 86,000 campaigns

    Verified
  27. 57%

    57% of link-building outreach replies arrive within 6 hours, and almost 90% within 2 days.

    BuzzStream: How Long Does it Take to Get Email Outreach Replies? [Study] · 2025 · 51 million+ emails

    Verified
  28. 85%

    Digital PR sequences with follow-ups have an 85% higher reply rate than one-and-done emails.

    BuzzStream: Follow-Up Emails in Digital PR: What the Data Tells Us [Study] · 2025 · 65K+ campaigns, 8 million+ emails

    Verified
  29. 66%

    Reply rates drop 66% from the first follow-up (1.74%) to the second (0.59%) in digital PR outreach.

    BuzzStream: Follow-Up Emails in Digital PR: What the Data Tells Us [Study] · 2025 · 65K+ campaigns, 8 million+ emails

    Verified
  30. 15%

    Pitches sent from agency email addresses get about 15% higher open rates than those from brand addresses (41.54% vs 35.68%).

    BuzzStream: Should You Pitch Journalists From an Agency or Brand Email Address? [Data from 5M Emails] · 2025 · 16,000+ PR campaigns, 5 million emails

    Verified
  31. 36%

    About 36% of journalist opens came from pitches sent at 8 AM local time, the best-performing hour.

    BuzzStream: When is the Best Time to Pitch Journalists? (A Study of 4.5M Emails) · 2025 · 4.5 million emails

    Verified
  32. 21.9%

    Only 21.9% of journalist quote requests across 7 platforms offered followed links.

    BuzzStream: The Data Behind 7 Top Journalist Request Platforms [New Study] · 2025 · Journalist requests May-June (PressPulse.ai data), top 20 outlets per platform

    Verified
  33. 38%

    Just over 38% of HARO journalist requests came from sites with a Domain Rating of 0-9.

    BuzzStream: The Data Behind 7 Top Journalist Request Platforms [New Study] · 2025 · Journalist requests May-June (PressPulse.ai data)

    Verified
  34. 2008

    Featured.com bought HARO from Cision in April 2025; HARO was founded in 2008 and owned by Cision since 2014.

    Featured.com (PR Newswire release): Featured.com Acquires Help A Reporter Out (HARO) from Cision · 2025

    Verified
  35. 22.37%

    lemlist reports that sending 10 emails in a sequence lifts total reply rate to 22.37%, versus 4.5% for a single email.

    lemlist: How many cold email follow-ups should you send to increase your replies? · 2025 · lemlist cold outreach campaigns (size not disclosed)

    Verified
  36. December 9, 2024

    Cision permanently shut down Connectively, the rebranded HARO, on December 9, 2024.

    Cision: Connectively has been discontinued · 2024

    Verified
  37. 61%

    61% of 1,242 SEOs polled by Ahrefs felt the Skyscraper Technique still works.

    Ahrefs: How to Execute the Skyscraper Technique (And Get Results) · 2023 · 1,242 votes from Ahrefs' Twitter and LinkedIn audience

    Outdated
  38. 17%

    A hand-personalised Ahrefs outreach campaign of 111 emails got a 41% response rate and won 19 links, a 17% success rate.

    Ahrefs (Tim Soulo): Effective Email Outreach: 5 Lessons From 111 Emails · 2021 · ~200 prospects reviewed, 111 emails sent

    Outdated
  39. 73.6%

    73.6% of sites with 10k+ monthly Google visits have some reciprocal links; only 26.4% have none.

    Ahrefs: Reciprocal Links: Do They Still Work? (Research) · 2020 · 140,592 domains with 10k+ monthly Google visits

    Outdated
  40. 27.4%

    27.4% of sites with Google traffic have at least a 15% overlap between the domains they link to and the domains linking to them.

    Ahrefs: Reciprocal Links: Do They Still Work? (Research) · 2020 · 140,592 domains with 10k+ monthly Google visits

    Outdated
  41. 8.5%

    8.5% of link and PR outreach emails get a response, meaning 91.5% are ignored.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  42. 2x

    Emailing the same contact more than once produces 2x more responses than a single email.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  43. 65.8%

    Sending just one follow-up to an outreach email lifts replies by 65.8%.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  44. 32.7%

    Outreach emails with a personalised message body get a 32.7% better response rate than non-personalised ones.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  45. 30.5%

    Personalised subject lines raise outreach response rates by 30.5%.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  46. 93%

    Outreach sent to several contacts at the same site gets a 93% higher response rate than outreach to one person.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  47. 36-50 characters

    Outreach subject lines of 36-50 characters get the best response rate.

    Backlinko (with Pitchbox): We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails. Here's What We Learned · 2019 · 12 million outreach emails (Pitchbox data)

    Outdated
  48. 11%

    The original Skyscraper Technique case study landed 17 links from 160 outreach emails, an 11% success rate.

    Backlinko (Brian Dean): Skyscraper Method: +110% Traffic in 14 days (Link Building Case Study) · 2013 · 160 outreach emails, one campaign

    Outdated

Digital PR & journalists 57

  1. 86%

    86% of journalists say at least some of their published stories started with a PR pitch; 14% say none did.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  2. 88%

    88% of journalists say they immediately disregard or delete a PR pitch that is irrelevant to their coverage.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  3. 54%

    54% of journalists say they seldom or never respond to PR pitches; only 6% always respond.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  4. 40%

    40% of journalists say a PR pro should ideally offer original data or research with a pitch, behind clear beat relevance (70%) and interview access (58%).

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  5. 3%

    Only 3% of journalists say the PR pitches they receive are always relevant to what they cover; 47% say seldom or never.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  6. 14%

    14% of journalists received more than 20 PR pitches on their last normal work day, and 29% received 6-10.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  7. 71%

    71% of journalists reject PR pitches that feel overly promotional or advertorial, and 50% reject pitches that look like a mass email.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  8. 53%

    53% of journalists say relationships with PR professionals are important or very important to being successful at their job.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  9. 37%

    37% of journalists publish news or commentary independently under their own name or brand, outside a traditional media organisation.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  10. 62%

    62% of journalists say their job responsibilities expanded beyond their core role in the past year.

    Muck Rack: The State of Journalism 2026 · 2026 · Muck Rack survey: 1,044 journalists, 897 usable responses (Jan 30-Mar 2, 2026), mostly US

    Verified
  11. 66%

    66% of journalists say PR-provided content (press releases, pitches, media kits) is the resource they most rely on for story ideas.

    Cision: PR Emerges as the Primary Source for Journalists in High-Pressure Newsrooms · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  12. 72%

    72% of journalists say fewer than a quarter of the pitches they receive are relevant to their audience and coverage.

    Cision: PR Emerges as the Primary Source for Journalists in High-Pressure Newsrooms · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  13. 47%

    47% of journalists want PR pros to send more data or research, the top request, ahead of embargoed/early-access information (45%).

    Cision: 2026 State of the Media Report · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  14. 97%

    97% of journalists prefer to receive pitches by email; messaging apps and social DMs tie a distant second at 14%.

    Cision: 2026 State of the Media Report · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  15. 53%

    53% of journalists oppose receiving AI-generated pitches or press releases from PR professionals.

    Cision: PR Emerges as the Primary Source for Journalists in High-Pressure Newsrooms · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  16. 52%

    52% of journalists expect a PR professional to reply within 24 hours when the journalist reaches out.

    Cision: 2026 State of the Media Report · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  17. 82%

    Most journalists sort through more than 50 pitches a week, and 82% will reject a pitch that is not relevant to their audience or coverage.

    Cision: 2026 State of the Media Report · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  18. 49%

    49% of journalists cite shrinking budgets, staff cuts and increased workloads among their biggest challenges of the past year.

    Cision: PR Emerges as the Primary Source for Journalists in High-Pressure Newsrooms · 2026 · Cision survey: 1,899 journalists in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2026)

    Verified
  19. 95.9%

    95.9% of digital PR practitioners pitch data-led content, the most common digital PR tactic in 2026 (94.8% in 2025).

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2026) · 2026 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals

    Verified
  20. 60.8%

    60.8% of digital PR professionals say finding relevant journalists has become harder in the last 12 months (60.7% the year before).

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2026) · 2026 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals

    Verified
  21. 81%

    81% of digital PR pros say they secure first coverage within a week of pitching; the most common lag is 3-5 days.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2026) · 2026 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals

    Verified
  22. 32.5%

    32.5% of digital PRs say a single team member can generate an average of 31+ links (BuzzStream frames it as about one link per day).

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2026) · 2026 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals

    Verified
  23. 75%

    75% of digital PR professionals say digital PR is more challenging than 12 months ago, yet 68.2% say it is more effective.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2026) · 2026 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals

    Verified
  24. 11.79%

    PR pitches of 51-100 words drew an 11.79% response rate on Propel in Q1 2026, versus 3.87% for 151-200-word pitches.

    Propel: Propel Media Barometer Q1 2026 · 2026 · Pitches sent through Propel in Q1 2026

    Verified
  25. 7.64%

    Pitches with subject lines of 1-30 characters had a 7.64% response rate on Propel in Q1 2026, up from 5.04% in Q4 2025.

    Propel: Propel Media Barometer Q1 2026 · 2026 · Pitches sent through Propel in Q1 2026

    Verified
  26. 3,444

    At least 3,444 journalism jobs were cut in the UK and US in 2025, 11% fewer than in 2024; about 67% were in the US.

    Press Gazette: More than 3,000 journalism job cuts tracked in UK and US in 2025 · 2026 · Press Gazette tally of announced redundancies in the UK and US (company announcements and media reports)

    Verified
  27. 55%

    55% of journalists receive more than five PR pitches on a normal work day.

    Muck Rack: State of Journalism 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,890 journalists, 1,515 usable responses (Apr 2025), mostly US

    Verified
  28. 17%

    The share of journalists getting 11-20 PR pitches a day rose from 11% in 2024 to 17% in 2025.

    Muck Rack: State of Journalism 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,890 journalists, 1,515 usable responses (Apr 2025), mostly US

    Verified
  29. 69%

    69% of journalists say a pitch is worth their time if it is clearly tailored to their beat; only 9% value a reference to their past work.

    Muck Rack: State of Journalism 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,890 journalists, 1,515 usable responses (Apr 2025), mostly US

    Verified
  30. 41%

    41% of journalists say new or exclusive information signals that a PR pitch is worth their time; 44% want access to a source.

    Muck Rack: State of Journalism 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,890 journalists, 1,515 usable responses (Apr 2025), mostly US

    Verified
  31. 44%

    44% of journalists immediately delete pitches sent repeatedly without a response.

    Muck Rack: State of Journalism 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,890 journalists, 1,515 usable responses (Apr 2025), mostly US

    Verified
  32. 72%

    72% of PR professionals cite low journalist response rates as a barrier to securing earned media; only 2% say coverage has not got harder.

    Muck Rack: The State of PR 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,089 PR professionals, 911 usable responses (Jun 5-Jul 16, 2025), 90% US

    Verified
  33. 62%

    62% of PR professionals say smaller or shrinking media lists in their target beats made earned media harder to secure.

    Muck Rack: The State of PR 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,089 PR professionals, 911 usable responses (Jun 5-Jul 16, 2025), 90% US

    Verified
  34. 25%

    25% of PR professionals pitch more than 50 journalists per campaign or announcement; nearly half pitch more than 20.

    Muck Rack: The State of PR 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,089 PR professionals, 911 usable responses (Jun 5-Jul 16, 2025), 90% US

    Verified
  35. 75%

    75% of PR pros who personalise pitches only change a few sentences; 11% tailor every part of the pitch to the journalist.

    Muck Rack: The State of PR 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,089 PR professionals, 911 usable responses (Jun 5-Jul 16, 2025), 90% US

    Verified
  36. 92%

    92% of PR professionals pitch online or digital outlets, the most commonly targeted media type.

    Muck Rack: The State of PR 2025 · 2025 · Muck Rack survey: 1,089 PR professionals, 911 usable responses (Jun 5-Jul 16, 2025), 90% US

    Verified
  37. 72%

    72% of journalists say press releases are the most useful resource PR teams can offer.

    Cision: Cision's 2025 State of the Media Report Reveals a Tipping Point for Trust, Technology, and PR-Journalist Partnerships · 2025 · Cision survey: 3,000+ journalists in 19 markets

    Verified
  38. 85%

    85% of journalists say the best way for a PR pro to build a relationship is to introduce themselves by email, even without a story to pitch.

    Cision: Cision's 2025 State of the Media Report Reveals a Tipping Point for Trust, Technology, and PR-Journalist Partnerships · 2025 · Cision survey: 3,000+ journalists in 19 markets

    Verified
  39. 15.58

    A single digital PR professional earns a weighted average of 15.58 links per month, per BuzzStream's survey of digital PRs.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2025) · 2025 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals (Nov-Dec 2024), 59% agency, mostly UK/US

    Verified
  40. 89.6%

    89.6% of digital PRs say digital PR is most effective for building backlinks, ahead of brand awareness (83.2%) and organic traffic/rankings (77.5%).

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2025) · 2025 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals (Nov-Dec 2024), 59% agency, mostly UK/US

    Verified
  41. 87.3%

    87.3% of digital PRs say the number of quality links is their main measure of campaign success.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2025) · 2025 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals (Nov-Dec 2024), 59% agency, mostly UK/US

    Verified
  42. 65.3%

    65.3% of digital PRs include nofollow links in their total link counts, and 75% believe Google values nofollow links, though less than followed links.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2025) · 2025 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals (Nov-Dec 2024), 59% agency, mostly UK/US

    Verified
  43. 83.2%

    83.2% of digital PRs believe Google values unlinked brand mentions for SEO, but not as much as linked mentions.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2025) · 2025 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals (Nov-Dec 2024), 59% agency, mostly UK/US

    Verified
  44. 71.7%

    71.7% of digital PRs never use newswire services such as PR Newswire or Business Wire to distribute press releases.

    BuzzStream: State of Digital PR Report (2025) · 2025 · BuzzStream survey: 150+ digital PR professionals (Nov-Dec 2024), 59% agency, mostly UK/US

    Verified
  45. 4.02%

    Journalists replied to 4.02% of PR pitches sent through Propel in Q2 2025, up from 3.92% in Q1 2025 and 3.84% in Q4 2024.

    Propel: Propel Media Barometer Q2 2025 · 2025 · Pitches sent through Propel's PR platform in Q2 2025 (company says millions)

    Verified
  46. 2.66%

    Journalist response rates to pitches sent via Propel rose from 2.66% in Q1 2023 to 3.92% in Q1 2025.

    Propel: Propel Media Barometer Q1 2025 · 2025 · 555,000+ pitch emails sent through Propel (Q1 2025)

    Verified
  47. 58,956

    BBC News received 58,956 pitches via Propel in Q4 2024 and replied 405 times, making it the most-pitched outlet.

    Propel: Propel Media Barometer Q4 2024 · 2025 · 4 million+ emails sent through Propel in Q4 2024

    Verified
  48. 10%

    Pitches sent between 6 PM and midnight had a 10% response rate in Q2 2025, versus 3.92% for 6 AM to noon.

    Propel: Propel Media Barometer Q2 2025 · 2025 · Pitches sent through Propel's PR platform in Q2 2025

    Verified
  49. 46%

    46% of journalists receive six or more PR pitches per day, which Muck Rack says is at least 30 pitches a week for almost half of journalists.

    Muck Rack: Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2024 · 2024 · Muck Rack survey: 1,106 journalists (Jan 3-Feb 9, 2024), mostly US

    Verified
  50. 73%

    73% of journalists say irrelevance to their coverage is their top reason for rejecting a PR pitch.

    Muck Rack: Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2024 · 2024 · Muck Rack survey: 1,106 journalists (Jan 3-Feb 9, 2024), mostly US

    Verified
  51. 36%

    36% of journalists said their workplace went through layoffs or voluntary buyouts in the previous year.

    Muck Rack: Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2024 · 2024 · Muck Rack survey: 1,106 journalists (Jan 3-Feb 9, 2024), mostly US

    Verified
  52. 87%

    87% of journalists use multimedia assets (images, data visualisations, videos) supplied with pitches and stories.

    Cision: Cision's 2024 State of the Media Report: Journalists Battle Misinformation, Embrace Data, and Seek PR Partnership · 2024 · Cision survey: 3,016 respondents in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2024)

    Verified
  53. 42%

    42% of journalists said maintaining credibility as a trusted news source was their biggest challenge of 2024.

    Cision: Cision's 2024 State of the Media Report: Journalists Battle Misinformation, Embrace Data, and Seek PR Partnership · 2024 · Cision survey: 3,016 respondents in 19 markets (Jan-Feb 2024)

    Verified
  54. 61

    The average Ahrefs Domain Rating of a piece of digital PR coverage is around 61, and the average URL Rating about 11.

    Reboot Online: Digital PR Statistics | Insights From 371,631 News Articles · 2024 · Reboot Online internal backlink data from its own digital PR campaigns (via Ahrefs)

    Verified
  55. 48%

    48% of backlinks from digital PR coverage in 2024 were followed links, versus about 33% for syndicated coverage; 19% were nofollow.

    Reboot Online: Digital PR Statistics | Insights From 371,631 News Articles · 2024 · 6,200+ backlinks from Reboot Online's 2024 digital PR campaigns (via Ahrefs)

    Verified
  56. 42.3%

    42.3% of digital PR campaigns analysed in 2023-24 were data-driven, the most common campaign type (57% in Australia).

    Reboot Online: Digital PR Statistics | Insights From 371,631 News Articles · 2024 · 371,631 news articles found via Muck Rack, classified with Llama 3 (2 years to June 2024)

    Verified
  57. 26%

    US newsroom employment fell 26% between 2008 and 2020, from about 114,000 to about 85,000 jobs.

    Pew Research Center: U.S. newsroom employment has fallen 26% since 2008 · 2021 · Pew analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics OES data, 2008-2020

    Outdated

Content that earns links 42

  1. 14.4

    Real estate and home-services sites earned 14.4 new referring domains per 10,000 organic visits, the most of any industry.

    Siege Media: The 2026 Link Gap: Why Some Blogs Generate 10x More Organic Links · 2026 · 100 industry-leading websites across 10 categories; 2024 vs 2025

    Verified
  2. 2.5

    B2B SaaS sites earned just 2.5 organic links per 10,000 visits, and education sites earned 1.5.

    Siege Media: The 2026 Link Gap: Why Some Blogs Generate 10x More Organic Links · 2026 · 100 industry-leading websites across 10 categories; 2024 vs 2025

    Verified
  3. 53.9

    Zillow's research hub went from 31.9 to 53.9 organic links per 10,000 visits between 2024 and 2025.

    Siege Media: The 2026 Link Gap: Why Some Blogs Generate 10x More Organic Links · 2026 · 100 industry-leading websites across 10 categories; 2024 vs 2025

    Verified
  4. 3 of 10

    Only 3 of 10 industries average more than 5 organic links per 10,000 visits: real estate, e-commerce (8.7) and legal/compliance (5.2).

    Siege Media: The 2026 Link Gap: Why Some Blogs Generate 10x More Organic Links · 2026 · 100 industry-leading websites across 10 categories; 2024 vs 2025

    Verified
  5. 33

    The median technology content campaign earned 33 media placements, against 8 for health and 10 for education.

    Fractl: Content Strategy by Vertical: 2026 Performance Data and How To Win Your Industry · 2026 · Fractl campaign database; 9 verticals, 8-53 campaigns each

    Verified
  6. 3.4X

    B2B SaaS sites that publish original research grew referring domains 80.0% on average, 3.4X the rate of sites without research.

    Stratabeat: 2025 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2025 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024

    Verified
  7. 97.0%

    97.0% of B2B SaaS sites that publish original research increased their referring domains year over year.

    Stratabeat: 2025 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2025 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024

    Verified
  8. 3.5X

    B2B SaaS sites with free online tools (e.g. ROI calculators) grew referring domains 88.0%, 3.5X the rate of sites without tools.

    Stratabeat: 2025 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2025 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024

    Verified
  9. 3.6X

    B2B SaaS sites publishing 9+ blog posts a month grew referring domains 89.9%, 3.6X the rate of sites posting 1-4 times.

    Stratabeat: 2025 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2025 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024

    Verified
  10. 36.3%

    The top 10% of B2B SaaS SEO performers had lower referring-domain growth than the full group (36.3% vs 60.1%).

    Stratabeat: 2025 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2025 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024

    Verified
  11. 562.6%

    B2B SaaS blogs averaging 2,000+ words per post saw referring-domain growth 562.6% higher (6.6X) than blogs under 1,000 words.

    Stratabeat / CMO Huddles: 2024 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2024 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Apr 2023 to Apr 2024

    Verified
  12. 8X

    B2B SaaS blogs that use custom graphics grew referring domains at 8X the rate of blogs using stock images or none.

    Stratabeat / CMO Huddles: 2024 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2024 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Apr 2023 to Apr 2024

    Verified
  13. 366.3%

    B2B SaaS sites publishing 9+ posts a month had referring-domain growth 366.3% higher than sites publishing 1-4.

    Stratabeat / CMO Huddles: 2024 B2B SaaS SEO Performance Report · 2024 · 300 B2B SaaS websites; Apr 2023 to Apr 2024

    Verified
  14. 2.43

    B2B content earns 2.43 links and 31 shares on average.

    BuzzSumo: 18 Examples Of Awesome B2B Content Marketing · 2022 · 63 content types/topics across B2B sites ('millions of pieces of B2B content')

    Outdated
  15. 7

    'Free tools' and 'statistics' posts earn the most links among B2B content types, averaging 7 per post.

    BuzzSumo: 18 Examples Of Awesome B2B Content Marketing · 2022 · 63 content types/topics across B2B sites ('millions of pieces of B2B content')

    Outdated
  16. 2.78

    Bottom-of-funnel B2B content (free tools, free trials, coupons) earned the most links, at 2.78 per piece on average.

    BuzzSumo: 18 Examples Of Awesome B2B Content Marketing · 2022 · 63 content types/topics across B2B sites ('millions of pieces of B2B content')

    Outdated
  17. 90%

    Consideration-stage ('persuasive') B2B content has 90% fewer total links than entertainment content at the top of the funnel.

    BuzzSumo: 18 Examples Of Awesome B2B Content Marketing · 2022 · 63 content types/topics across B2B sites ('millions of pieces of B2B content')

    Outdated
  18. 75%

    Short posts (300-900 words) get 75% fewer backlinks than average-length articles (900-1,200 words).

    Semrush: The Anatomy of Top Performing Articles: Successful vs. Invisible Content [Semrush Study] · 2021 · 1,200,000+ articles from blogs with 30,000-500,000 sessions

    Outdated
  19. 25%

    Posts with at least one image get 25% more backlinks than text-only posts.

    Semrush: The Anatomy of Top Performing Articles: Successful vs. Invisible Content [Semrush Study] · 2021 · 1,200,000+ articles from blogs with 30,000-500,000 sessions

    Outdated
  20. 31%

    31% of marketers measure content performance by backlinks, against 70% who use traffic.

    Semrush: The Anatomy of Top Performing Articles: Successful vs. Invisible Content [Semrush Study] · 2021 · Semrush Content Marketing Survey (cited in the study)

    Outdated
  21. 1,000 words

    Word count correlates positively with backlinks only up to 1,000 words; above that, referring domains start to fall.

    Ahrefs: How Long Should a Blog Post Be? The Truth About Content Length · 2020 · ~900 million pages from Content Explorer

    Outdated
  22. 77.2%

    Content over 3,000 words gets 77.2% more referring domain links on average than content under 1,000 words.

    Backlinko (with BuzzSumo): We Analyzed 912 Million Blog Posts. Here's What We Learned About Content Marketing · 2019 · 912 million blog posts (BuzzSumo data)

    Outdated
  23. 0.078

    Social shares and backlinks show almost no correlation (Pearson coefficient 0.078).

    Backlinko (with BuzzSumo): We Analyzed 912 Million Blog Posts. Here's What We Learned About Content Marketing · 2019 · 912 million blog posts (BuzzSumo data)

    Outdated
  24. 25.8%

    'Why' posts, 'What' posts and infographics earn 25.8% more referring domain links than how-to posts and videos.

    Backlinko (with BuzzSumo): We Analyzed 912 Million Blog Posts. Here's What We Learned About Content Marketing · 2019 · 912 million blog posts (BuzzSumo data)

    Outdated
  25. 93%

    93% of B2B content gets zero links from other websites, and only 3% is linked from more than one site.

    Backlinko (with BuzzSumo): We Analyzed 912 Million Blog Posts. Here's What We Learned About Content Marketing · 2019 · 912 million blog posts (BuzzSumo data)

    Outdated
  26. 50%

    50% of the 132,000 most-shared Medium posts received no links, and 75% received one link or none.

    BuzzSumo: What Content Gains Shares and Links on Medium: BuzzSumo Research · 2017 · 132,000 most-shared Medium posts of 2016

    Outdated
  27. 49.7 percent

    49.7% of 67,287 travel-industry posts had zero links.

    BuzzSumo (with Semrush data): Top Link Lessons from a Travel Industry Analysis · 2017 · 67,287 travel-industry posts

    Outdated
  28. 29

    Guide-format posts averaged more than 29 linking domains in a travel-industry sample.

    BuzzSumo (with Semrush data): Top Link Lessons from a Travel Industry Analysis · 2017 · 67,287 travel-industry posts

    Outdated
  29. 70%

    70% of SEO experts rate data and research as the most efficient content for building links, but only 54% have created it.

    SEO PowerSuite (via Content Marketing Institute): 5 Types of Content That Naturally Attract Links: Insights From 628 Advanced SEOs · 2017 · survey of 628 SEO experts

    Outdated
  30. 61%

    53% of SEO experts create cornerstone infographics, and 61% of them find infographics an efficient way to earn backlinks.

    SEO PowerSuite (via Content Marketing Institute): 5 Types of Content That Naturally Attract Links: Insights From 628 Advanced SEOs · 2017 · survey of 628 SEO experts

    Outdated
  31. 60%

    60% of SEOs who created white papers find them ideal for earning links.

    SEO PowerSuite (via Content Marketing Institute): 5 Types of Content That Naturally Attract Links: Insights From 628 Advanced SEOs · 2017 · survey of 628 SEO experts

    Outdated
  32. 56%

    Only 56% of SEOs found any link-building success with webinars.

    SEO PowerSuite (via Content Marketing Institute): 5 Types of Content That Naturally Attract Links: Insights From 628 Advanced SEOs · 2017 · survey of 628 SEO experts

    Outdated
  33. 3 times

    Campaigns with 100+ placements were 3 times more likely to have a strong emotional hook than less successful campaigns.

    Fractl: What 345 Content Marketing Campaigns Can Teach You About Earning Links · 2016 · 345 Fractl campaigns launched 2013-2016

    Outdated
  34. 50%+

    More than half of the top-performing content campaigns centred on a ranking or comparison, against a third of the weakest.

    Fractl: What 345 Content Marketing Campaigns Can Teach You About Earning Links · 2016 · 345 Fractl campaigns launched 2013-2016

    Outdated
  35. ~2x

    Campaigns with 100+ pickups were nearly twice as likely to use a pop-culture theme as those with fewer than 20.

    Fractl: What 345 Content Marketing Campaigns Can Teach You About Earning Links · 2016 · 345 Fractl campaigns launched 2013-2016

    Outdated
  36. 75%

    Over 75% of a random sample of 100,000 posts had zero external links.

    Moz / BuzzSumo: Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles · 2015 · random sample of 100,000 posts (from 1M+ analysed)

    Outdated
  37. 50%

    Even among 750,000 well-shared posts, over 50% had zero external links.

    Moz / BuzzSumo: Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles · 2015 · 757,317 well-shared posts

    Outdated
  38. 0.021

    Shares and referring domain links correlated at just 0.021 across 750,000 articles.

    Moz / BuzzSumo: Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles · 2015 · 757,317 posts

    Outdated
  39. 6.19

    List posts averaged 6.19 referring domain links, against 1.6 for quizzes.

    Moz / BuzzSumo: Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles · 2015 · 757,317 posts by format

    Outdated
  40. 0.125

    'Why' posts had the strongest share-to-link correlation of any format, at 0.125.

    Moz / BuzzSumo: Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles · 2015 · 757,317 posts by format

    Outdated
  41. 25.7

    Pew Research articles averaged 25.7 referring domain links each, showing how much link pull research content has.

    Moz / BuzzSumo: Content, Shares, and Links: Insights from Analyzing 1 Million Articles · 2015 · 892 PewResearch.com articles

    Outdated
  42. 120 and 280

    B2B sites needed 120-280 shares per quality link, against 2,000-3,000 shares per link for news sites.

    BuzzSumo: Correlation Between Social Shares & Inbound Links? New Data Insights · 2015 · 10,000 posts

    Outdated

Local SEO & citations 22

  1. #3

    Quality/authority of inbound links to the domain ranks #3 of all local organic ranking factors in Whitespark's expert survey.

    Whitespark: 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · 2025 · Survey of 47 local search experts scoring 187 factors

    Verified
  2. #5

    Links from industry-relevant domains rank #5 and links from locally-relevant domains #13 among local organic ranking factors.

    Whitespark: 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · 2025 · Survey of 47 local search experts scoring 187 factors

    Verified
  3. #25

    The top link factor for the local pack (links to the Google Business Profile landing page) ranks only #25.

    Whitespark: 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · 2025 · Survey of 47 local search experts scoring 187 factors

    Verified
  4. #80

    Quantity of structured citations (directories, data aggregators) ranks only #80 for local organic and #110 for the local pack.

    Whitespark: 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · 2025 · Survey of 47 local search experts scoring 187 factors

    Verified
  5. #4

    Quality of unstructured citations (news, blogs, gov sites, associations) ranks #4 of factors for local AI search visibility.

    Whitespark: 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · 2025 · Survey of 47 local search experts

    Verified
  6. #1

    Presence on expert-curated 'best of' lists is the #1 factor for local AI search visibility in Whitespark's survey.

    Whitespark: 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · 2025 · Survey of 47 local search experts

    Verified
  7. 5.9%

    Domain power accounts for 5.9% of feature importance in a machine-learning model of Google Business Profile rankings; proximity dominates.

    Search Atlas: Local SEO Ranking Factors by Industry: Machine Learning Insights · 2025 · 7,718 businesses across 18 industries; XGBoost model on grid ranking data

    Verified
  8. 26.5%

    Among top-10 local results in logistics, domain rating is the leading ranking feature at 26.5% importance.

    Search Atlas: Local SEO Ranking Factors by Industry: Machine Learning Insights · 2025 · 7,718 businesses across 18 industries

    Verified
  9. 10.1%

    In hospitality and travel, domain power carries 10.1% of local ranking feature importance, about as much as rating (10.9%).

    Search Atlas: Local SEO Ranking Factors by Industry: Machine Learning Insights · 2025 · 7,718 businesses across 18 industries

    Verified
  10. 1 spot

    A single high-quality relevant link pushed a site into the organic top three but improved its local pack position by just one spot.

    Sterling Sky: Do Backlinks Impact Rankings on Google? · 2024 · Single-client test

    Verified
  11. position 5 to position 3

    A link built for an orthodontist lifted its ranking from position 5 to 3, and the gain held after the link was unindexed.

    Sterling Sky: Do You Lose Rankings If a Backlink Is Removed? Exploring the Concept of Link Echoes · 2024 · Three client examples (orthodontist, dentist, divorce lawyer)

    Verified
  12. 0 of 3

    In three tests of backlinks to Google Business Profile listings, none produced lasting local ranking gains.

    Sterling Sky: Does Creating Backlinks to Your Google My Business (GMB) Listing Help Ranking? · 2020 · Three tests

    Outdated
  13. 89%

    89% of local SEO experts prioritise link building for their local business clients.

    BrightLocal: Expert Local Business Link Building Survey · 2019 · Small panel of local SEO experts (size not stated)

    Outdated
  14. 100%

    100% of surveyed local SEO experts think link building is effective for boosting local search rankings.

    BrightLocal: Expert Local Business Link Building Survey · 2019 · Small panel of local SEO experts (size not stated)

    Outdated
  15. 85

    Businesses ranking in the top three of Google local results have an average of 85 citations; position one averages 86.

    BrightLocal: SEO Citations Study: How Many Citations Do Local Businesses Need? · 2018 · 122,125 local businesses, 26 industries, 18,580 local keywords

    Outdated
  16. 75

    Businesses in local position 10 average 75 citations, 11 fewer than position-one businesses.

    BrightLocal: SEO Citations Study: How Many Citations Do Local Businesses Need? · 2018 · 122,125 local businesses, 26 industries

    Outdated
  17. 81

    The average local business has 81 citations; dentists average 107 and photographers 34.

    BrightLocal: SEO Citations Study: How Many Citations Do Local Businesses Need? · 2018 · 122,125 local businesses, 26 industries

    Outdated
  18. 80%

    80% of consumers lose trust in a local business if they see incorrect or inconsistent contact details or names online.

    BrightLocal: Local Citations Trust Report 2018 · 2018 · 1,025 US consumers, March 2018

    Outdated
  19. 68%

    68% of consumers would stop using a local business if they found incorrect information in online directories.

    BrightLocal: Local Citations Trust Report 2018 · 2018 · 1,025 US consumers, March 2018

    Outdated
  20. 76%

    76% of local SEOs used citations and directory listings to build links, making it the most popular local link tactic.

    BrightLocal: Citation building rated the most popular link building tactic for Local SEOs · 2016 · Poll of 388 BrightLocal users; multiple answers allowed

    Outdated
  21. 7%

    Only 7% of local SEOs used local events such as sponsorships or meet-ups to build links.

    BrightLocal: Citation building rated the most popular link building tactic for Local SEOs · 2016 · Poll of 388 BrightLocal users

    Outdated
  22. 71%

    71% of local search experts say citation quality matters more than quantity; 55% call accurate citations critical to ranking.

    BrightLocal: Expert Local Citation Survey 2015 · 2015 · 22 local search experts

    Outdated

Most-quoted link-building stats that don’t hold up

These 15 claims appear in most link-building roundups. We followed each one back through the chain of citations to where it really started. Some are old, some were changed along the way, and some have no source at all.

  1. 01

    “Backlinks are one of Google's top 3 ranking factors (alongside content and RankBrain).”

    Outdated Traced to: Google (Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality Senior Strategist), reported by Search Engine Roundtable, 2016

    In a WebPromo Q&A on 23 March 2016, Google's Andrey Lipattsev named content and links as top signals but declined to rank them; RankBrain was called 'third' only because Google had said so in 2015. In September 2023 Google's Gary Illyes reportedly said links had not been a top-three factor 'for some time'.

    Use instead: Gary Illyes (Google) at a Pubcon Pro AMA on 21 September 2023, as reported: 'I don't agree it's in the top three. It hasn't been for some time.' No recording or transcript was published, so treat the exact wording with care. Source

  2. 02

    “90.63% (or '91%' / '96.55%') of pages get no organic traffic from Google, mostly because they have no backlinks.”

    Missing caveat Traced to: Ahrefs (Tim Soulo), 2023

    90.63% comes from the January 2020 version of this Ahrefs post. In December 2023 the same URL was overwritten with 96.55% of pages getting zero Google traffic, out of about 14 billion pages in Ahrefs' own index, with traffic estimated by Ahrefs. The post never says pages get no traffic because they lack backlinks.

  3. 03

    “66.31% of pages have no backlinks (often labelled a 2023 Ahrefs finding).”

    Misquoted Traced to: Ahrefs (Tim Soulo), 2020

    The figure is from the January 2020 version of Ahrefs' search-traffic study, measured on pages in its own index. The December 2023 version of the same URL no longer contains 66.31%, so roundups that cite it as 2023 data, or link the live page, point to a page that does not show it.

  4. 04

    “The #1 result on Google has 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10 (so links make you rank #1).”

    Missing caveat Traced to: Backlinko (Brian Dean), 2020

    An average across 11.8 million Google results collected in 2020, and Backlinko itself calls the study correlational. A 2025 'last updated' date on the page is why roundups present it as current. Top-ranking pages may attract links because they rank, not only the reverse.

  5. 05

    “The average cost of a backlink is $361 ($361.44).”

    Outdated Traced to: Ahrefs (Joshua Hardwick), 2018

    In an experiment published in February 2018, Ahrefs emailed 450 sites asking to buy a link. Only 54 named a price, and $361.44 is the average of those 54 quotes. The live page, updated in 2024, still shows the figure and says the test ran 'a few years ago', which is why roundups present it as current.

    Use instead: BuzzStream's 2026 analysis of 257,267 sites selling guest posts: $295 on average when bought directly, $461 through a vendor (guest-post list prices, not link insertions). Source

  6. 06

    “Only 8.5% of link-building outreach emails get results/links.”

    Misquoted Traced to: Backlinko with Pitchbox, 2019

    Backlinko and Pitchbox analysed 12 million outreach emails in 2019. 8.5% is the share that got any reply at all. It does not measure links won, and not every email was a link request.

  7. 07

    “Long-form content gets 77.2% more links than short articles.”

    Misquoted Traced to: Backlinko with BuzzSumo, 2019

    In BuzzSumo data on 912 million blog posts (2019), posts over 3,000 words averaged 77.2% more referring domains than posts under 1,000 words. It is an average over very skewed data, and Backlinko notes it cannot show cause.

  8. 08

    “94% of all content gets zero external links.”

    Outdated Traced to: Backlinko with BuzzSumo, 2019

    The sample was BuzzSumo's index of 912M blog posts, roughly 2018 data, not 'all content'. Some roundups also credit it to Ahrefs or mix it up with Backlinko's separate '~95% of all pages have zero backlinks' line.

  9. 09

    “41% of (large) companies say link building is the most difficult SEO tactic.”

    Missing caveat Traced to: Ascend2 in partnership with Conductor, 2014

    An Ascend2 and Conductor survey from November 2014. Of 442 respondents, only the 11% at companies with 1,000+ staff (about 49 people) were analysed. Asked for the most difficult SEO tactics, with several answers allowed, 41% picked link building.

  10. 10

    “65% of marketers say link building is the hardest SEO tactic.”

    No primary source Traced to: SEO Tribunal (roundup; no study cited), 2019

    The earliest appearance we found is an uncited line in a February 2019 statistics roundup, which later roundups cite as their source. No survey with a 65% result turned up. Older surveys on the question give 41% (Conductor, 2014) and 75% 'very or somewhat difficult' (MarketingSherpa, 2012).

    Use instead: Editorial.Link's survey of 518 SEO professionals: 55.2% call link building the most challenging part of SEO. Source

  11. 11

    “Link building takes 3-6 months to show results.”

    No primary source Traced to: Aira (State of Link Building 2021), closest primary source, 2021

    No study establishes '3-6 months'; it is a practitioner rule of thumb. The most-cited survey, Aira's 2021 report, asked SEOs for their opinion: 51% said impact shows within 1-3 months, and 3-6 months was a minority answer.

    Use instead: Editorial.Link's survey of 518 SEOs: 57.1% expect results within 1-3 months and 33.0% within 3-6 months. Still opinion, not measured outcomes. Source

  12. 12

    “93% of online experiences begin with a search engine.”

    No primary source Traced to: None found (earliest roundup we could open: SEO Tribunal), 2019

    Roundups credit this to Search Engine Journal, imForza, Forrester or an 'SEO Tribunal study', and none links to a study. The earliest copy we could open lists it without a citation; older posts date it to 2012.

  13. 13

    “Google uses 200+ ranking factors (and backlinks are among the biggest).”

    Outdated Traced to: Google statement to CNET (July 2008), as quoted on WebmasterWorld, 2008

    Google said in 2007-2008 that PageRank was one of 'more than 200 signals'. That is a count from 18 years ago, not a list. Google never published the 200, and in 2021 John Mueller said Google had 'moved away from the over 200 ranking signals number'. Third-party '200 factors' lists are speculation.

    Use instead: John Mueller (Google), 2021: "we've kind of moved away from the over 200 ranking signals number". Source

  14. 14

    “46% of marketers spend $10,000+ a year on link building.”

    Misquoted Traced to: Aira (State of Link Building, 2022 edition), 2022

    The 2022 Aira report gives monthly, not yearly, budgets, and only for in-house SEOs who use outside help; its top band is 25% spending $10,000-$25,000 a month. Other roundups give a different survey's '46.5% spend $5,000-$10,000 a month'. No source we opened says 46% spend $10K+ a year.

  15. 15

    “A high-quality backlink costs $1,000+ (up to $1,500) per link.”

    Missing caveat Traced to: Siege Media (Ross Hudgens), 2026

    This is a link-building agency's pricing guide, and the range is the founder's own estimate with no survey, sample or method behind it. Roundups present the top of the range as a measured market price.

    Use instead: BuzzStream's 2026 marketplace data: a guest post costs $295 on average bought directly, $461 through a vendor. Source

How we sourced and checked every statistic

We started from the claims that appear in link-building and SEO statistics roundups, then searched directly for primary research: industry reports, data studies by SEO tool vendors, journalist and PR surveys, academic papers, and statements published by Google. For each figure found in a roundup we followed the citation back until we reached the organisation that produced the number. The 419 statistics come from 80 publishers.

What the badges mean

  • Verified The primary source was found, the number appears on it, and it was published in 2024 or later.
  • Outdated The primary source was found and the number appears on it, but it was published before 2024. Still useful as history; check for newer data before quoting it as current.
  • Circular The claim is widely repeated, but every citation we followed led to another roundup or a dead page. We link to the earliest appearance we found.

What we left out

Figures we could not find on the source page, sources that looked like link networks or AI-generated filler, and anything that only existed in a roundup. Every source link was tested before publication, and a random sample of 40 statistics was re-checked number by number against the source pages.

Limits

Many link studies are run by companies that sell SEO tools or link building, and most measure correlation rather than cause. We note the sample or method where the source gives it, so you can judge the weight of each number yourself.

Cite this page

Top Search Agency (2026). Link Building Statistics 2026. https://topsearchagency.com/link-building-statistics/ (last checked 23 October 2026).

Refresh log

Last checked: 23 October 2026. We re-test every source link and re-check statuses each quarter; the next refresh is due in Q1 2027.

  1. First edition. 419 statistics traced to primary sources and link-checked; 260 Verified, 157 Outdated, 2 Circular. Added aggregate link data from our 97-site early-stage SaaS benchmark.

FAQ

How many link building statistics are on this page?

419 statistics, each linked to its primary source: 260 Verified, 157 Outdated and 2 Circular.

What does 'Circular' mean?

The figure is repeated across many roundups, but every citation we followed led to another roundup or a dead page, so we could not find where it was first measured. Avoid quoting these as fact.

Can I use these statistics and charts?

Yes. Quote any statistic with a link to its original source; the Copy citation button gives you both. Each chart has an Embed button whose code includes a credit link to this page.

How often is this page updated?

Every quarter. We re-test the source links, re-check statuses as studies age past the 2024 cut-off, add new primary research, and record the changes in the refresh log.

Do backlinks still matter for AI search?

The evidence is mixed and mostly correlational; see the AI search & links statistics above. Our own controlled study of backlinks versus AI citations is due in the Q1 2027 refresh.

Want links that move pipeline, not just a metric?

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©2026 Top Search Agency. Founded 2024 in Islamabad, Pakistan. All rights reserved.

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