Link building has evolved more in the last 18 months than in the previous five years combined.
While AI-driven search and Google’s Overviews have reshaped how visibility works, data shows backlinks and especially brand mentions remain central to ranking, trust, and digital PR success.
The following updated statistics reveal how link building is changing in 2025: which tactics deliver ROI, how costs are rising, and what types of links still move the needle.
Top Picks
- Interest in link building has hit an all-time high, marking the strongest growth since 2019.
- Digital PR is now the most effective link-building tactic across industries.
- 78% of marketers say digital PR delivers higher ROI than any other off-page strategy.
- 85.3% of guest posting sites are classified as low-quality, with weak authority and minimal traffic.
- The average cost of a premium guest post ranges between $692 and $957, while top-tier placements exceed $3,000.
- 41% of businesses now spend over $5,000 each month on link building.
- Higher-ranking pages have more than twice the number of referring domains as those on page two.
- Links remain one of the top three factors influencing local search visibility.
- AI Overviews reduce organic clicks by more than a third, forcing brands to rely more on mentions and authority.
- Being mentioned on highly linked pages drastically improves visibility inside AI Overviews.
- 62% of link builders now aim to get cited directly within AI-generated results.
- The average link-building stack — tools, outreach, and tracking — costs between $350 and $750 per month.
Interest in Link Building
Interest in link building is surging again after years of stagnation.
AI disruption and declining referral traffic have forced marketers to refocus on authority signals that search engines still depend on trust, relevance, and credible backlinks.
- Interest in link building reached an all-time high in early 2025. (Google Trends)
- Searches for “digital PR” increased by over 72% year-over-year. (Google Trends)
- 64% of SEO professionals say link building is their top off-page priority in 2025. (Semrush)
- 58% of brands plan to invest more in backlinks due to AI Overviews reducing organic clicks. (Aira)
- 47% of marketing agencies have added digital PR teams to strengthen link acquisition. (AuthorityHacker)
- Interest in local and niche-specific link building has grown 41% in the last quarter alone. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
Link building has effectively become reputation engineering the data shows that even as automation rises, earned authority still drives discoverability.
Digital PR & Brand Mentions
Digital PR now leads all link-building strategies in performance and ROI.
Marketers are using data-driven campaigns, expert quotes, and survey-based content to earn high-authority mentions from news and editorial sites.
- Digital PR is rated the most effective link-building tactic in 2025. (AuthorityHacker)
- 78% of SEOs say digital PR delivers better ROI than traditional outreach. (Aira)
- Pages mentioned by journalists on high-authority publications gain 24% more referring domains on average. (Ahrefs)
- Brand mentions now correlate more strongly with AI Overview citations than backlink volume. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- 26% of brands have zero mentions in AI Overviews and those brands receive 38% fewer clicks. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- The top 50 brands appearing in AI Overviews capture nearly 29% of all citations. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- Google’s AI systems give preference to content referenced on authoritative, linked pages. (Google Research)
- Digital PR campaigns that include original data see 41% more media coverage. (BuzzStream)
Digital PR is no longer just for link acquisition it’s how brands earn their place in algorithmic discovery. Links are now a by-product of credibility.
Guest Posting Market
Guest posting remains widespread, but the market is split between low-quality bulk placements and premium editorial collaborations.
Data from 2025 shows rising costs, better screening standards, and increasing emphasis on brand relevance.
- Guest posting volume rose 17% in Q1 2025. (Ahrefs)
- 85.3% of guest post sites remain low-quality (DR < 40, <10K monthly traffic). (AuthorityHacker)
- The average cost of a high-quality guest post ranges between $692–$957. (Aira)
- Vendor-level placements can exceed $3,000 per post when targeting Tier-1 media. (FatJoe)
- Only 29% of guest post requests receive a response without personalization. (BuzzStream)
- 67% of SEOs say guest posting still provides measurable referral traffic benefits. (Semrush)
- 42% of marketers report higher conversion rates from guest posts published on niche-specific domains. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
Guest posting in 2025 is less about volume and more about alignment brand context, relevance, and editorial value now outweighing sheer link count.
Costs & ROI of Link Building
Budgets for link acquisition are climbing as publishers raise rates and Google tightens policy enforcement.
Still, brands that invest in data-driven outreach and PR-backed campaigns see a strong return.
- The average cost per acquired backlink rose 17% compared to last year. (AuthorityHacker)
- 41% of businesses spend over $5,000 per month on link building. (Aira)
- 67% of agencies report that link-building ROI remains among the top 3 SEO investments. (Ahrefs)
- 74% of SEOs rate digital PR as the highest ROI tactic for brand growth. (AuthorityHacker)
- Businesses earning backlinks from high-DR domains (70+) see 42% faster keyword growth. (Moz)
- 39% of marketers say their link-building costs are offset by increased direct traffic. (Semrush)
- 1 in 3 companies now track ROI by brand mentions instead of link count. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
ROI is shifting from simple link metrics to measurable visibility and influence a sign that SEO success is increasingly about authority marketing.
Effectiveness & Correlations
Modern ranking correlation data shows that backlinks still matter but where those links live matters more.
Topical relevance, authority, and link velocity all play key roles in 2025’s algorithmic environment.
- Higher-ranking pages have 2.3× more referring domains on average. (Ahrefs)
- Links from contextually relevant domains carry 68% more ranking weight. (Moz)
- Backlinks and DR are less correlated with AI Overview inclusion than brand mentions. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- A steady link velocity (growth over spikes) improves ranking stability by 34%. (Aira)
- Anchor text diversity remains crucial; over-optimized anchors appear in 19% of penalty cases. (Semrush)
- Pages with mixed follow/nofollow link profiles rank 12% better than those with only followed links. (Ahrefs)
- Editorially earned backlinks drive 53% more organic traffic than sponsored placements. (AuthorityHacker)
The data makes it clear: link context is the new PageRank. The best backlinks are natural, diverse, and tied to trusted sources within your niche.
Local SEO & Niche Impact
Local SEO continues to rely heavily on backlinks and citations, especially for competitive service industries.
Updated 2025 data shows that link equity remains a top signal in Google’s local ranking algorithm.
- Links may matter even more for local search than for national queries. (Moz)
- Citations and backlinks together are the strongest ranking signals for local businesses. (BrightLocal)
- Local pages with consistent NAP + backlinks outperform competitors by 22%. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- 54% of local businesses plan to invest in link building to improve Google Map Pack visibility. (Semrush)
- Unlinked brand mentions also contribute to local authority growth. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
Local link building is often underestimated but for physical businesses, it remains one of the most controllable levers for visibility and trust.
AI Overviews & Search Visibility
AI Overviews are reshaping how traffic flows, but links still play an indirect role in determining which brands appear in AI-generated summaries.
Data suggests that mentions on well-linked pages strongly influence inclusion and ranking in these modules.
- AI Overviews reduce organic clicks by 34.5%. (Sistrix)
- 8.64% of AI Overviews appear outside position #1 and as low as #6. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- UGC sites (Reddit, Quora, YouTube) appear more often in AI Overviews than expected Reddit by +3.4%. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- 26% of brands have zero AI Overview mentions, losing key visibility. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- Being mentioned on highly linked pages increases AI Overview inclusion odds by 48%. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- Google prioritizes “trusted entities” — brands with consistent coverage and citations across the web. (Google Research)
- 59% of marketers are now tracking “AI visibility metrics” alongside rankings and backlinks. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
AI Overviews haven’t killed link building they’ve simply made authority and coverage the new SEO currency.
AI Link Building
AI is transforming both how links are earned and how they influence discovery.
Marketers are using AI to scale outreach, create data assets, and monitor brand visibility across AI search engines and chat assistants.
- Two-thirds of SEOs say link building will be more important over the next two years because of AI. (BuzzStream)
- 62% of link builders now prioritize getting cited in AI-generated results. (BuzzStream)
- 73.2% believe backlinks influence the chance of appearing in AI search results. (Editorial.link)
- Only 11% report having a repeatable process for earning AI citations today. (BuzzStream)
- 43% use AI tools to help create linkable assets like reports, guides, and press releases. (BuzzStream)
- Ahrefs’ Brand Radar AI add-on tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and AI Overviews, starting at $199/mo per index. (Ahrefs)
AI isn’t replacing link building it’s redefining it. The smartest SEOs are using AI to find opportunities, not replace human creativity.
Link Building Tools & Cost Benchmarks
Modern link building depends on reliable software for prospecting, outreach, and analysis.
These updated 2025 cost ranges show what most professionals are spending on core tools.
- Ahrefs: Starter $29/mo; Lite $129/mo; Standard $249/mo; Advanced $449/mo; Enterprise $1,499/mo. (Ahrefs)
- Semrush: Pro $139.95/mo; Guru $249.95/mo; Business $499.95/mo. (AllOutSEO)
- BuzzStream (Outreach CRM): from $29/mo. (BuzzStream)
- Pitchbox (Outreach Automation): official Scale plan $675/mo; entry plans range $165–$195/mo. (Pitchbox, G2)
- Respona (AI Outreach & Personalization): $198/mo. (Respona)
- Hunter.io (Email Discovery): $34/mo billed annually, or $49/mo monthly. (Hunter.io)
- Snov.io (Email + Sequence Management): $39/mo Starter Plan. (Snov.io)
- Mailshake (Cold Email): $29–$99/mo depending on feature tier. (Mailshake)
- Brand24 (Brand Monitoring for Digital PR): from $199/mo. (Brand24)
The average professional link-building stack now costs between $350–$750 per month, excluding premium AI monitoring tools.
Future of Link Building
2025’s link-building landscape points clearly toward PR-driven authority, first-party data, and brand reputation.
The next evolution of backlinks is already unfolding and it’s less about tactics, more about storytelling and credibility.
- 74% of SEOs plan to increase investment in digital PR over guest posting. (AuthorityHacker)
- Data-driven content is the fastest-growing link-earning format. (BuzzStream)
- Journalistic quotes and expert mentions are replacing traditional link exchanges. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
- 69% of brands intend to measure link value by “brand lift” metrics rather than DA. (Semrush)
- 1 in 2 SEOs believe AI-powered prospecting tools will dominate link outreach by 2026. (Ahrefs)
- 82% of agencies expect link-building budgets to increase next year. (Aira)
- 62% of companies are building internal PR teams specifically for link-earning campaigns. (AllOutSEO Dataset)
The future of link building is integrated, measurable, and credibility-first where visibility depends as much on who you are cited by as on who links to you.
Final Thoughts
And that wraps up our look at this year’s most important link building statistics and trends.
Hopefully, these insights help you fine-tune your SEO strategy and focus on what actually drives authority in 2025.
If you’d like to dig deeper into related data, here are a few studies worth checking out:
Each report dives into verified numbers, original research, and practical takeaways to help you stay ahead as search evolves.
Methods & Sources
All statistics in this report were gathered and verified through a combination of third-party research, official company disclosures, and AllOutSEO’s proprietary dataset analysis.
Where multiple figures existed, the most recent and statistically consistent data were prioritized. Each metric was validated for methodology, date, and credibility before inclusion.
Primary Data Collection Sources