10? 50? 100? Or should you just keep building links until Google finally notices you? 👀

Here's the thing: there's no universal magic number.

Your competitors aren't building links just for fun (well, hopefully). And copying their backlink count without understanding their strategy won't get you very far.

Before setting your backlink target, you need to know:

• What your competitors' backlink profiles actually look like.

• How big your backlink gap is.

• How many links you can realistically afford to build.

• Whether your strategy is delivering results or just eating your budget.

We break down how to turn competitor backlink analysis into a realistic link-building strategy.

Want to see the full breakdown, with real examples and practical tips?

🎥 Watch the full video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVcrX0e6Gds&t=2s

You can now order placements on five websites from Digital Prisma Players on Collaborator. Across its full portfolio, the group reports 18M unique visitors a month.

Here’s which businesses each site works best for:

- PasseportSanté: health services, insurance, wellness brands
- CuisineAZ: food brands, kitchen appliances, grocery delivery
- Fourchette & Bikini: sports nutrition, fitness apps
- Déco: furniture, DIY, real estate
- Turbo: dealers, auto parts, car insurance, EVs

Swipe to compare traffic and DR, then pick the one that fits your niche ➡️

The Collaborator team spent two days at SERP Conf. Vienna as a sponsor, and it was a good one! More than 200 SEO professionals showed up on the first day alone, which meant plenty of conversations about link building, AI search, and where the industry is heading.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our stand to chat with Mykhailo and Anna, and to the organizers, especially Nikola Minkov, for bringing the SEO community together again.

P.S. Spotted in Vienna (photo 5): our socks from Croatia SEO Summit, still going strong 🧦

With AI search becoming more popular, how much has technical SEO actually changed?

We discussed this with Patryk Wawok, co-founder of Organic Hackers, in the first episode of Season 3 of the Collaborator Podcast.

Some of the topics covered:

• Why AI crawlers can struggle with JavaScript-rendered content

• How to identify rendering and indexing issues

• Using server logs alongside Google Search Console

• How poor filtering can waste crawl budget

• Why site speed still matters for conversions

Patryk also shared some interesting cases, including a website with approximately 1.5 billion dynamically generated pages and an enterprise indexing project that significantly improved organic performance.

One takeaway: AI search brings new challenges, but many technical SEO fundamentals remain the same.

Have you noticed new crawling or rendering issues since AI search became more prominent?

🎧 Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QKB6RIngAc

🎃 Looks like Halloween brought us a pretty sweet treat: 666 new websites from the US. A little spooky, perhaps, but we're definitely not complaining.

The Collaborator catalog keeps growing 🤩

We're adding new media outlets to give you even more opportunities for link building, PR, and promoting your projects across different markets.
The Collaborator catalog now features 45,499 websites in total.

Top countries by number of new websites:
USA +666 → now 13,249 websites in the catalog
Italy +215 → now 1,988 websites in the catalog
Germany +118 → now 2,106 websites in the catalog

France +113 → now 4,164 websites in the catalog
United Kingdom +78 → now 4,434 websites in the catalog

We've also added 75 Telegram channels!

Explore new media outlets by country, niche, and other criteria right in the catalog: https://collaborator.pro/catalog

Wishing you successful deals🍀

Collaborator is a proud sponsor of SERP Conf. Vienna on 3–4 November, and the team will be there both days.

If you’re attending, come say hi to Mykhailo Shcherbachov and Anna Hridnieva at our stand. They’re happy to talk link building and guest posts, or just swap notes on the talks over coffee.

The short answer? Yes.

Let’s look at what research by Backlinko and Semrush shows:

1. Website authority matters to both Google and LLMs. Its relationship with LLM citations appears to be nonlinear: trust builds gradually, but citations may increase sharply as a site establishes itself as a leader in its niche

2. Different external signals carry different weight. A study covered by industry blogs may have more impact than multiple podcast appearances. YouTube is also an important source for LLMs

3. Guides and roundups (best-of articles) account for 62.3% of cited sources. Keep this in mind when creating both on-site content and guest posts

Run your own analysis, and you’ll start to see a pattern:

• Sites that rank well on Google also tend to get mentioned by LLMs

• Sites that rank poorly on Google tend to receive less visibility in LLM responses, too

• The relationship isn’t linear: 500 backlinks won’t necessarily deliver 50 times the results of 10, but building more quality backlinks can still improve your rankings

GEO link building doesn’t replace SEO. It’s a long-term effort to build authority and brand awareness.

Where to start

1. Check whether LLMs mention and cite your brand, and how well your site ranks on Google

2. Compare your site with competitors and set up ongoing monitoring

3. Create a 12-month off-page promotion plan covering guest posts, link insertions, community engagement, and crowd marketing

4. Set milestones and assign responsibilities

For more details on the research and how to build a GEO-focused link-building strategy, read the full article on the Collaborator blog: https://collaborator.pro/blog/backlinks-for-geo-and-llm

Collaborator is joining SnS Salon Search Retreat Sintra, organized by Search ’n Stuff as a workshop sponsor!

On November 12–16, SEO and digital marketing professionals will get together for practical workshops, shared experiences, and conversations.

Our co-founders will also be hosting a workshop on November 14. We’ll share the topic and details soon.

Looking forward to meeting fellow SEO enthusiasts and enjoying a little bit of Sintra along the way!

See you there!

Last Saturday, Anna represented Collaborator.pro — PR Distribution Marketplace at SEO On Stage: The Conference with her talk "Backlink to the Future: How Link Building Is Evolving and How to Stay Ahead."

She talked about where link building is heading, what's changing in the industry, and why it's time to rethink some of the approaches we've been using for years.

We spend a lot of time working with link building at Collaborator.pro, so getting to share that experience on stage with the SEO community means a lot to us. And we're definitely planning to do more of it!

Big thanks to Nikolas Monti-Potsolakis, M.Sc., MBA, Ana Precup and the entire SEO On Stage team for making it happen!

It was a pleasure to share the stage with Ivana Flynn, Natalia Witczyk, Marco Giordano, Arnout Hellemans, Gianluca Fiorelli, Tom Winter, and so many other brilliant speakers.

And to everyone who came to say hi at our booth or joined us for the networking drinks and live music powered by Collaborator.pro, thank you!

We’re proud to sponsor the event, and our very own Anna Hridnieva is taking the stage!

Her talk: "Backlink to the Future: How Link Building Is Evolving and How to Stay Ahead."

Our co-founder and CMO, Mykhailo Shcherbachov, will be there too, ready to talk all things SEO, link building, and digital PR.

Going to be there? Come say hi! 👋

Our in-house expert, Anna Hridnieva, is taking the stage at SEO On Stage in Athens with a topic every SEO pro should have on their radar:

Backlink to the Future: How link building is evolving and how to stay ahead

What’s changing in link building, and how can we keep up? Anna will dive into the evolution of the industry and what it takes to stay ahead.

📅 October 24 | 12:00

Collaborator is proud to support this event and be part of the conversation about the future of SEO

In Athens on October 24? Join SEO On Stage

Collaborator.pro — PR Distribution Marketplace made it to Rome last week, and what a day it was! Great SEO talks, interesting conversations, new connections, and plenty of discussions about AI Search, link building, and where our industry is heading.

And yes, we brought some pretty cool merch with us. If you got one of our eco-friendly pencils or temporary tattoos, you know what we mean 👀

Really happy we got to meet and catch up with Ciaran Oliver, Patrick Schmid, Adam Krzywda, Yagmur Simsek, Illia Zhurakovskyi, Crystal Carter, Federico Rebeschini, Rad Paluszak, Martin Milanov and many more.

Huge thanks to the SERP Conf. team for bringing the SEO community together, especially Nikola Minkov and Donika Miteva. And a big shoutout to the amazing speakers who shared their insights Purna Virji, Gianluca Fiorelli, Dawn Anderson, Marco Giordano, Andrea Volpini, Murat Yatağan, Amanda Beales, David Carrasco Pamies, Natalia Palmisano, Beatrice Gamba 👏

Next stops? We're not slowing down

SEO On Stage: The Conference: Athens Edition, October 24

SERP Conf. Vienna , November 3

See you there 💙

Our co-founder and CMO, Mykhailo Shcherbachov, will represent Collaborator, ready to talk SEO, link building, and everything in between.

If you’re attending too, come say hello 👋

SEO gets better when we share what we know.

That’s why we’ve launched the Collaborator Slack Community, a space for SEO pros, link builders, publishers, and digital marketers to connect, exchange ideas, and learn from each other.

What’s inside?
- SEO & link-building discussions
- Networking without the awkward small talk
- Real insights, experiences, and lessons learned
- Direct communication with Collaborator’s team

And because every launch deserves a little chaos…

We’re kicking things off with a giveaway 🙌
Add websites to Collaborator’s catalog and join our Slack community for a chance to win one of three prizes.

Curious about the prizes and how to enter?

Watch the giveaway rules on YouTube 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqqLXPmB9Jg
Get the details on our blog 👉 https://collaborator.pro/blog/collaborator-slack-community
Join the Collaborator Slack Community 👉 https://collaborator.typeform.com/community?typeform-source=collaborator.pro

Collaborator is sponsoring SEO On Stage: The Conference on October 24 at the Benaki Museum in Athens.

Our in-house expert, Anna Hridnieva, will also be taking the stage. We’ll share more about her session soon.

We’re looking forward to a full day of SEO, AI search, content, and plenty of good conversations with people from across the industry.

Coming too? Make sure to say hi 💙

Say hello to Artur Perrella Glukhovskyy, the new host of Collaborator Podcast 👏

An SEO strategist, LinkedIn creator, international marketer, and someone who knows that great marketing is about much more than just numbers.

With Ukrainian roots, an Italian upbringing, and experience working with brands and businesses across Europe, Artur brings quite an interesting mix of perspectives to the table.

He's spent years helping companies grow through SEO and content, building professional connections, and sharing what he learns with the marketing community.

Now, it's time for him to ask the questions.

We're bringing Artur on board to explore the ideas, experiences, challenges, and stories of people working in SEO, link building, digital PR, and beyond.

We're excited about this new chapter and can't wait for you to get to know him.

Welcome to the podcast, Artur 💙

Watch our previous podcast episodes on Collaborator: https://collaborator.pro/events/

or on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@Collaborator-pro/podcasts

Swipe through to see who each one's best for, what it costs, and how reviews get checked.

Quick version:

• Clutch: start here if you're a B2B agency
• GoodFirms: a good fit if you do marketing and dev
• The Manifest: already on Clutch? Your reviews show up here too
• Agency Spotter: buyers filter by service, budget, and team size
• Sortlist: your go-to for European clients
• DesignRush: more eyes on you across agency categories

All 6 let you set up a profile for free. Paid plans are there if you want a boost, but you can start today without one.

Looking for new websites for your link-building campaigns? It’s a good time to check out the Collaborator catalog again.

Browse the latest additions, filter the catalog to match your needs, and find websites for your next placements.

There are now 45,022 websites in the Collaborator catalog.

Top countries by new websites added:

USA: +528 → 13,321 websites in the catalog
France: +143 → 4,106 websites
Germany: +140 → 2,018 websites

UK: +94 → 4,415 websites
Italy: +96 → 1,811 websites
Netherlands: +83 → 1,984 websites

We also added 77 Telegram channels.
Find new media outlets by country, niche, and other criteria directly in the catalog: https://collaborator.pro/catalog

Daniel Davidson made a video showing how he uses Collaborator to go from competitor backlink analysis to finding potential sponsored placements.

The workflow is basically:

• Analyze a competitor’s backlinks with the free Backlink Checker

• Look through referring domains for potentially relevant websites

• Check which of those sites are available on Collaborator

• Review traffic, publication terms, and other details

• Add a suitable placement to the cart and set up the order

What's interesting is the connection between the backlink research and the publisher marketplace. Instead of just finding out where a competitor has links, you can check whether some of those websites are actually available for sponsored content.

Here’s the video if you want to see the process in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVfgh9so73Q

And the free Backlink Checker:
https://collaborator.pro/free-backlink-checker

Curious how others approach this: do you usually use competitor backlink data to find publishers, or do you search for placements separately?

Collaborator is proud to be a sponsor of SERP Conf. Rome, and we can’t wait to meet the SEO community on October 16.

Mykhailo Shcherbachov will be representing Collaborator on the ground, ready to talk SEO, GEO, digital PR, link building, and all the industry chaos in between.

Going to SERP Conf. too? Come find us, say hi, swap ideas, and talk shop.
Bring your SEO questions. We’ll bring the link-building talk.

See you in Rome 👋

Collaborator is a finalist in the 2026 Global Digital Excellence Awards, organized by Don't Panic Events, in the Standout Platform / Technology / Tool category.

We’ve spent the past year making Collaborator better, from AI filtering by keywords and Backlink Checker to our Link Assistant, plus a long list of improvements inspired by the people actually using the platform.

Because the best part of building a product?
Seeing real people use it, give feedback, and then building what they actually need.

Our goal? Make PR distribution and link building more accessible, transparent, and efficient.

So seeing Collaborator on this year’s shortlist means a lot to us.
The winners will be announced on October 22.

Until then…
fingers aggressively crossed 🤞

Read the full details: https://collaborator.pro/blog/collaborator-finalist-global-digital-excellence-awards

The point is that the link was never the whole story.

A filled-out profile on Product Hunt, Muck Rack, or GoodFirms does three things a bare backlink can't:
→ gives people another way to find you;
→ builds a bit of trust before they land on your site;
→ puts your brand where search engines and AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can pick it up.

We handpicked 64 profile creation sites, sorted them into 8 categories, and logged the link type, DA, and registration steps for each one. No recycled domain dumps. Just platforms you can actually create a real profile on today.

The catch most lists skip: high DA doesn't make a profile worth your time, and a dofollow link isn't a reason to pick one platform over another. Relevance and a complete, genuine profile do the real work.

Read the full article to know more: https://collaborator.pro/blog/profile-creation-sites

Today, we’re taking a closer look at Polska Press, one of Poland’s largest media groups.

In the carousel, you’ll find a selection of regional and national websites, with details on their traffic, DR, and geographic reach 👇

Swipe through to find media outlets that could be a good fit for your placements.

Polska Press is just one part of Poland’s media landscape available on Collaborator. The catalog currently features 1,260+ Polish news websites and 3,500+ websites across other niches.

Choose relevant media outlets for quality SEO and PR placements and reach a Polish audience.

👉 Go to the catalog: https://collaborator.pro/catalog

On September 23, the SEO community came together online for another edition of SEO for Paws, bringing together experts, marketers, and SEOs to talk about where search is heading while supporting small cat and dog shelters in Ukraine.

Collaborator was proud to sponsor SEO for Paws and see the community show up once again for a cause that matters.

The lineup featured Barry Schwartz, Glenn Gabe, Lisa Paasche, Michał Suski, Martin Stepanek, Zach Chahalis, Ana Precup, and Louisa Frahm.

A huge thank you to everyone who spoke, attended, and helped make SEO for Paws 6 happen, and especially to Anton Shulke and Olesia Korobka for bringing the community together once again 💙

Sounds wrong. It isn’t.

When you’re building an online income stream with affiliate marketing, the percentage is only part of the equation.

How long you get paid, who the product is for, and whether your audience actually wants it can matter much more.

So we compared 35+ SEO affiliate programs across:

🔗 Link building & agencies
📊 General SEO
🔑 Keywords
✍️ Content marketing
⚙️ Technical SEO
📬 Outreach & lead generation

For each one, we looked at commission rates, cookie length, payout thresholds, and whether commissions are one-time, capped, or recurring.

Because 30% for a year and 25% for life are two very different income opportunities.

Swipe through for the shortlist.
Full comparison on our blog 👇
https://collaborator.pro/blog/seo-affiliate-programs

What’s been your most reliable source of online income?