How to get backlinks for free
You get backlinks without paying for them by recovering links you already earned, asking sites that mention you, and using relationships you already have with suppliers, partners and customers. Free means no fee for the placement. It still costs time.
In short
- Free backlinks cost no placement fee, but they cost labour, so the cheapest tactics are the ones where the other site already has a reason to link.
- Start by fixing broken pages on your own site that still have backlinks, because a redirect is fully under your control and needs no outreach.
- Testimonials, supplier pages, partner pages and integration directories give links from organisations you already do business with at no charge.
- Source of Sources is free for expert sources and Qwoted's free plan allows two pitches a month, according to the platforms' own pages checked in October 2026.
- Offers of free backlinks at volume, such as automatic generators and mass directory submission, fall under the automated and low-quality directory examples in Google's spam policies.
You can get backlinks without paying for them in three ways: recover links you already earned, ask for links from sites that already mention you, and ask organisations you already work with. All three are free because the other site already has a reason to link. Nobody needs persuading with money.
“Free” needs one caveat. It means no fee for the placement. Someone still spends time finding the opportunity and writing the email. This lesson lists the tactics in the order that gives the most for the least effort.
The free tactics at a glance
The costs are working estimates from practitioner experience and count labour only. The citation price is from BrightLocal’s published price list.
| Tactic | What you do | What it costs | Time to first link | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reclaim lost and broken links | Redirect broken pages that have backlinks, ask for removed links back | Up to about $50 of time per link | Days | Only sites with a history |
| Unlinked mentions | Ask authors who name your brand to add a link | About $20 to $80 of time per link | Days | Capped by how often you are mentioned |
| Testimonials and case studies | Offer a quote to vendors you pay | Close to nothing | Weeks | Roughly 10 to 30 in total |
| Partners, suppliers and customers | Ask to be listed on pages that already list partners | Free | Weeks | Finite |
| Local listings and curated directories | Claim free business profiles | Free to do yourself. Services charge $2.00 to $3.20 per citation | Days | 30 to 80 worthwhile listings per location |
| Journalist requests | Answer reporters’ calls for expert sources | Free plans exist. Expert time per pitch | 2 to 6 weeks | Needs a real expert |
1. Recover links you already have
This is the first job on any site more than a couple of years old. Pages get deleted and URLs change, and the links that pointed to them now lead to an error page.
Find broken pages that still have backlinks with a backlink tool or the 404 reports in Google Search Console. Redirect each one to the closest equivalent page. That part is fully under your control and needs no outreach. Where a site has removed a link, ask why and offer an updated page.
Link reclamation sets out the process. It is usually the best return in link building, because the editorial decision to link was already made.
2. Turn mentions into links
When an article names your brand, product, staff or data without linking, the author has done the hard part. Send a short request that points to the exact sentence and suggests the most useful URL. It works best within days of publication.
Not every request succeeds. Many national newsrooms are reported to have a policy of not linking out. Claimed success rates vary widely between guides and none is well evidenced, so we do not quote one. The tactic page on unlinked mentions covers monitoring and the request itself.
A mention without a link is not a failure. In Editorial.link’s March 2026 survey of 518 SEOs, 80.9% said they believe unlinked brand mentions affect rankings.
3. Ask the businesses you already work with
List every tool, supplier, agency and platform you pay. Check whether each has a testimonials or customers page that links to the businesses quoted. Offer a specific quote with a real result and a headshot. The vendor gets marketing material and you get a link.
Keep it honest. A testimonial for a product you do not use is the one way this tactic leaves a trace.
Partners and customers are the other half. Stockists pages, “where to buy” pages, integration directories, partner logo pages and agency client lists exist to link to businesses like yours. Export your supplier and customer lists, find the ones with such a page and ask to be included. Software companies can build integration pages on both sides.
One rule: affiliate links should carry a sponsored or nofollow attribute. Partner links has the detail.
4. Claim your listings
A local business should claim its free profiles on Google, Bing and Apple, then the main directories for its country and trade. Keep the name, address and phone number identical everywhere. These listings are mostly a signal for local search and for confirming the business exists. They are not strong ranking links. See local citations.
Curated industry directories, trade associations and software review sites are the equivalent for other businesses. The test is simple: would a customer use this directory, and does it ever reject a listing?
5. Answer journalists
Reporters post requests for expert comment on journalist request platforms, and a quoted source often gets a link. Source of Sources is free, and Qwoted’s free plan allowed two pitches a month, according to the platforms’ own pages in October 2026. The real cost is 15 to 30 minutes of an expert’s time per answer. AI-written answers are reported to be the main reason sources get banned. Journalist request platforms compares them.
What “free backlinks” offers usually are
Search for free backlinks and you will find offers that are free for a reason.
- Automatic backlink generators. Google’s spam policies, last updated in August 2026, list “using automated programs or services to create links to your site” as link spam.
- Mass directory submission. The same policies name low-quality directory and bookmark site links.
- Comment, forum and profile links at volume. Forum comments with optimised links in the post or signature are on the list too.
- Link swaps with strangers. Trading links costs no money, but “excessive link exchanges” are named in the policy. Link exchanges explains where the line sits.
Google mostly ignores links like these instead of punishing the site. The cost is the time you spent, and a profile dominated by them can attract a manual action.
What free tactics cannot do
Every tactic above has a ceiling. You run out of broken links, mentions and partners. In a competitive market, the sites on page one have gone past that ceiling with content worth citing, press work or paid placements. Link building cost and budget shows what the next step costs.
You also need a way to find opportunities. Search Console’s Links report is free and shows a sample of your links. The paid options are in our backlink tools comparison.
Where to go next
Work through the tactics in order, then read your first 100 links for the plan that follows. Terms such as citation and unlinked mention are in the glossary.
Common questions
Can you really get backlinks for free?
Yes, in the sense that you pay no one for the link. Reclaiming lost links, asking for a link where you are already mentioned, and getting listed by suppliers and partners all cost only time.
What is the easiest free backlink to get?
A redirect from a broken page on your own site that other sites still link to. It needs no outreach. After that, links from suppliers and tools you already pay are the simplest to ask for.
Are free backlink generators safe?
No. Tools that create links automatically fall under "using automated programs or services to create links" in Google's spam policies. The likely result is that the links are ignored.
Do free directory links help SEO?
A few curated ones do, mostly for local search. Listings on directories that customers use are worth having. Mass submission to hundreds of low-quality directories is named in Google's spam policies.
How many free backlinks can a site get?
The supply is finite. It is capped by how often you are mentioned, how many partners you have and how many old links have broken. After that, new links need content, PR or budget.