If you’ve been in SEO for more than a hot minute, you’ve probably heard the line: “Backlinks are dead.” Newsflash: they’re not. In fact, in the age of AI and large language models (LLMs), backlinks are more critical than ever.
Why? Because backlinks remain one of the strongest trust signals search engines — and increasingly AI systems — can use to determine if your site is credible enough to cite, rank, and recommend. The kicker? You can’t just chase any link. Quality, relevancy, and authority matter more than they ever have before.
Backlinks and the AI Shift
Search results look different today. Between AI Overviews and LLM-powered answers, less real estate is left for traditional blue links. But AI isn’t inventing authority out of thin air — it pulls from trusted sources. That’s where backlinks come in.
Think of backlinks as votes of confidence. If respected publications and high-authority sites are linking to your content, Google (and AI systems) read that as: “This brand is legit.” Without those signals, you risk getting skipped over in favor of competitors who’ve built that credibility.
And here’s the part too many enterprise brands miss: LLMs are trained on the web. They lean on the same authority signals we’ve always cared about in SEO. Meaning if your backlink profile is weak or spammy, you’re handing your competitors the upper hand — not just in search rankings, but in generative visibility, too.
A Case in Point: Palmetto State Armory
Let’s make this real. We recently ran an editorial SEO and backlinking program for Palmetto State Armory (PSA). Over six months (Nov 2024–May 2025), here’s what happened:
- Total Keywords: Grew from 30,924 → 49,752 (+60.88%) for targeted editorial terms.
- Top 3 Rankings: Increased from 1,800 → 2,534 (+40.78%) across those terms.
- Keyword Growth: Editorial keywords outpaced PSA’s overall keyword footprint by 60%.
And the kicker? These weren’t vanity terms. We’re talking big gains on mid-to-high intent keywords like “double barrel shotgun” (+110%), “rifle scopes” (+125%), and “thermal scope” (+105%).
That level of traction doesn’t happen by accident. It happened because the backlinking strategy was deliberate — focusing only on placements that met strict quality criteria.
Good Backlinks vs. Bad Backlinks
Here’s the part that trips up a lot of marketers: not all backlinks are good backlinks. Google’s August 2025 Spam Update proved that again — punishing manipulative link networks while rewarding authentic authority.
Bad Backlinks:
- Link farms or private blog networks (PBNS).
- Paid placements on irrelevant sites.
- High spam scores or sudden link spikes.
- Sites with declining traffic trends.
Good Backlinks:
- High-Domain Authority (DA) sites.
- Publishers with healthy, steady traffic growth.
- Contextually relevant placements (legal content on a legal site, firearm content on outdoor or sporting sites, etc.).
- Editorial quality — content that actually provides value.
- Balanced against your own DA so the lift feels natural, not forced.
This is exactly why we’re picky at Custom Digital Solutions. A link only helps if it’s from a trusted, relevant source that Google and AI will actually respect.
Our Backlink Checklist
When we evaluate where to place articles or backlinks, we run every opportunity through a checklist:
- Domain Authority (DA): Is the site strong enough to pass meaningful authority?
- Traffic Trends: Has the site shown healthy growth over the past 12–24 months, or is it in decline?
- Spam Score: Low spam scores are non-negotiable.
- Relevancy: Does the content and audience match our client’s vertical?
- Editorial Quality: Is the site producing trustworthy, E-E-A-T-friendly content?
- Client’s DA: Will this link look natural compared to the client’s current authority, or raise red flags?
This isn’t about buying up random links — it’s about building a backlink profile that screams credibility.
Why Enterprise Brands Should Care
For enterprise brands, backlinks aren’t just an SEO lever anymore — they’re a brand equity play.
- In Local SEO, backlinks from community publications or directories reinforce your geographic footprint.
- In Paid Ads, strong organic authority can lower acquisition costs by making ads feel more credible alongside organic visibility.
- In the GEO era, backlinks are a direct trust signal for AI systems deciding which sites to cite in generative answers.
- And across verticals, a clean backlink profile reduces your exposure to spam penalties while maximizing upside during updates.
In short: backlinks give enterprise brands leverage in multiple channels — not just SEO.
The Bottom Line
Backlinks aren’t dead. They’re more vital than ever. In a world where AI and LLMs are reshaping how people find and trust information, backlinks are the connective tissue that signals your authority across channels.
But they have to be the right backlinks. The days of chasing quantity are over. Quality, relevancy, and trustworthiness are the new gold standard.
At Custom Digital Solutions, we don’t just build links — we build authority. If you’re wondering how strong your backlink profile really is, now’s the time to find out.
Request a backlink audit today and see how your brand stacks up.