SEO Link Building Statistics 2025
Link building is the process of obtaining links from other websites in order to increase your site’s authority and search engine rankings. The most useful backlinks come from reputable, relevant sources. They function similarly to votes of confidence, helping search engines comprehend your site’s reputation while making it easier for users to find the content you’ve developed.
Why Do Links Matter?
Backlinks continue to assist search engines and humans in determining what information is worth focusing on in 2025. Backlinks are:
- Still a ranking factor. Google continues to use links to help it judge the quality of your site’s content.
- A discovery path: Links help Google uncover new pages and comprehend how they fit in the web’s information tree.
- An authority indicator: Links from respectable, relevant sites serve as third-party endorsements of your knowledge and can even increase your domain authority.
- E-E-A-T-enhancers: High-quality links strengthen experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) by demonstrating that people in your field appreciate your information.
We surveyed 518 SEO professionals — in-house experts (29.9%), freelancers (24.9%), agency specialists/execs (44.4%), and others (0.8%) — primarily from Europe (46.3%), the United States (25.5%), the United Kingdom (16.2%), and other regions (12%). Conducted between March and May 2025, this study details their insights on AI’s expanding influence, link-building budgets, preferred tools, key metrics, and strategies in this volatile SEO environment.
Link Building Trends
- 73.2% believe backlinks influence the chance of appearing in AI search results.
- 78.8% think that nofollow links impact rankings.
- 80.9% believe unlinked brand mentions affect organic search rankings.
- 91.9% are convinced their competitors buy backlinks.
- 56.0% don’t think Google can identify and discount paid links effectively.
- 64.9% say a website can rank high on Google without backlinks.
Many professionals also highlighted that combining link-building strategies with Best SEO Services significantly improves ranking stability across volatile updates.
Link Building Budgets, Costs & ROI
- $508.95 is the average acceptable price for acquiring one high-quality backlink.
- 80.9% believe link-building costs will rise over the next 2–3 years.
- $8,406 is the average minimum monthly budget needed to compete in highly competitive niches.
- 57.1% expect to see link-building results within 1–3 months.
- 61.0% say that the gambling industry requires the highest link-building budgets.
- Agencies allocate on average 32.1% of the overall SEO budget to link building, while in-house teams — 36.03%.
- 56% of respondents outsource at least part of their link-building tasks, while 44% handle everything in-house.
Link Building Tools & Metrics
Ahrefs leads as the top all-in-one SEO tool, chosen by 59.1% of respondents.
- 68.1% rate Ahrefs as the most accurate and comprehensive backlink data provider.
- 64.1% use Ahrefs’ DR and UR as their go-to domain authority metrics.
Experts also noted that pairing these tools with Best SEO Services providers helps maximize ROI and ensures better-quality link placements.
Link Building Risks, Ethics & Challenges
- 67.2% cite low topical relevance as a concern.
- 63.9% avoid sites with declining organic traffic.
- 63.1% would place links on sites listed on link-building marketplaces if the quality were right; 36.9% would not.
- Only 39.0% still use the Google Disavow tool.
- 75.1% find the high cost of premium backlinks to be the biggest challenge.
- 67.2% struggle with scaling link-building without sacrificing quality.
- 52.9% find it hard to measure ROI and the effectiveness of their efforts.
- 55.2% consider link building the most challenging part of SEO.
General Link Building Trends
The majority of respondents agree that links affect rankings in AI search results. This aligns with our observations and recent study results.
Google uses its top-ranking results for AI overviews and Gemini responses, and ChatGPT relies on top-ranking pages on Bing for live web data, so backlinks — still a major ranking factor — increase the likelihood of getting featured.
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