"Backlinks are losing authority. The Web 2.0-style link tactics are a thing of the past." Lohith Lalesh
I want to be precise about that, because "links are dead" is as wrong as "links are everything". Google still uses links. What has changed is that links created only to move rankings are increasingly ignored, and links in general carry less weight relative to everything else Google can now measure.
What Google has said about links
SEO and AI search · Dubai
Public statements and changes
SpamBrain neutralises unnatural links
Google's December 2022 link spam update used SpamBrain, its AI-based spam system, to detect sites buying links and sites used to pass outgoing links. Google said ranking may change "as spammy links are neutralized and any credit passed by these unnatural links are lost".
Not a top three factor
At Pubcon Pro in Austin, Google's Gary Illyes said of links as a ranking factor: "I don't agree it's in the top three. It hasn't been for some time." Search Engine Land's report adds his view that the top factors differ from site to site.
Very few links needed
At a conference in Bulgaria, Illyes was quoted as saying: "We need very few links to rank pages... Over the years we've made links less important." He confirmed the remark on X, while adding that he shouldn't have said it.
Read those quotes with the context they came with. Illyes was not saying links are useless. He was saying they matter less than the SEO industry tends to assume, and that Google can rank good pages without many of them.
Links still count
Google's own documentation is clear that links remain part of how it works. Its ranking systems guide says PageRank "continues to be part of our core ranking systems", and its link best practices page says "Google uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl".
So the honest position is this: a genuine link from a relevant, respected site still helps. A link that exists only because someone paid for it, swapped it or generated it is, at best, ignored.
What is dead
Google's spam policies define link spam as links intended to manipulate rankings, and list examples. Most of the packages sold to small businesses fall straight into that list.
SEO and AI search · Dubai
Common link tactics against Google's policies
| Tactic | What it is | Where Google stands |
|---|---|---|
| Web 2.0 links | Thin blogs on free platforms created only to link to your site | Low-value content made to pass links; the kind of link SpamBrain is built to ignore |
| Private blog networks | A group of sites, often on expired domains, that exist to link out | SpamBrain detects "sites used for the purpose of passing outgoing links"; expired domain abuse is a separate spam policy |
| Link exchanges | "Link to me and I'll link to you" | Excessive link exchanges are listed as link spam |
| Paid guest posts | Articles bought to carry keyword-rich links | Buying links, and large-scale guest posting with keyword-rich anchors, are listed as link spam |
| Directory and bookmark blasts | Hundreds of low-quality listings at once | Low-quality directory or bookmark site links are listed as link spam |
| Forum and comment links | Optimised links in posts or signatures | Listed as link spam |
Neutralised, not always penalised
The usual outcome now is not a dramatic penalty. It is that the links simply do nothing. Google's December 2022 post says credit from these links is lost. Google can also take manual action for link spam, and the owner is told in Search Console, but for most small businesses the bigger cost is quieter: money spent on links that never counted.
What builds authority now
The common thread is that other people choose to mention you because you gave them a reason. Some of these produce links, some produce mentions without links. Both help people find and trust you, and mentions in articles and lists are part of what AI assistants read when they recommend a business.
SEO and AI search · Dubai
Where I would put the effort instead
Original data others cite
A small survey, a pattern from your own enquiries or a real test gives journalists and bloggers something to reference. I explain how to produce it cheaply in query fan-out and information gain.
Digital PR
Offer a clear comment or data point to journalists and editors covering your sector. One real article on a respected UAE site is worth more than hundreds of bought links.
Brand mentions
Podcasts, panels, interviews and partner pages. Being named and described accurately matters for people and for AI answers, linked or not.
Real local citations
Accurate listings on directories customers actually use, with consistent details. See local citations and NAP consistency.
Relationships
Suppliers, associations and clients who would naturally list or recommend you. Ask them to, without trading links.
Side by side
Manufactured links versus earned authority
Manufactured
- Bought, swapped or generated in bulk
- Sites nobody reads
- Keyword-stuffed anchor text
- Neutralised by SpamBrain or risky
- Stops the moment you stop paying
Earned
- Given because you offered something useful
- Sites your customers actually read
- Your name, naturally written
- Counts with Google and with readers
- Keeps working for years
How to judge a link offer
If a freelancer or agency offers you links, ask where they will come from and why those sites would link to you. If the answer is a number, a "DA" score and a price per link, walk away. Those offers are one of the red flags when hiring an SEO freelancer.
- Guaranteed numbers of links per month: real mentions cannot be guaranteed.
- Links from sites unrelated to your business or country.
- Exact-match keyword anchors on every link.
- No list of the actual sites in advance.
For most small businesses in Dubai, the order of work is the same as in my SEO starting guide: a complete Business Profile, clear service pages, reviews, then content worth mentioning. Links follow good work far more reliably than they precede it. If you want help building that kind of presence, it is how I approach local SEO in Dubai.