This post was sponsored by uSERP. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Let’s get real. Most link building agencies are selling you an outdated playbook from 2015.

Volume. Guest posting on dead sites. Chasing domain ratings at all costs.

But if you’re a marketing leader in 2026, you know the game has changed.

I’ve spent the last decade completing over 575 link building campaigns and scaling my team at uSERP to 55+ people. I have worked with SaaS giants like monday.com and Robinhood.

I know first hand that the gap between a bad backlinks agency and a great one is no longer just about rankings. It is about revenue.

Here’s what I have learned, and how you can use it to pick a skilled link building agency in the AI era.

Why You Must Know These Tips: The Link Building Landscape Has Shifted

Traditional link-building isn’t dead. But the old methods are broken.

For years, SEO agencies focused only on domain authority (DA) or domain rating (DR).

They built backlinks from any site with a high number of backlinks. They ignored readership and content quality.

But that approach is dangerous now.

Because search engines have evolved, links now serve two masters: Google’s algorithm and AI model training data.

Ignoring this means losing search engine rankings (and watching your bottom line suffer).

In fact, uSERP’s 2025 State of Backlinks Report, which surveyed 800 SEO professionals, found that 67.5% believe backlinks influence overall search results (a rise from 2023).

But it’s not just quantity. Quality and brand authority work together, month after month, to drive traffic.

This data forced us to pivot at uSERP. We stopped chasing vanity metrics like DR.

Instead, we started prioritizing traffic and relevance.

It turns out that a single link from a site that appears in a Perplexity answer is worth more than 10 links from high-DR sites with zero readership.

Agencies that fail to adapt are dying, and so are their clients.

So the bottom-line question is:

How can you pick a link building agency that catapults your business in this AI era instead of leaving you stranded?

Green Flags: What Separates Elite Agencies

It’s easy to promise the world on a sales call. It’s harder to deliver natural links that drive revenue.

When vetting partners, look for these specific green flags.

They Focus On AI Visibility, Not Just Rankings

Elite agencies don’t just track Google SERPs.

They track brand mentions in LLMs. They understand that a link is a citation. It validates your expertise to both humans and machines.

Ask them this: “Can you show me examples of clients appearing in AI-generated answers?”

If they stare blankly, walk away.

If they have a proven system, that’s a green flag. It means they know what they’re doing.

For example, we developed proprietary AI visibility tracking tools because we had to. It was the only way to measure impact.

Any agency you hire must discuss citations and how search engines use links to verify facts.

They Lead With Digital PR And Original Research

Content creation is the backbone of modern link acquisition.

You cannot just beg for links anymore. You have to earn them with a content-driven approach.

That is why digital PR was the most effective link-building tactic in 2025, according to our State of Backlinks Report.

The winning strategy is simple. Produce linkable assets, such as original studies, interactive tools, and expert commentary.

These assets generate inbound links naturally. They get cited by AI and compound over time.

For example, a SaaS brand might create a salary calculator. Journalists and publishers love this data.

This approach also shifts the dynamic from cold outreach to relationship-based link building. Even if you do cold outreach, you should expect better results because it’s a win-win for both parties, and you’re leading with quality content and data they can’t ignore.

They Are Transparent About Process And Pricing

A skilled backlinks agency has nothing to hide.

Vague promises are red flags. Detailed reporting on publishers, anchor text, and traffic estimates is a green flag.

They are also realistic about costs.

For example, our data show that most SEO professionals spend between $5,000 and $10,000 per month on link building.

If someone offers you 100 links for $500, that’s a liability, not a deal.

They should also provide a dashboard that includes your link inventory, KPIs, and how your content is driving traffic over time.

Transparency builds trust. Secrecy usually hides black hat link building tactics.

Let’s look at red flags you should stay far away from.

Red Flags That Scream “Run Away”

I have worked with 100+ clients who got burned by cheap link building providers. They saw temporary spikes, then got hit by core Google updates.

This is the price of buying temporary tactics. It’s the equivalent of shiny object syndrome that wastes time, money, and reputation for the sake of slightly higher initial traffic that evaporates after a couple of months.

Here are the warning signs.

Promises Of Specific Ranking Positions

“We will get you to #1 in 30 days.”

This is a lie.

No agency controls Google. They can influence probabilities, but they cannot guarantee outcomes.

Ranking factors are very complex. Plus, some are unknown, and agencies can only estimate probabilities based on experience and data.

Anyone guaranteeing a spot is selling snake oil.

The Use Of PBNs And Link Farms

PBNs (Private Blog Networks) are poison for your site.

They’re fake “blogs” that exist for one reason: to pass authority. They violate Google’s rules and go against its spam policies.

If your agency is buying links off some “menu” or dropping niche edits on hacked, junk sites, that’s your cue to walk away.

Sure, these backlinks might temporarily boost your domain rating. But sooner or later, your search visibility winds up circling the drain.

Templated Outreach

If they use the same email template for everyone, they are failing.

Journalists receive dozens of these every day and just ignore or delete them. Website owners mark them as spam.

You need a personalized approach.

Sending thousands of generic emails daily reflects poorly on your brand.

Links That Disappear

This is a silent killer. Ahrefs found that 66.5% of links from 2013 to 2024 are now dead.

Cheap agencies take your money and move on.

You need a partner who monitors their work. They must check for link rot and take steps to fix it to protect your investment and your brand’s organic growth.

The Questions You Must Ask Before Signing

Don’t just trust a Clutch profile. Grill potential partners with these questions.

1. “What Is Your Process For Vetting Publishers?”

They should talk about how they verify traffic and how they check for spammy sites. If they’re not even looking at a site’s keyword rankings, that’s a big red flag.

2. “Can I See Examples Of Client Results In AI Overviews?”

This separates modern agencies from the dinosaurs.

Ask how they measure AI visibility by impact in ChatGPT or Perplexity.

3. “What Is Your Typical Timeline?”

If they say “immediate results,” they are lying.

You could have a severe technical issue that, once fixed, could cause a permanent spike in traffic. But that’s a rare exception.

Real SEO services take time. BuzzStream’s 2025 State of Digital PR Report states that most campaigns deliver results within 3-6 months.

4. “How Do You Measure Success Beyond DR Increases?”

Domain rating is a vanity metric if it doesn’t lead to revenue. They should track growth in organic search traffic and referral traffic.

Ask about backlink gap analysis and see if they share a high-level step-by-step of their link building process.

5. “What Is Your Replacement Policy If Links Go Down?”

Given the high rate of link rot, a replacement policy is essential. You need backlink management that protects your investment.

Decide if you want digital PR or traditional link building with AI enhancements. But make sure there’s accountability and a process that actively monitors and replaces rotten links.

What Success Actually Looks Like

Let’s look at a real example. When monday.com reached out to my company, uSERP, they had 100+ internal SEO staff but still needed help with content production and PR.

The competitors were winning in organic search, taking over primary keywords, and gaining market share.

So, we focused on untapped keywords first. We created helpful content and optimized it to land crucial backlinks from publications like Crunchbase and G2.

We focused on quality plus relevance. Then, monday earned volume with the cause-and-effect principle.

The result was a 77.84% increase in traffic to 1.2M+ monthly visitors.

This is the lens you need: relationship-building techniques that demonstrate real authority and value, resulting in ROI. Not just rankings.

Whether in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada, quality link building like this takes 60-90 days for early signals and 6-12 months for full impact. But the dividends last for years.

Link Arms With A Link Building Expert

Picking a link building agency in 2026 isn’t about finding the cheapest option. It is about finding partners who understand the AI-first future.

You need transparency, AI visibility results, and digital PR expertise.

Avoid anyone selling the 2015 playbook. The winners focus on citations, AI brand mentions, and revenue growth. Everything else is just noise.

Start asking the hard questions. Look for the green flags and don’t settle for vanity metrics.

For more foundational strategies, check out our complete link building guide.

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Shutterstock. Used with permission.

In-Post Images: Images by uSERP. Used with permission.