Content revised 21 October 2026.
Local link opportunities should connect your business with a relevant audience. Review the relationship and reader benefit instead of treating every placement as ranking credit.
1–2: Useful resources and accurate listings
An original local resource can give another publisher a reason to cite it. A relevant business or industry listing can help customers find dependable details. Neither needs a mass-submission quota to be useful.
3–4: Contributions and case examples
Offer expertise to an appropriate publication or participate in a genuine, approved case example. Keep evidence and commercial relationships clear. Do not invent results or a customer relationship to earn a reference.
5: Partnerships with a real purpose
A legitimate supplier or community relationship may justify a reference when it helps readers. Avoid an arrangement whose main purpose is exchanging ranking links.
Review before copying
Competitor links can suggest research questions, but they do not establish suitability. Record the audience, purpose and any payment. Measure relevant visits separately from assumptions about ranking impact.
Official guidance: Google link-spam context.