Not every backlink counts the same. Google's own documentation sorts links into types, asks sites to label some of them, and lists others as spam. Yet when we checked the pages ranking for "types of backlinks" on October 19, 2026, only one of the five we could read linked to Google's docs at all. One stated the opposite of what Google says.
So this guide goes back to the source. It covers the main types of backlinks, what Google's documentation says about each, and which still help rankings and AI citations in 2026. If you want the how-to side, with a time cost for each method, our guide to how to build backlinks covers it.
Two ways to sort backlinks
Backlinks get sorted two ways, and it helps to keep them apart.
By attribute. This is the label in the link's HTML. A plain link is "followed." A link can also carry a rel value that tells Google something about it, like sponsored, ugc or nofollow.
By source. This is where the link comes from and why it exists, like an editorial mention, a guest post, a directory listing or a forum comment.
A guest post link can be followed or sponsored. A forum link is usually ugc. So you need both views to judge a link.
Link attributes: what Google says
Google's page on qualifying outbound links defines three values. For a normal link you expect Google to follow, you don't need any.
| Value | What it's for, in Google's words |
|---|---|
rel="sponsored" | "Mark links that are advertisements or paid placements (commonly called paid links)" |
rel="ugc" | User-generated content links, "such as comments and forum posts" |
rel="nofollow" | When "other values don't apply, and you'd rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site" |
Google adds that nofollow "was previously recommended" for paid links and "is still an acceptable way to flag them, though sponsored is preferred." You can also combine values, such as rel="ugc nofollow".
In practice, almost nobody uses the newer values. Ahrefs' 2026 SEO statistics found that 10.6% of backlinks to the top 110,000 sites were nofollow. Only 0.44% of referring domains used ugc, and 0.01% used sponsored.
There's one more detail worth knowing. Google says sites "might remove this attribute" from links posted by members who have "consistently made high-quality contributions over time." So a trusted forum member's link can end up followed.
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The types of backlinks by source
Here's the full list, with what each one tends to be worth now. Ratings are our read of Google's guidance and the data below, not a scoring system.
| Type | Usually followed? | Worth it in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial | Yes | The best type there is |
| PR and news | Often | High, especially with a brand mention |
| Resource page | Usually | Good if the page is genuinely useful |
| Guest post | Varies | Good on real sites, risky at scale |
| Directory and citation | Varies | A few core listings only |
| Forum and community | Usually ugc | Low for rankings, real for traffic |
| Image | Depends | Fine, if the alt text is clear |
| Internal | Yes | High and fully in your control |
| Paid | Should be sponsored | Only with the label |
We call this the earned-to-arranged scale. The more a link is earned by the page itself, the more it tends to count. The more it's arranged, swapped or paid for, the less it counts, and the closer it gets to Google's spam list.
Editorial links
An editorial link is one another site adds because your page is useful, without you asking or paying. A journalist citing your study, a blogger linking your guide, a review site linking your product page. These are the links Google's systems are built to reward, and they usually come with your brand name on a trusted site too.
PR and news links
News and trade coverage is a kind of editorial link, usually earned through data, expert quotes or something newsworthy. Some news sites add nofollow to outbound links. Even then, the mention of your brand on a respected site has value of its own.
Resource page links
Many sites keep lists of useful links on a topic. Getting added to one is fair game if your page really belongs there. These links are usually followed and sit on pages people actually use.
Guest post links
A guest post link comes from an article you wrote for someone else's site. On a real site with real readers, in your field, it's a perfectly good link. Google's spam policies call out "large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links." The line is scale and intent, not the format itself.
Directory and citation links
Google's spam policies list "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" as link spam. So mass submissions are out. A handful of core listings, like your Google Business Profile, the main directories in your country and the two or three that matter in your industry, still help confirm you're a real business.
People often assume big platforms pass link value. A thread on r/linkbuilding showed how risky that assumption is. The poster listed free sites they said still give followed links in 2026. Several replies pointed out that some of those platforms add nofollow by default.
I tested dozens of "free backlink" sites. These 5 actually still work in 2026 (one per category).
Every time someone asks "where can I get free backlinks?" the replies are either a 200-site spreadsheet from 2019 or "just create great content bro." Neither is helpful. So I spent the last few months actually testing free submission sites...
Check a link's attribute yourself before you count it.
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Forum and community links
Links in forums, comments and community sites are usually marked ugc or nofollow. Google's spam policies specifically name "forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature" as link spam.
That doesn't make community links worthless. A thread on r/seogrowth asked whether nofollow Pinterest links have any SEO value. The consensus was that the ranking value is close to zero, but the links still send real visitors and show up in image search.
Do Pinterest pin links have any SEO value if they are nofollow?
I’m trying to understand how valuable links from Pinterest pins really are. From what I understand, Pinterest links are nofollow, so they probably do not pass traditional link equity like a normal backlink. But is there still any SEO or mar...
Image links
When an image is the link, Google reads its alt text as the anchor text. Google's link best practices say that "for images as links, Google uses the alt attribute of the img element as anchor text, so be sure to add descriptive alt text to your images."
So a logo linking back to you from a partner page counts as a link with whatever its alt text says. If the alt text is empty, the link carries no description at all.
Internal links
Internal links are links between pages on your own site. They're the one type you fully control. Google's guidance is that every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site.
Use descriptive anchor text, the way Google's best practices describe. Google suggests reading only the anchor text, out of context, and checking that it still makes sense on its own.
Paid links
Buying links isn't banned, but buying them for ranking is. Google's spam policies list "buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam. A paid placement is fine if the link carries rel="sponsored" or nofollow. Then it's an ad, which is what you paid for.
An indie developer on X summed up the four attribute types in one post, with the exact syntax for each. They also warned that a link profile with only followed links can look unnatural.
✨ SEO 101 - Backlink types ✨ There are 4 types of backlinks you can encounter in the wild: 🔸 "Dofollow" - a regular link without "rel" attribute. These links play the most important role in your website ranking. <a href="https://example .com">Link</a> 🔹 rel="nofollow" - https://t.co/Rz2sreA8ns
Andrei@ahudovichSep 26, 2024
Which types help with AI citations?
Links help pages rank in Google, and AI engines often pull from pages that rank. But for AI answers, mentions of your brand seem to matter more than links. Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands found that branded web mentions correlated at 0.664 with visibility in AI Overviews, against 0.218 for backlinks. That's a correlation, not proof, but the gap is large. Our post on brand mentions vs backlinks covers it.
So the most useful types for AI search are the ones that do both jobs. Editorial coverage, PR and real community discussion put your name on sites AI engines read, whether or not the link is followed. Our 20-site test of backlinks and AI citations looks at the link side directly, and our post on whether backlinks are still important covers rankings.
How to check what types you have
Search Console's Links report shows who links to you and with what anchor text. Our guide to seeing your backlinks in Search Console walks through it. It doesn't flag nofollow, so for attributes you'll need to open the linking page or use a third-party tool.
Doing it yourself or handing it off
Sorting your links by type takes an hour or two. Earning more of the good types, editorial and PR above all, is the slow part. It usually means 10 hours or more a month of content and outreach.
RankControl takes on that work. It writes articles worth linking to, finds prospects for each one it publishes, finds the right contact and drafts a personalized email from your own mailbox. If you'd rather not run outreach at all, the Managed Backlinks add-on places five links a month from DR 25+ sites for $350 a month. Expect the effect to show first as Google traffic, with AI citations following more slowly as mentions and links build up.
Know exactly what AI says about your competitors.
RankControl's Recon Agent monitors competitor citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews. See where they show up and you don't.
