Hi, Before the launch of LLM search engines, we were building backlinks for their website to rank on the search engines. We were using some free tools like checkbytools and ahref for checking the backlinkks. Now everybody talking about AI traffic and things have changed. People are more focused on the listing website in AI overview or llm search engines. Do we still need to work on backlinks? Backlinks are still important in SEO or things changed to somewhere else?
Backlinks will always be important, for logical reasons. Google cannot goto your site and say 'This is great content, I will rank it high' Why? Because it's a bot, and it cannot make subjective calls, as what is great to one person might not be to another. So it relies on signals, the heaviest weighted will always be backlinks, again, for logical reasons.
The incoming links inform, that their target is important. This information is used by every search engine.
Absolutely — backlinks are still important, even in the age of LLM-powered search. They still serve as trust signals, like editorial "votes", showing that your content is credible and relevant. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is how search engines — especially those using LLMs — evaluate them. It’s no longer just about quantity. Now it’s more about: Quality & context: Links from reputable, relevant sources carry much more weight. Brand mentions: Even unlinked mentions can influence AI-generated answers. Structured, useful content: AI tools prefer clear, well-organized content they can confidently reference. So yes, backlinks matter — but they’re part of a broader strategy now. Focus on authority, helpful content, and building a strong digital footprint. That’s how you stay relevant in LLM-driven search.
I can clearly see how important this is on Perplexity; it gives more importance to and prioritizes content that has links.
Yes, still important, but not as much. At this point, seemingly less than branded mentions, for example, or branded anchors. But I don't intend to stop building backlinks, and I don't think anyone should. Just with even more focus on relevance and authority, that's all.
Backlinks still matter, but the way they’re valued has shifted. It’s less about generating tons of links and more about securing a few strong ones from trusted sources. LLM search engines might change how traffic flows, but authority and credibility signals (like good backlinks) aren’t going away anytime soon.