there are better *authority* sites than google to link to on your site find one that's actually related to your niche, since the "related" factor is becoming more important that ever in SEO
Actually you can help by linking to Google. If your site is about widgets you can link to widgets That being http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=widgets&btnG=Google+Search Code (markup): You lose PR but gain in SERPS depends what your looking for.
Google doesn't care about you versus another site on the organic side. Those results are ranked by being most relevant, not because they give Google any love.