Guides on directories, backlinks, and AI citations
How to get your product listed, linked, and quoted. Practical guides on startup directory submissions, backlinks that hold up, and answer engine optimization.
Directories and backlinks
How to submit your SaaS to directories without wasting a weekend
A repeatable process for listing a SaaS product on startup directories: what to prepare once, what order to submit in, and what to skip.
8 min read
Dofollow vs nofollow: which directory links actually help
What the rel attribute really does, why a nofollow link is still worth having, and how to check what a directory gives you before you submit.
7 min read
What is Domain Rating, and how much should it drive your submissions
Domain Rating is a third party estimate, not a Google metric. Here is what it measures, where it misleads founders, and how to weigh it properly.
6 min read
The directory submission checklist: what to prepare before you start
The assets every directory asks for, in the formats they ask for. Prepare this once and a submission drops from twenty minutes to four.
7 min read
Why most directory listings never get indexed
A live listing is not the same as an indexed listing. How to tell the difference, why it happens, and which directories are worth the effort.
7 min read
Free vs paid directories: when paying is actually worth it
Paid listings are not automatically better listings. A simple framework for deciding which fees return something and which are pure margin.
6 min read
How to track directory submissions and verify the links went live
Submitting is the easy half. Here is a lightweight system for tracking status, catching rejections, and confirming your backlinks still exist.
7 min read
Answer engine optimization
AEO vs SEO: what changes when the reader is an answer engine
Search optimization aims at a ranked list. Answer engine optimization aims at being quoted in a generated answer. The overlap is large but not total.
8 min read
How ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity pick the sources they cite
A practical look at retrieval, chunking, and citation, and what each step implies for how you should structure a page you want quoted.
9 min read
llms.txt explained, and whether it does anything yet
What the llms.txt proposal is, which crawlers respect it today, and an honest read on whether adding one is worth your afternoon.
6 min read
How to write a product page an AI can actually cite
Most product pages answer nothing in a quotable form. Seven concrete edits that make a page easy for an answer engine to lift and attribute.
8 min read
Do directory backlinks help you get cited by AI?
The honest answer, separating what is established from what is guesswork, and where directory listings genuinely move the needle for AI visibility.
8 min read