---
name: build-external-backlinks-from-authoritative-sources
description: "Help the right people find and check your work."
category: SEO & Content Architecture
stage: —
definitive_article: /link-building
status: needs-work
---

# Build external backlinks from authoritative sources

Help the right people find and check your work. This guide helps you earn useful links through real work, talks and source material. Start with proof you can share and sites that serve the same people.

**The path:** Real proof → Relevant publisher shortlist → Approved contribution → Verified placement

**Start when:** A person or business has verified public proof and an agreed topic for relevant outside coverage.

## Inputs

- The subject’s verified name, site and topic pages, plus source material cleared for public use.
- Current press, podcast and partner records, existing links, ownership and any paid relationships.
- [Choose the right entity destination](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=follow-entity-linking-decision-tree#task-follow-entity-linking-decision-tree) and the specific authority for pitches, submissions, public thanks or paid placements; research alone grants none.

## Steps

1. Inspect the existing link and proof inventory before seeking new placements. Identify the reader, useful claim and strongest actual evidence. Separate independent coverage, paid placements, self-published material and neutral appearances instead of treating every mention as an endorsement.
2. Build a small target list from relevant publications, podcast hosts, industry groups and real professional relationships. Read their work and contribution rules. Record why their audience would use the source material; a domain score alone does not establish relevance or Google’s trust.
3. Prepare a useful contribution such as original data, a sourced answer, an interview topic or a real case study. Tie it to the host’s actual audience and existing work. Do not create a testimonial, exchange links as a condition of praise, or promise results for a backlink.
4. Use [entity linking, choosing the right home for a named person or topic](https://blitzmetrics.com/entity-linking/) to propose the destination. A person’s name points to their verified home; a method explanation points to its owning guide. A story may cite a specific supporting source. Give the editor honest descriptive wording without requiring an unnatural keyword phrase.
5. Send a specific pitch or submission only under existing authority, using the publisher’s supported route. Record sent, accepted, scheduled, published and declined separately. The publisher decides whether to include a link; a booking or friendly reply is not a live placement.
6. When a placement is public, read it and follow the actual link. Save source URL, date, supported fact, anchor, target, redirect outcome and any sponsorship label. Paid links require appropriate qualification; paying for advertising is not the same as earning an independent endorsement.
7. Add relevant verified proof to the owning hub with context and attribution, strongest relevant evidence first. Prepare or send thanks under its separate authority. Pass dated link changes and comparable search or referral measures to [Metrics, Analysis, Action: what happened, why and what to do](https://blitzmetrics.com/maa/) without claiming that one link caused a ranking change.

## Definition of done (QA checklist)

Quality assurance (QA) means checking the actual result against its agreed requirements. Follow the [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/).

- [ ] Each proposed placement has genuine topic and audience fit, source proof and an honest target.
- [ ] Sent requests, booked appearances and verified public links have distinct states.
- [ ] Accepted proof is attributed and relevant; payment and independence are not concealed.
- [ ] The exact output, source revision, reviewer evidence and remaining owner action are saved.
- [ ] For any reader-facing output, the short grade-five opening states the reader’s useful outcome and supporting method or proof. The body delivers that promise; a useful authentic visual appears in the first screen. Retain exact text and quoted reviewer evidence.

## Example(s)

**Fictional teaching example. This is not a client result or proof of a completed run.**

A fictional roofer has a documented storm-repair case. A trade host accepts an interview topic, but the show is not yet out. The record says “booked,” with no earned-link count. When the episode page later appears, the owner checks its case-study link and records what the episode actually supports before adding it to the site.

## Handoff and Content Factory context

[Classify outside proof](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=build-third-party-validation#task-build-third-party-validation) receives the checked placement; the hub owner receives the exact evidence card. [Measure the accepted change set](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=step-6-measure-and-iterate-with-maa#task-step-6-measure-and-iterate-with-maa) receives the dated change and known access gaps.

This task supports the [Content Factory: Produce, Process, Post and Promote](https://blitzmetrics.com/content-factory/). Identity, proof, access or coordination can support several stages. Use the real inputs and receiving owner above; this task does not create unrelated transcripts, clips or ads merely because the diagram has four stages.

## Start with an agent

Give the [AI worker](https://blitzmetrics.com/build-agents/) this recipe, the real inputs, desired result and actions already authorized. Ask for the saved output, sources, checks and next owner. A [skill is a written recipe](https://localservicespotlight.com/plugin/); loading one does not prove account access or perform the task. Use the [installation guide](https://localservicespotlight.com/install/) if reusable setup is needed. A ZIP is a source snapshot, not an access grant or automatic update.

Use the app’s actual supported tools and verified file/account access. Keep a missing human verification step with its real owner. Recurring work needs its own configured job, trigger, timezone and observed result; this guide creates no schedule. Before any media playback, mute the player and set its volume to zero. If silence cannot be verified first, use captions, frames, metadata or another silent check.

## Record the real execution

Open the run record when work begins. Keep one execution ID, starting recipe revision, real inputs and current state. Write the [meta article, the record of this execution](https://blitzmetrics.com/meta-article-prompt/) with actual steps, results, checks, failures and next owner. Writing is required; public release follows existing authority. Link it to this recipe and the [Task Library](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/).

Reuse the same execution ID for internal checks, revisions, retries and meta writing. A blocked run stays open with its dependency and owner, without an invented finish time. Dated public examples and distinct verified execution counts remain separate. Propose the smallest source-backed recipe improvement when the actual evidence reveals a defect.


<!-- factory-layer:start -->

## Factory chain (do not treat this as isolated)

- **Phase:** —
- **Importance:** 3/5 `●●●○○` — frequency 3, revenue 3, gating 2 (supporting)
- **Suggested previous station:** —
- **Suggested next station:** —
These stations are generated neighbors, not verified prerequisites or handoffs. Follow the task’s actual Inputs and Handoff sections.
- **Handoff:** Save this task’s actual output, source, date and checks where the receiving owner can read them. Follow the Inputs and Handoff sections for its next step.

## Model routing (same factory, any engine)

- **This task's lane:** `any` — Any capable chat model (Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini). SOP following, drafts, checklists.
- **Single-engine path:** Use the capable AI app you already have. Check its required tools and access before starting. Pass the actual result and proof to the next task.
- **Optional multi-engine:** A tested local model may draft; a stronger model may review facts and voice. Use supported tools for approved actions. Pick models from observed quality and cost; a model name does not prove it can run this task.
- **Never** store the working state in one vendor's memory. Files in the Content Library are the bridge.

<!-- factory-layer:end -->
## Definitive article & links

- [Maintained source guide](https://blitzmetrics.com/link-building/)
- [This task in the Task Library](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=build-external-backlinks-from-authoritative-sources#task-build-external-backlinks-from-authoritative-sources)
- [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/)
- [Definitive article and task recipe standard](https://blitzmetrics.com/definitive-article-guide/)
- [How recipes and run records fit together](https://localservicespotlight.com/meta-articles/)

### Primary method references

- [Google’s link spam rules](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)

## Review and evidence still needed

The inherited contributor status is `needs-work`. It is preserved, not promoted by this rewrite. That label alone does not prove document readiness, account access, an actual execution or a client result.

The fictional example teaches the method and does not fill a real-run evidence gap. A named semantic reviewer must check the actual opening, full method, sources and handoff. Check the useful opening visual in the normal rendered guide at the current required desktop and mobile sizes, including 1280 × 800 and 390 × 844. Source readability checks do not prove public presentation or task execution.