Free Resource
A vetted checklist of 123 legitimate, free places to earn a backlink. No spam, no paid links, no link farms. Make a copy of the sheet and work it top down, ticking off each one as you submit, verify, and go live.
Most free backlink lists are a trap. They pad the count with profile-creation farms, blog-comment spam and web 2.0 junk, the kind of links Google ignores and sometimes penalises. That is why people build hundreds of them and watch nothing move. This list is the opposite: every one of the 123 sources is a real platform where a genuine profile or listing carries weight, and we tell you honestly which ones give a link and which only give a citation.
Free does not mean low quality. Some of the highest-authority links on the web are free to claim. You just have to know which ones are worth the effort and fill them out properly. A handful of those beats a thousand spun profiles every time.
Google rewards backlinks from high-trust domains. AI search systems (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) weight references from authoritative sources when deciding which businesses to recommend in their answers. In both cases the same principle holds: a link from a domain that is trusted is worth more than ten from domains that are not.
The catch is that the genuinely useful free sources are the ones most businesses never get around to claiming. This is the vetted starting set: 123 legitimate places to earn a backlink or a citation, no link farms, no paid placements, no 200-links-in-an-afternoon padding.
Before you chase any link, know what you are actually getting. Three different things hide under the word backlink, and they are not equal.
| Type | What it is | Worth it for | Free examples here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do-follow | Passes ranking signals (link equity). | Rankings. The prize. | True Local, FreeIndex, Product Hunt, StartLocal. |
| No-follow | No equity passed, but real traffic, brand and AI-citation value. | Brand signals, referral traffic, AI mentions. | LinkedIn, YouTube, Trustpilot, most directories, Wikipedia. |
| Citation | A verified mention on a trusted domain, often no clickable link at all. | Trust and entity signals; procurement access. | SAM.gov, AusTender, Contracts Finder, the .gov.au portals. |
The honest takeaway: do-follow is the prize, but no-follow and citation links still build the brand and entity signals that Google and AI search increasingly run on. Just do not let anyone sell you a no-follow profile as a ranking link.
How to use this list
Links only count when they are relevant and earned. Quality beats volume, a handful of high-trust sources outweigh hundreds of low ones, and a profile with nothing real behind it does nothing. Never buy links or use link farms. Fill every listing out properly: real description, photos, hours, services.
Build the link profile you want AI to read.
The sheet lists every source with its type, region, a plain authority rating, whether the link is do-follow or no-follow, the effort to set it up, and a one-line how-to. There is a Done column to track what you have submitted, verified, and live. Make a copy and work top down.
Four listings every business needs, regardless of market or vertical. Each feeds a different ecosystem: Google search and maps, Bing and ChatGPT search, Apple Maps and Siri, and professional or B2B search.
High-authority profiles that build brand-search dominance (your name appears repeatedly in the top results) and give AI systems entity signals to recognise you.
Review platforms and software or service directories. Strong for the trust signals AI can cite, and many rank for buyer-intent queries.
Especially useful for software, apps, startups, and agencies. Profile and launch links on high-authority technical domains.
The links you earn by being useful or quotable, rather than by filling in a form. Higher effort, higher reward.
High-trust academic profiles. Most relevant for researchers, educators, and anyone with published or technical work.
The deepest region in the list. Free .gov.au supplier portals, council registers, core AU directories, and high-intent vertical directories. If you operate in Australia, this is where the easy authority lives.
Each region has its own version of the Australian gold: free government supplier portals on high-trust .gov domains. A fair warning on those: the value is the .gov citation and the procurement access, not link equity. The link is usually nofollow or not public at all, so treat these as entity and trust signals rather than classic backlinks, and register only if you genuinely supply the public sector. Then the chambers of commerce and directories: pick the ones that match where your customers are.
Claiming a profile is the easy half. The links that move rankings are earned. Five moves do the work:
If a tactic promises hundreds of links for no effort, it is the kind of link that does nothing or gets you filtered. Skip these:
None of these are on this list, by design.
Yes, when they are relevant and earned. A free link from a high-trust domain you genuinely belong on helps rankings, brand search and AI citations. Free links from spam sites do nothing, and the worst of them can hurt you.
The ones on this list are. They are real platforms where a profile or listing is legitimate. The unsafe ones are link farms, PBNs and bought links, which we tell you to avoid above.
Do-follow passes the most ranking value, but no-follow links still drive traffic, brand signals and AI citations. Aim for a natural mix and do not chase do-follow only. Anyone selling a no-follow profile as a ranking link is overselling it.
Fewer than you think. 20 clean, high-authority listings beat 200 messy ones. Start with the non-negotiables and work down by relevance, not volume.
Government supplier portals are free to register, but they give a citation (a verified mention on a .gov), usually with a no-follow or no public link, plus procurement access. They are not the do-follow ranking links some lists claim, and you should never buy one.
This list is maintained by the StudioHawk team. Sources are added only when they are a real, recognised platform where a genuine profile or listing carries a real link or citation.
