Why these links matter more in 2026
Google rewards backlinks from high-trust domains, and AI search engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) weight references from authoritative sources when they decide which businesses to recommend. A link from a domain Google trusts is worth more than ten from domains it does not.
Here is what most US businesses miss. The federal government and every major state run free supplier registration portals, and a listing creates a citation on a .gov domain, one of the most authoritative domain types on the web. The link is usually nofollow, so the value is the trust signal and the procurement access, not link equity. Almost no business outside the tender world claims them.
Important: legitimate suppliers only
The Tier 1 portals are real procurement registries for verified suppliers. Only register if your business genuinely supplies the goods or services those portals buy. Listing without legitimate supplier capability risks rejection or removal. Treat them as procurement opportunities first and SEO leverage second. The other tiers do not have this restriction.
The checklist
50+ free US backlink sources, tiered by leverage
The Free Backlinks List sheet groups every source by region and tier, with the URL, the listing type, and a status column to track what you have submitted, verified, and live. Make a copy and work top-down through the US rows.
Tier 1 - The gold
US government and procurement portals
The highest-trust records on this list. Registering as a federal or state supplier creates a business record on a .gov domain, one of the most authoritative domain types on the web. Most are nofollow or login-gated, so the value is the trust signal, the NAP citation, and the procurement access. Only register if your business genuinely supplies what these portals buy.
- SAM.gov. The anchor. Free federal supplier registration at the System for Award Management, required to do business with the US government and the canonical .gov business record
- GSA and GSA Advantage. Federal schedules and the GSA Advantage catalog; approved vendors get a listed supplier profile
- SBA Dynamic Small Business Search. A free small-business profile in the SBA DSBS registry after your SAM.gov registration
- Cal eProcure (California). California's official DGS procurement portal, with free supplier registration and small-business certification
- Texas SmartBuy. Texas state vendor registration via the Comptroller's Centralized Master Bidders List
- New York State Contract Reporter. A free vendor account plus state and authority bid opportunities
- MyFloridaMarketPlace. Florida's official Vendor Information Portal, free vendor registration
- Grants.gov. Registered organisations get a .gov applicant profile; for genuine grant applicants and nonprofits, not a directory
Tier 2 - Non-negotiables and directories
US business directories and citations
The top three are load-bearing local-SEO citations every business needs. The rest are US directories worth claiming where they fit your category. Keep your details identical across all of them.
- Google Business Profile. The single highest-impact local listing. Powers Google Maps, the local pack, and the knowledge panel
- Bing Places. Feeds Bing and Microsoft Copilot, so it is an AI-search lever as much as a Bing one
- Apple Business. Controls how you appear in Apple Maps, Siri, Spotlight and Safari; open to online-only businesses
- Yelp. A free business page and a major US review and citation source
- Better Business Bureau. A free basic listing (accreditation is the paid part, the listing is not) and a strong US trust signal
- Manta. A free US small-business directory listing
- ChamberofCommerce.com. A free national business directory, distinct from the US Chamber organisation
- Yellow Pages and Superpages. Legacy but still-indexed free US listings
- Nextdoor Business. A free local business page with neighbourhood-level US reach
- Foursquare. A free venue listing that feeds many downstream maps and apps
- Angi, Alignable, MerchantCircle, Hotfrog US. Free niche and small-business listings; claim the ones that fit your category
Tier 3 - Chambers and associations
US chambers of commerce and industry bodies
Local chamber membership usually costs money, but the member-directory link is a legitimate benefit, and several national bodies feature businesses free. Trusted, geo-relevant, low-spam.
- US Chamber of Commerce. Free resources and the CO small-business features are a legitimate editorial link path; organisation membership is separate
- SCORE. An SBA resource partner offering free business resources and community mentions, not a paid directory
- SBDC (Small Business Development Centers). Free client success stories and features are a legitimate earned .org link for businesses they help
- Your local chamber. Joining your local chamber typically includes a member-directory link; a genuine membership benefit, not a bulk-submit tactic
Tier 4 - Earned only
Earned .edu and .gov link opportunities
There is no directory to submit to here. These are the only legitimate ways to earn academic and government links. Never buy .edu or .gov links, and never pay a scholarship-placement service; Google treats paid academic and government links as link schemes.
- Genuine scholarship resource pages. Fund a real, awarded scholarship, then request inclusion on university financial-aid pages. Only works if the scholarship actually exists and pays out
- Resource-page outreach. Build a genuinely citation-worthy tool or guide, then pitch professors and librarians for inclusion on course and library resource pages
- Federal data and research pitches. Produce original research a .gov page would cite, or contribute to public data-user communities at the SBA, Department of Labor, or Census
- Local government partner pages. City and county economic-development offices list local businesses and partners; request inclusion as a genuine local business
- Alumni and incubator features. If your founders are alumni or in a campus incubator, earn a legitimate feature or profile link
Tier 5 - Earned editorial
Journalist and PR request platforms
These earn the dofollow editorial links that outweigh every directory on this page. You pitch expert commentary and journalists cite you on high-authority news sites. HARO is defunct; these are the live replacements.
- Qwoted. The highest concentration of high-authority outlets, with a free source account to pitch journalists
- Featured. Owns the relaunched HARO brand; a free tier where expert answers get published on authoritative sites
- Source of Sources. The free email newsletter from HARO's founder, the closest true successor with a strong dofollow rate
- Help a B2B Writer. Completely free B2B and SaaS journalist queries
- SourceBottle. Free source alerts that carry US requests alongside its strong ANZ base
- #journorequest. Free, real-time journalist requests on X; noisy but zero cost
Tier 6 - Startup and tech
US startup, tech and software directories
Free profiles that build brand-search dominance and feed AI-search citations. Several are US-headquartered and critical for tech and SaaS businesses. Many are nofollow; the value is the entity record and referral traffic.
- Crunchbase. A free company profile widely cited as a canonical entity record; often the second brand-search result
- Product Hunt. A free product launch page with a big referral spike for tech and startups
- G2, Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice. Free software vendor listings on high-intent B2B review platforms
- Clutch and GoodFirms. Free B2B service-provider profiles, strong for agencies and dev shops
- Wellfound, BetaList, Indie Hackers, AlternativeTo. Free startup and product profiles across the founder ecosystem
- Trustpilot. A free review profile and a widely trusted citation
How to use the list
- Build top-down. Tier 1 first. The government and procurement records are slower to earn but worth more than the lower-tier directory listings.
- NAP consistency is non-negotiable. Name, Address, Phone must be identical across every listing. Inconsistency confuses Google, weakens local rankings, and creates duplicate listings that compete with your real ones.
- 20 clean high-authority listings beat 200 messy ones. If you cannot maintain a directory in a quarterly cycle, do not register.
- Many of these links are nofollow. That is fine. The value is citation consistency, brand-search dominance, and the references AI search engines cite, not raw link equity. Earn the dofollow editorial links through the PR platforms in Tier 5 and the Digital PR guide below.
- Never buy government or academic links. Paid .gov, .edu, .ac.uk and "guaranteed" placement services are link schemes that risk a manual action. Every source here is earned or free-to-claim.
This checklist was built by the StudioHawk team across 500+ client campaigns. Pair it with the master Free Backlinks List for the global sources, and the Free Australian Backlinks deep-dive if you also operate in Australia.
