The AI debate is still ongoing and feels like it never ends. Some say AI will automate everything, and others say it will create spam. The reality is nobody knows. AI can handle data-heavy link-building parts that can flow without human interference, but to think that AI would replace a publisher who can create a backlink for you or create a stellar outreach email that has your voice and emotion is an exaggeration. 

In this digital copy, we would cover where AI helps, where it misses the mark, the workflow you can follow, and mistakes that you should avoid to have a clear campaign. If you want to learn more about AI citations and how to get cited by ChatGPT, see our guide.

AI link building: The warning signs nobody talks about 

The process of building links through AI tools is known as AI link building. However, a study reports that doing outreach through AI is fine, but using it to mass-generate an auto-built link network can fall under Google’s spam policy. 

Where AI link building helps 

  • According to this review, AI helps in filtering, prospecting, and content drafting. Building relationships would still need a human touch. This is how it is done in real time. 
  • AI has the power to export a large number of domains and provide targets that don’t need your attention while passing the relevant ones for human review.
  • One source recommends that you must use AI, as this is the best tool that can spot patterns and draft outreach emails effortlessly.
  • AI can easily track broken link building. It can find broken links from other websites and suggest a replacement source.  You can use the data to group the links by relevance and topic and find potential replacements. Once that is done, you can draft a personalized email. This is explained beautifully in detail by AIOSEO.
  • AI can help you draft different subject lines for different prospects. The final message would still need a human review. Ask AI to review a specific website and find a reason to contact them and make the message more personalized rather than a generic email. 
  • AI can help you suggest specific words for your internal linking. It can suggest you ways on which you can strengthen your website through internal linking. Before making the changes, always check that your anchor text and the content are useful to the readers. 

Human interference always wins 

Look! AI can audit a website and tell you what to write, but the human relationship has no equal or replacement. According to the sources of Report Card, AI link-building tools can create personalized emails, but they lack human emotions and feelings. 

A similar study from Linkscope states the same issue; it says AI is useful for prospecting, drafting, and analysis, but building relationships and connecting with people still requires human intervention. 

Take two outreach emails and compare them side by side. One generated by AI completely and one edited by a human. 90% of the time, you will notice a pattern. The AI-generated email will praise the editor and their work and ask for a link back, almost like push selling. 

On the other hand, check an email that a human reviewer edits; the polished edit would include emotions and feelings, and it would really speak to the publisher. The difference speaks volumes 

The more priority 

If you really care for your website, then make sure you discard the mentality that more is better. As pointed out by Outreach Monks, sending hundreds of emails with superficial language that doesn’t speak to the audience would damage your reputation, and you can end up in the spam box forever. 

The better approach would be to make sure that AI handles the diagnostics of each website, make it write an initial draft, and send the final email with the help of a human reviewer. This will make sure that your workflow is efficient without any compromise of relevance and authority. 

AI link building: Step-by-step approach 

Step 1: AI tools for searching for link prospects 

The first approach that you need to follow is making sure that you pull competitor backlink data from tools like Ahrefs and Semrush. This already provides you with a list of websites that link to your competitors and not you. 

Pizzwhiz explains that this approach, followed by any agency or freelancer, is a proven path to success, as this helps in diagnosing a website, filtering data, and suggesting outreach angles that can really provide you with a power move when sending emails to your prospects.

Step 2: Grouping 

Use AI tools to make sure that you group your websites in categories of relevance, authority, and domain. It can also help you identify websites that produce low-quality domains. Make sure that you flag these as suggestions and not ultimatums. Since AI models have their own algorithm and trust signals, you should not always discard any website that it labels as suspicious. 

Step 3: The manual review 

Once the AI has provided you with the link juice, make sure that you visit every website and check whether they publish content relevant to you and serve the audience that you want to serve. Remove any website that you no longer want to get associated with. Once AI narrows the list, you make the final decision.

Step 4: Using the human editor 

Use the AI tools to create a diagnostic report. This will tell you the exact reason why you need to contact the publisher.  Once you get the reason, visit the publisher’s website and then send a personalized email telling them your needs and wants and why they should link back to you. 

A study from f3fundit recommends that you should use AI to find out why you should contact the publisher, but verifying the reason is still your job. The final decision always lies with you 

Step 5: Tracking 

In this phase, all you need to do is track the emails that you have seen positive responses to and then use the knowledge to improve the next ones. For instance, if you witness that emails that have a more personalized approach offer better results than generic emails, then use the wisdom to make your outreach campaign more personalized. 

AI link building: Risks to avoid 

  • Never send identical emails in bulk: Use AI to know the reasons for contacting the publisher, but never use the AI template to generate mass emails. 
  • Never use AI to create link spam: If you use AI to generate a large number of spam pages with the intention to distort search engine rankings, then that would fall under Google spam policies. Use AI tools for searching link opportunities and not to indulge in spam practices.
  • Do not go for unverified personalization: This is where an outreach specialist writes “I loved your content on seo software personalization ” even though they have no such articles.  This can make your research look low effort and generate no trust. Always verify a page before sending it.
  • Altering search results with bots: Always use licensed data instead of automated scraping. Make sure you use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to create structured reports instead of violating Google spam policies.
  • Using variety as protection: Placing random anchor text distribution does not mean that your content is high quality or link-worthy. What matters the most is how these links were acquired: legitimate or illegal.  So always value legal outreach methods. 
  • Earned backlinks: AI tools operate with their own algorithm and trust signals, so they can flag a legitimate backlink as manipulative. So always make sure that you do a manual review.

In closure 

AI link building works best when it’s layered with human intervention. Always use AI link building tools to diagnose a website and then filter the results. Use it to know the reasons for reaching out to the publisher, and then send the final outreach email using knowledge and editing. Remember, the emails that are being opened the most are not the ones using generic AI templates; they are the ones that use a human voice and emotions to make connections with the publisher.