Link building statistics we actually measure.
Most link sellers quote numbers they have never checked. We publish ours — indexing rates, survival rates and time-to-index — aggregated from delivered campaigns and live link checks, with the methodology stated so you can judge the figures for yourself.
Reporting period: rolling 12 months to Q3 2026. Sample: 3,247 delivered links across 612 campaigns.
Indexing rate by link type.
How often each link type was confirmed indexed within 30 days of going live. Editorial placements index most reliably because they sit inside original, well-linked content.
Link survival over 12 months.
The share of delivered links still live and do-follow at each checkpoint. We track this because a link that disappears in month two is worth nothing, however cheap it was. Every order is covered by our 12-month replacement guarantee, so anything that drops is rebuilt free.
Most links index within two weeks. Long-tail ranking movement typically follows in weeks 4 to 6; competitive head terms need 8 to 14 weeks of sustained work.
Results vary by competition — here is how.
Average time to first measurable ranking movement, by niche competitiveness. We publish this so you can set realistic expectations rather than assume every campaign behaves the same.
| Niche | Avg. time to movement | Links to first movement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local services | 3–5 weeks | 4–8 | Low competition, fast feedback |
| Ecommerce (long-tail) | 4–7 weeks | 8–15 | Category pages respond well |
| B2B SaaS | 6–10 weeks | 12–25 | Needs topical relevance |
| Health & wellness | 7–12 weeks | 15–30 | YMYL scrutiny, slower trust |
| Finance & legal | 9–16 weeks | 20–40 | High authority bar to move |
Figures are averages across delivered campaigns and are directional, not a promise of position. Rankings depend on your content and competitors as much as on links.
How we measure.
Live link checks
Every counted link is fetched and rendered before it enters a report. We confirm the link is present, do-follow and pointing at the agreed URL — not just that the page exists.
Index confirmation
A link is counted as indexed when the host page appears in Google's index and the link is present in the rendered HTML. We do not rely on a single third-party index.
Survival tracking
Delivered links are re-checked at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Anything that drops is logged, and rebuilt free under the replacement guarantee.
Honest reporting
We publish the links that did not survive as well as those that did. A drop rate you have never measured is not a statistic — it is a guess.
About our data.
They are aggregated from our own delivered campaigns and from third-party SEO data we pull when we check each link. We publish the methodology alongside the figures so you can judge them for yourself rather than take a marketing claim on trust.
The headline figures are refreshed quarterly. Each table shows the period it covers, so you always know how current a number is. We would rather show a slightly older honest figure than a fresh invented one.
Yes. You are welcome to reference these figures in your own content with a link back to this page as the source. We have included the publication date and methodology so citations stay accurate.
Because link building has a trust problem. Most sellers quote a drop rate they have never measured. Publishing ours — including the links that did not survive — is the only way to make the claim meaningful.
Yes, and we say so. Competitive finance and legal niches index more slowly and need more authority to move than low-competition local niches. The tables below break results down so you can set realistic expectations.
A link is counted as indexed when the host page appears in Google's index and the link is present in the rendered HTML. We check this with a live fetch rather than trusting a third-party index alone.
Build links that survive the year.
Every package and marketplace placement is checked live and covered for 12 months. Start with one editorial guest post and see the quality for yourself.