How We Earned 1,000+ GEO/SEO Links

Digital PR and original research are becoming increasingly important for brands looking to improve their visibility across traditional search and AI-powered platforms. Kevin Rowe, CEO of PureLinq, recently shared how his agency changed its approach to link building and eventually helped one client earn more than 1,000 citations, including coverage from major publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Axios, Fox Business and Reuters.

The results did not happen overnight. In fact, the campaign produced just one link during its first month, leading to concerns from the client about whether the strategy was working. However, as more original research was published, journalists began returning to the data and eventually started contacting the team directly to ask when new studies would be available.

Rowe’s approach is based on moving away from traditional link building and instead creating research that journalists and readers genuinely find useful. The same research can then support several areas at once, including backlinks, brand mentions, AI citations, search visibility and social media exposure.

The strategy was developed over two years after analysing media placements across industries including finance, higher education, ecommerce and B2B.

Why Traditional Link Building Has Become More Difficult

Rowe explained that PureLinq had to rethink its approach after traditional link building became much less effective.

Around 2020, the agency experienced a major decline in business as the old methods stopped producing the same results. This forced the team to reconsider how off-page SEO should work in a changing search environment.

One of the main lessons from that experience was that simply producing content that meets basic SEO requirements is no longer enough. If a competitor could easily create the same article, there is little reason for journalists or other websites to reference it.

Instead, brands need to produce something genuinely useful or interesting that others would want to reference.

This is where original research comes into the picture.

A useful starting point for businesses is to review the content they have published recently and identify articles that could be recreated almost word for word by a competitor. Those pieces may be attracting search traffic, but they are unlikely to generate significant attention from journalists or earn many natural links.

What Makes Research Interesting to Journalists?

Creating original research does not necessarily mean spending large amounts of money collecting new information.

According to Rowe, there are several types of data stories that can attract media interest. His team has used publicly available datasets to uncover trends and produce stories that journalists can turn into news articles.

One example involved research into student debt. The team used freely available federal data and turned it into a study that attracted coverage from Fox News and Fox Business.

The underlying information was not difficult to obtain. The real value came from analysing the data and presenting it in a way that revealed something interesting.

However, simply having access to data does not automatically make a study worthwhile.

The growing use of AI has made it easier for almost anyone to produce large quantities of research-style content. This also creates a risk for businesses because poorly checked or inaccurate data can quickly damage their credibility.

For that reason, research needs to be properly checked before it is promoted to journalists. Sending inaccurate information to media contacts can make it much harder to build relationships with them in the future.

Turning a Blog Into a Research Hub

One of Rowe’s case studies involved a B2B company with a national presence but no physical locations.

The business had been relying on conventional blog content covering subjects such as debt collection and financial advice. Rather than continuing to publish more of the same material, the team decided to completely change the purpose of the blog.

The existing content was removed and replaced with a research-focused hub.

The first month was slow, with only one earned link. However, the number of media placements increased as additional studies were released.

Eventually, journalists began approaching the company themselves instead of waiting for another pitch.

This created an important shift in the strategy. Rather than constantly contacting journalists to promote individual articles, the company began receiving requests from journalists who wanted access to its latest research.

In one case, The Wall Street Journal even contacted the team to ask for an existing dataset to be updated.

This shows why consistency matters. A single research report might generate some attention, but regularly producing useful studies can establish a brand as a reliable source of information.

You Do Not Have to Rebuild Your Entire Website

A research-led strategy does not necessarily mean deleting an existing blog.

Rowe also discussed a second example involving an online university operating in a regulated sector.

Instead of replacing its existing content, the university added several original studies to its website. Its professors were also used as experts for media opportunities.

The research was promoted directly to journalists, while the academic experts helped strengthen the university’s credibility.

The campaign generated links through traditional outreach as well as appearances on podcasts and other media channels.

For businesses considering this approach, a practical first step would be to identify one dataset that can be updated regularly.

It could be information from a government source, industry database or another reliable public dataset. The important thing is that the information can be analysed repeatedly to uncover new trends.

Can SEO Still Deliver Traffic With AI Overviews?

The growth of AI Overviews has led to concerns that traditional search rankings may become less valuable as users receive answers directly within search results.

However, Rowe argued that organic search can still deliver significant traffic.

Some of the research studies produced by his team have attracted traffic directly from AI-powered search results, while others have ranked highly for commercial keywords.

This suggests that original research can have value beyond simply earning backlinks.

One example involved research into office real estate. The study ranked financial districts in the US according to foreclosure risk and attracted coverage from publications including Axios, Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal.

The research was based on a scoring system that combined and weighted different pieces of information to produce the rankings.

This type of content has several advantages. It gives journalists something new to report, provides other websites with a reason to link to the research and gives search engines a useful source of original information.

Expertise Can Strengthen Research

Another important factor is the person behind the research.

Rowe highlighted a study produced by a plant science professor at Utah State University. The research performed strongly in search and became a primary source cited within AI Overviews for relevant searches.

Having a recognised expert involved can give research additional credibility, particularly in industries where accuracy and expertise are important.

This is particularly relevant to Google’s focus on demonstrating experience, expertise and trustworthiness within content.

Businesses do not necessarily need a famous expert. Someone with genuine qualifications or professional experience in the subject can help make a research project more authoritative.

Research Can Support GEO as Well as SEO

Original research is also becoming increasingly relevant to generative engine optimisation, or GEO.

AI systems need reliable information to produce answers, which means original datasets and well-supported research can become useful sources for AI-generated responses.

A brand does not necessarily need to create separate content specifically for every AI platform.

Instead, creating genuinely useful research can give the brand opportunities to appear in traditional search results, earn media coverage and become a source that AI systems reference.

However, being mentioned by an AI platform and receiving website traffic are not always the same thing.

Businesses should therefore monitor several different measures, including rankings, backlinks, brand mentions, AI citations, referral traffic and conversions.

What About Press Releases?

One question raised during the discussion was whether syndicated press releases can help improve authority and SEO.

Rowe’s view was that businesses should not rely on press release distribution networks as a primary link-building strategy.

Simply distributing a press release does not guarantee that journalists will write about the story or provide a valuable backlink.

The real value comes when a publication chooses to pick up the story and create its own article around it.

For this reason, press releases can still help with exposure, but they should not be treated as a replacement for genuine media coverage.

Will AI Cite Your Research Without Outreach?

Original research can potentially earn AI citations without extensive promotion, but it may take time.

A genuinely useful and unique study can rank and eventually become a source for AI-generated answers without a large outreach campaign.

However, distribution can still make a major difference.

If a study is published without any promotion, the research needs to be especially relevant to the search terms and questions people are asking.

For businesses investing significant time into research, combining strong content with targeted digital PR can give the study a much better chance of being discovered by journalists, websites and AI systems.

What About Local Businesses?

The same strategy can also work for local businesses.

Companies such as home improvement firms, photographers and other local service providers can look for issues or trends that matter within their local area.

For example, a business could investigate a local consumer concern, analyse publicly available regional data or conduct a survey of residents.

The key is finding a topic that is interesting to local audiences and gives journalists a clear reason to cover the story.

Local research can therefore provide smaller businesses with an opportunity to earn media coverage without competing directly with large national brands.

Are AI Platforms Sending Valuable Traffic?

Another finding from Rowe’s work is that traffic from AI platforms can be relatively low in volume but potentially valuable.

Visitors who arrive through platforms such as ChatGPT may be more likely to convert than some other sources.

This does not mean AI search has replaced Google. Traditional search still provides considerably more traffic in many cases.

However, businesses should not judge AI visibility purely by the number of visitors it sends.

A smaller number of highly relevant visitors can still be commercially valuable if those users are more likely to make an enquiry, purchase a product or become a customer.

The Future of Link Building

The biggest lesson from this approach is that link building is increasingly becoming a by-product of creating something worth referencing.

Instead of asking how many backlinks a piece of content can generate, businesses should consider whether the research provides information that journalists, customers and other websites cannot easily find elsewhere.

Original data can then serve several purposes at the same time.

It can support SEO rankings, generate digital PR coverage, increase brand awareness, provide material for social media and give AI systems a credible source to reference.

For businesses looking to improve their visibility across both traditional search and AI platforms, investing in useful, well-researched and regularly updated information could prove more effective than simply producing large volumes of standard SEO content.