Search Engine Land urges agencies to earn links through useful content

Useful content first, links second

The cleanest takeaway from Adam Tanguay’s argument is simple: stop treating link building like a separate outbound chore and start designing content that people actually want to reference. That shift matters because the best links are no longer just “placements,” they are proof that your material has enough value to be cited, shared, and trusted.

Tanguay frames this as link intent, and that phrase does the heavy lifting. Instead of asking how many links you can buy, pitch, or chase, the better question is who in the niche would care, why they would care, and what would make the piece worth citing. That is a more durable model for agencies, because it ties content strategy, outreach, and authority into one plan instead of three disconnected services.

Why this matters more now

Backlinks still matter for Google, but the bar has moved. Google Search Central says its ranking systems are designed to prioritize helpful, reliable, people-first information created to benefit users, not content made to game rankings. Its helpful-content guidance pushes the same standard further by asking whether a page offers original information, substantial value, insightful analysis, and whether it is the kind of thing someone would bookmark, share, or recommend.

That becomes even more important in AI search. Google’s spam policies say deceptive tactics meant to manipulate Search or generative AI responses can trigger lower rankings or removal from results, and Google now explicitly says those spam rules apply to generative AI responses in Google Search. In other words, the old habit of stuffing the web with thin pages and manufactured mentions looks even shakier in a system that is increasingly judging usefulness and trust together.

What link intent looks like in practice

Link intent is not a slogan, it is a planning filter. If the content is built to earn links, the agency has to know what kind of citation it is trying to deserve. That might mean original research, a sharp point of view, a practical explainer, a data-led roundup, or a resource that fills a gap in the category.

The point is not volume for its own sake. Tanguay’s critique is that many agencies still sell link building like a fixed-number commodity, promising a set count of placements without designing assets that can keep paying off after the report is delivered. That can work in the short term, but it often misses the larger business effect: referral traffic, brand authority, and the kind of visibility that compounds when a piece keeps earning attention.

How agencies can build a better model

The practical move is to fold link building, digital PR, and content creation into the same editorial process. When those teams work separately, the content team ships assets that are easy to publish but hard to promote, while outreach teams end up begging for attention around mediocre pages. When they are aligned from the start, the piece is shaped to answer a real audience need and to make outreach feel like amplification instead of interruption.

A good agency workflow looks more like this:

• Start with the audience and the citation target.
• Build a page around a specific reason someone would reference it.
• Add data, analysis, or a distinctive angle that makes it genuinely useful.
• Plan outreach before publication, not after.
• Measure success across links, referral traffic, and authority, not just raw placement counts.

That model is more margin-friendly because it replaces repetitive manual grinding with repeatable strategy. A well-planned asset can support rankings, bring in referral traffic, and strengthen brand perception at the same time. A pile of one-off placements rarely does all three.

Why this is a better agency sell

This is where the business case gets stronger. Clients do not actually want a spreadsheet full of isolated links if those links do not move the brand forward. They want authority that compounds, and that is exactly where a useful-content strategy gives agencies a cleaner story to sell.

Instead of pitching a commodity package, agencies can sell thought leadership, data, and distribution. That is a more defensible offer because it gives the client something beyond placement count. It turns the agency into a partner in building reputation, not just a vendor trading emails for links.

Google’s documentation backs the direction

Tanguay’s argument lands harder because Google’s own guidance points the same way. Helpful content is supposed to be original, substantial, insightful, and worth bookmarking or sharing. Spam policies are written to catch deceptive behavior, including attempts to manipulate generative AI responses. Google’s Search documentation updates also note a May 2026 clarification that these spam policies apply to generative AI responses.

That creates a real strategic shift for agencies. If the content is built to persuade humans and survive Google’s quality filters, it has a better shot at being cited in traditional search and surfaced in AI-driven experiences too. The old shortcut mindset is getting riskier while the useful-content mindset is getting more valuable.

Why Tanguay’s perspective carries weight

Tanguay is not presenting this as a one-off thought piece. His author page identifies him as Head of Growth at Jordan Digital Marketing, where he joined in February 2019, and his 2026 writing has repeatedly returned to AEO, brand mentions, content strategy, competitive research, and AI search visibility. That pattern matters because it shows a sustained focus on authority signals beyond classic backlinks.

Taken together, the message is consistent: build something worth referencing, then use outreach to help the right people find it. That is a better fit for the current search landscape than treating links as a quota. For agencies that want higher margins and stronger client retention, useful content is not a softer sell. It is the more serious one.