Backlinking: Platforms to Build Authority

Introduction

If you run a B2B sales org today, you already feel the shift: buyers show up to calls knowing your competitors, reading your reviews, and sometimes quoting your own blog posts back to you.

What you may not see as clearly is where they formed those opinions.

They are not just reading your website. They are on G2 and TrustRadius. They are skimming industry blogs. They are listening to podcasts. They are comparing you on review grids and app marketplaces long before they ever talk to an SDR.

All of those touchpoints have one thing in common: they are powered by backlinks.

Backlinks used to be treated as a pure SEO concern, something the marketing team did in the background. But when organic search generates 53% of inbound leads and 44.6% of B2B revenue, the platforms that link to you are effectively part of your revenue engine, not just your rankings report. Omniscient Digital

In this guide, we are going to talk about backlinking the way a VP of Sales or CRO cares about it:

• Why backlinks still matter for pipeline and revenue in 2025
• Which platforms actually build authority with B2B buyers (not just with Google)
• How to prioritize review sites, PR, podcasts, partner directories, and communities
• How to plug authority platforms into your SDR and AE workflows
• When to bring in an outbound partner like SalesHive to amplify the impact

Let’s treat backlinking like what it really is: a GTM motion that can either accelerate or quietly choke your pipeline.

Why Backlinks Still Matter for B2B Revenue

Buyers are using search and reviews, not talking to reps

B2B buying has gone self‑serve. According to recent research, 66% of B2B buyers use search engines when researching products, and 68% say they prefer to do that research online. WifiTalents

Even more painful for traditional sales orgs: 77% of buyers say they will not speak to a salesperson until they have completed their research.

So by the time your SDR finally connects, the buyer has already seen:

• Which vendors dominate Google for key terms
• Which products top category pages on G2 and Capterra
• Which names show up on podcasts, in newsletters, and in expert round‑ups

Backlinks are one of the core signals that decide which vendors show up in all those places.

SEO and backlinks are directly tied to pipeline

Marketers are sometimes guilty of talking about SEO as if it lives in its own world, but B2B numbers connect it straight to revenue:

• Organic search generates 53% of inbound leads and 44.6% of B2B revenue. Omniscient Digital
• Organic search is among the most effective B2B marketing channels for driving revenue, with about 23% of marketers citing it as a top driver. DBS Interactive Backlinko
• Pages ranking in the top 10 have roughly 3.8x more backlinks than lower-ranked pages, underscoring the tight correlation between backlinks, rankings, and the traffic that feeds your funnel. SearchLogistics

When you zoom out from keyword rankings to revenue, the logic is simple:

1. Authority backlinks →
2. Higher rankings and more visibility on third‑party platforms →
3. More high-intent traffic from ICP buyers →
4. More demo requests and more engaged outbound conversations →
5. Higher pipeline and better win rates

Backlinks now matter for AI search, too

Generative AI did not kill links; it arguably made authority more important.

In a 2025 Editorial.Link survey of over 500 SEO professionals, 73.2% said backlinks influence the chance of appearing in AI search results such as Google’s AI Overviews and other AI assistants. Editorial.Link

Think about that from a sales perspective. If AI overviews become the new “above the fold” in SERPs, and those AI summaries primarily reference brands with strong authority signals, then winning backlinks on trusted platforms is your ticket into that new top shelf.

In short: backlinks are not optional. They are part of your demand gen and sales enablement stack.

The Types of Backlinks That Actually Move the Needle in B2B

Not all backlinks are created equal. A random link from a sketchy blog nobody reads is not going to move your pipeline.

Let’s focus on the link types that do matter in B2B.

1. Review and marketplace backlinks

If you sell software or tech-enabled services, review and marketplace sites are the front door to your category:

• G2
• Capterra
• TrustRadius
• Gartner Peer Insights
• Niche or regional equivalents

A G2 study found that 86% of buyers use peer-review websites when making a purchase decision, and 60% said those reviews made them more confident in their choices. Demand Gen Report

These platforms usually give you at least one backlink:

• From your profile to your homepage or key landing pages
• Often from category pages or comparison pages

They also tend to rank very high for category and “best X software” searches, which means your presence there indirectly influences how much organic traffic you ever see.

2. Editorial and thought leadership backlinks

These are links from articles and resources on:

• Industry blogs and media sites
• Big vendor or partner blogs
• Niche newsletters and publications

They often look like:

• Guest posts or contributed articles
• Expert round‑ups ("10 CROs share how they…")
• Data studies and reports being cited by others

These links punch above their weight because they:

• Send qualified readers directly into your content
• Position your leaders as experts
• Build strong topical authority for SEO

3. PR and journalist-source backlinks

PR-style links come from news and media sites via:

• Press releases that get picked up
• Being quoted as an expert source in an article
• Contributing data or commentary to a story

Platforms like HARO (Help A Reporter Out), which was retired and then revived in 2025 after being acquired by Featured, as well as Qwoted and similar services, connect journalists with expert sources. Wikipedia

Responding consistently to relevant journalist requests can land you:

• Highly trusted backlinks from media domains
• Brand mentions that reinforce authority even without a link

4. Podcast, webinar, and event backlinks

Guest appearances on:

• Podcasts
• Webinars
• Virtual summits
• Panel discussions

Almost always generate backlinks from:

• Show notes on the host’s site
• YouTube descriptions
• Event pages and recap posts

Platforms like MatchMaker.fm exist specifically to connect experts with podcast hosts, giving you an efficient way to find shows that target your ICP and consistently land guest spots. MatchMaker.fm

For sales, these are gold because they create content your reps can send prospects: "Here’s a 20‑minute podcast where our VP of Sales walks through exactly how teams like yours fixed this problem."

5. Partner and ecosystem backlinks

If you integrate with or partner alongside other vendors, their ecosystems are link opportunities:

• App marketplaces (Salesforce AppExchange, HubSpot, Shopify, etc.)
• Integration or partner directories
• Co-marketing landing pages and resource hubs

These links often hit a sweet spot:

• Highly relevant to your product
• Trusted by buyers already using that platform
• Solid domain authority and strong referral traffic potential

6. Community and Q&A backlinks

These are links from:

• Communities (Slack groups, forums, niche membership sites)
• Q&A platforms like Quora or Stack Exchange
• Social platforms like LinkedIn posts and articles

Many of these are nofollow, but remember: 78.8% of SEOs believe nofollow links still impact rankings, and 80.9% think unlinked brand mentions matter as well. Editorial.Link

Even when they do nothing for PageRank, they:

• Put you in front of real people asking real questions
• Provide content socially that reps can reshare
• Show up in branded search results, giving prospects more reasons to trust you

Authority-Building Platforms B2B Teams Should Prioritize

Let’s get concrete. Here are the platform categories, with examples, that are worth your sales and marketing team’s time.

1. Review and comparison platforms

If you do nothing else after reading this, do this section.

Why these platforms matter

• 84-86% of B2B buyers use review sites when making purchase decisions. G2 Demand Gen Report
• Buyers trust them more than your own website copy.
• They dominate search results for category, comparison, and "best X" queries.

Core platforms

• G2, especially important for SaaS and tech
• Capterra, strong for SMB and mid-market software
• TrustRadius, deeper enterprise evaluations, strong in tech
• Gartner Peer Insights, enterprise software
• Niche review sites by vertical (e.g., healthcare, manufacturing)

How to use them for backlinking and sales

1. Claim and optimize your profiles

Add a strong description, target categories, screenshots, videos, and a clear link to your main conversion page (demo, trial, or key product page).

1. Drive a steady flow of reviews

Build review asks into your sales and CS process:

• SDR books meeting → AE closes deal → CSM onboards → automated email asks for a review after the first success moment.
• AEs ask delighted champions live for a review and send the link while on the call.

1. Turn reviews into outbound fuel

Create snippets from top reviews and use them in:

• Cold emails ("Here’s what a Director of RevOps at a 500‑person SaaS said about us on G2…")
• LinkedIn posts from your reps
• Late-stage deal emails when buyers are comparing vendors

1. Monitor competitor profiles

See which keywords and categories they dominate, and which gaps you can own with your own positioning and content.

2. Industry publications and blogs

These include:

• Industry news sites
• Analyst-style blogs
• Category creator blogs (think the big players in your space)
• High-signal LinkedIn newsletters

Why they matter

• They often have strong domain authority.
• Your ICP actively reads them to stay sharp.
• Backlinks from here tell both Google and buyers that you are a serious player.

How to get featured

• Pitch contributed articles on topics where your internal experts have real opinions.
• Offer exclusive data from your product or audience that helps them produce unique content.
• Volunteer your executives for quotes when they do multi-expert pieces.

From a sales angle, a solid byline or expert quote in a respected outlet is more than a link, it is a conversation starter:

> "Saw you also follow [IndustryPub]. Our CEO just did a deep dive there on exactly the problem you mentioned in your last post, thought you might find it useful."

3. PR and journalist-source platforms (HARO and friends)

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) has been a staple for years. It was briefly retired and rebranded as Connectively by Cision, then discontinued, but in 2025 the HARO platform was acquired and relaunched by Featured with a pledge to improve quality and reduce spam. Wikipedia

You also have:

• Qwoted
• Terkel / Featured
• Niche PR platforms and journalist mailing lists

Why they matter

• Media sites still carry significant domain authority.
• Being cited in articles your buyers read is powerful social proof.
• These mentions create backlinks and brand mentions that SEOs believe help rankings.

How to operationalize this

• Assign one marketing owner to scan journalist requests daily.
• Maintain a short list of SMEs (your CRO, VP Sales, Head of RevOps, top CSM) and their approved talking points.
• Build a small library of fast, quotable responses and stats so you can reply quickly when relevant requests come in.

Then make sure sales knows when you get coverage:

• Drop the article links into your sales Slack channel.
• Add the best pieces to a living "authority asset" doc SDRs can link in sequences.

4. Podcasts, webinars, and virtual events

Podcast and webinar appearances give you durable authority content plus backlinks from show and event pages.

Using platforms like MatchMaker.fm or agency equivalents, you can systematically pitch your executives and subject-matter experts to:

• Niche podcasts that serve your exact ICP
• Vertical-specific webinars and virtual events

Why they matter

• You reach buyers in a more intimate, long-form format.
• Hosts usually link to your site, your LinkedIn, and often a specific landing page.
• Clips can be repurposed for social, email, and sales enablement.

Tactical tips

• Create a one-page "guest media kit" for your CEO or VP of Sales with topics, bio, headshot, and key links.
• For each appearance, negotiate a link back to a relevant asset (not just your homepage), for example, a playbook, benchmark report, or ROI calculator.
• After the episode goes live, brief SDRs on two or three key soundbites they can reference in outreach.

5. Partner directories and ecosystems

If you integrate with or resell alongside other products, their ecosystems are built-in backlink machines:

• App marketplaces (Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, etc.)
• Partner directories for agencies, consultants, or ISVs
• Vendor resource hubs or "works with" pages

Why they matter

• High domain authority and strong category relevance.
• Show social proof via "official partner" or "certified" badges.
• Often send highly qualified traffic from buyers already committed to that stack.

How to maximize value

• Make sure your listing includes a compelling description, updated screenshots, and a CTA that matches intent (e.g., "Book a 15‑minute integration consult").
• Coordinate co-marketing with partners: guest posts on their blog, joint webinars, and case studies, all of which typically include multiple backlinks.

6. Communities, Q&A sites, and social platforms

Think of:

• Quora and Stack Exchange-type sites
• Reddit and niche forums
• Private Slack or Discord communities
• LinkedIn posts, articles, and newsletters from your team

Most of these links are technically nofollow, but they still matter because:

• They influence what shows up on page one when someone searches your brand.
• They give SDRs conversational proof: "We had a great thread on this in the RevOps Slack last week, here’s a recap."
• They often drive the warmest referral traffic you’ll ever see.

For backlinking, have marketing and sales leaders consistently:

• Answer real questions with real depth (not drive‑by links).
• Link sparingly but clearly to relevant resources when they genuinely help.
• Repurpose the best threads into owned content that can attract traditional backlinks.

Building a Practical Backlink Playbook Your Team Can Run

You do not need a 30‑page SEO strategy deck. You need a simple, repeatable playbook that maps directly to revenue.

Here is a practical framework you can implement over the next 90 days.

Step 1: Identify your “money pages”

Work with marketing and RevOps to pick 5-10 pages that most directly support pipeline:

• Product or solution pages tied to your main offerings
• High-intent blog posts ("how to choose X software", "X vs Y" comparisons)
• Pricing, ROI, or calculator pages
• Integration pages for major partners

These are the URLs you most want authoritative backlinks pointing to.

Step 2: Audit your current authority and competitive gap

Use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to:

• See how many referring domains each money page has today.
• Benchmark against your top 3-5 competitors for those same topics.
• Identify which competitors are getting links from review sites, media, podcasts, and directories you are not on yet.

Share a simple one-page summary with sales leadership so everyone understands where you are starting.

Step 3: Pick 2-3 platform types to focus on per quarter

Trying to do everything at once guarantees half-executed plays.

For most B2B teams, a sensible first-quarter focus looks like:

1. Review platforms
2. Industry publications / guest content
3. Podcasts / webinars

You can add PR platforms and deeper partner ecosystems in later quarters once the core motion is running.

Step 4: Assign owners and integrate with SDR workflows

Make backlinking a team sport:

• Marketing owns strategy, messaging, and content production.
• Sales leadership helps prioritize platforms based on where deals actually come from.
• SDRs/BDRs contribute targeted outreach to editors, hosts, and partners (they are already good at cold outreach).
• CSMs/AEs own the review generation and case study pipeline.

Examples:

• Give one SDR a target of 5-10 qualified podcast pitches per week, using a pre-approved template.
• Have each CSM secure at least one G2 or TrustRadius review per customer per year.
• Make "share latest third‑party coverage" a recurring task in your cadence updates.

Step 5: Systematize outreach

For each platform category, build a basic system:

Review sites

• Automated email from CSM after a key success milestone.
• Quarterly campaigns to closed‑won accounts asking for refreshed reviews.
• Small perks (swag, donation to charity) where allowed.

Industry publications

• Monthly review of target sites and upcoming editorial calendars.
• A simple pitch template offering a specific topic or data angle.
• Tracking in your CRM or project tool so you can forecast content going live.

Podcasts/webinars

• Short list of 30-50 shows that match your ICP.
• Reusable guest one‑sheet and short pitch.
• Process to notify sales and add the assets to your authority library when episodes go live.

Step 6: Measure what matters

Do not stop at counting links.

In your analytics and CRM, track for each platform type:

• New referring domains per quarter to your money pages
• Organic traffic change to those pages
• Demo requests and trial signups originating from organic search and key referral domains
• Opportunities and revenue where one of these touches appears in the journey

Report this alongside your outbound metrics so sales leaders see backlink platforms as part of the same revenue story, not a separate marketing vanity project.

How This Applies to Your Sales Team

Backlinks and authority platforms are not just for the SEO team. They are sales tools.

Here is how different parts of the sales org can use them.

SDRs: Better openers, higher reply rates

SDRs live and die by credibility. Third‑party platforms give them instant credibility:

• Cold emails:
• "We were just ranked a High Performer on G2 in your category…"
• "Our VP of Sales recently broke down this exact challenge on the [Podcast Name] show, here is a 3‑minute clip."
• Cold calls:
• "Not sure if you saw the TrustRadius report that just came out, we were one of three vendors highlighted for [specific use case]."
• Social touches:
• Sharing your latest guest article or webinar replay instead of generic marketing posts.

Every new backlink or mention is a fresh angle for SDR outreach.

AEs: De‑risking deals with third‑party proof

Late-stage deals often stall because buyers are scared of making the wrong call, not because they do not see value.

Authority platforms help AEs de‑risk the decision:

• Send review-site grids and filters showing strong ratings in the exact areas the buying group cares about.
• Include third‑party reports or articles where independent experts mention or compare you favorably.
• Use customer stories that live on other sites (partner blogs, industry publications) to prove you are not just cherry-picking your own testimonials.

These assets are especially powerful with CFOs, security teams, and non-champion stakeholders who come in late.

Sales leadership: Forecasting with organic and authority in mind

If organic search and review-site traffic drive a big chunk of your pipeline (and for many B2B orgs, they already do), then:

• You should see backlink and platform growth reflected in your pipeline forecasts.
• Drops in visibility on key platforms should raise the same alarms as a performance drop in outbound.

Align with marketing to:

• Set shared goals for organic- and review-influenced pipeline.
• Agree on which authority-building plays get GTM budget each quarter.
• Factor expected SEO and authority gains into territory and headcount planning.

RevOps: Connecting the dots in the data

RevOps can be the hero here by:

• Tagging leads and opportunities from specific referral domains (G2, TrustRadius, partner directories).
• Creating views that show how often those touches appear in closed-won vs. lost deals.
• Helping prioritize which platforms get more investment based on actual revenue impact.

When those dashboards show that, say, review-influenced deals close 20% faster at 15% higher ACV, nobody in leadership will argue about funding more review generation and authority outreach.

When to Bring in a Partner Like SalesHive

Backlink platforms and authority assets are only half the equation. Someone still has to put those assets in front of the right accounts, at the right time, with the right message.

That is where B2B outbound specialists like SalesHive come in.

SalesHive has booked 100,000+ meetings for over 1,500 B2B clients by combining US-based and Philippines-based SDR teams with an AI-powered sales platform. We know firsthand that authority content makes outbound work better, and that outbound can massively amplify the impact of your backlinking.

Here is how the pieces fit together:

• Authority as a door-opener: When you get a strong backlink or feature on a review site, podcast, or industry publication, SalesHive’s SDRs can immediately integrate it into cold calling and email scripts to boost reply and show rates.
• Outreach for link opportunities: The same skills and systems that book meetings can be aimed at editors, podcast hosts, association leaders, and partner managers to secure more guest spots, co-marketing opportunities, and directory listings.
• Data-driven iteration: With real-time reporting on email performance, call outcomes, and meetings booked, you can quickly see which authority assets resonate with your ICP and where to invest more effort.

If your internal team is stretched thin, pairing a focused SEO/backlink strategy with an outsourced SDR engine like SalesHive is one of the fastest ways to see both traffic and pipeline lift.

Conclusion + Next Steps

Backlinking is not about gaming algorithms anymore. It is about showing up credibly wherever your buyers do their homework.

The data is clear:

• Buyers research online, not with your reps.
• Organic search and review sites drive a disproportionate share of B2B revenue.
• High-quality backlinks from trusted platforms are still one of the strongest signals of authority, to both Google and humans.

To turn that reality into revenue, you do not need a PhD in SEO. You need a focused plan:

1. Identify the 5-10 pages that matter most for pipeline.
2. Prioritize authority platforms: reviews, industry pubs, podcasts, partner directories.
3. Build simple, repeatable outreach motions owned by marketing, SDRs, and CS.
4. Feed every new backlink and mention into your outbound and sales enablement.
5. Measure impact in terms of SQLs, opportunities, and revenue, not just rankings.

Do that consistently, and backlinking stops being an abstract SEO chore. It becomes a concrete way to make every cold call warmer, every email more credible, and every buying committee a little less nervous about choosing you.

If you want help turning authority content into booked meetings, that is exactly what SalesHive was built for. But even if you run this playbook entirely in-house, start now. The platforms your buyers trust are already shaping your brand, with or without you.