{"id":1356,"date":"2025-11-03T08:01:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2025-11-03T08:51:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:51:43","slug":"1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: How We Earned 1,000+ Backlinks and Exploded Our SEO Visibility Across Google &#038; AI Overviews"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_52 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\" role=\"button\"><label for=\"item-69d69b3f6b00f\" ><span class=\"\"><span style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input aria-label=\"Toggle\" aria-label=\"item-69d69b3f6b00f\"  type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item-69d69b3f6b00f\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#The_Beginning\" title=\"The Beginning\">The Beginning<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_1_Laying_the_Groundwork\" title=\"Step 1: Laying the Groundwork\">Step 1: Laying the Groundwork<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_2_The_Hard_Way_to_Reach_Out\" title=\"Step 2: The Hard Way to Reach Out\">Step 2: The Hard Way to Reach Out<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_3_Credibility_and_Digital_PR\" title=\"Step 3: Credibility and Digital PR\">Step 3: Credibility and Digital PR<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_4_Making_Resources_That_Can_Move\" title=\"Step 4: Making Resources That Can Move\">Step 4: Making Resources That Can Move<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_5_Guest_posting_based_on_relationships\" title=\"Step 5: Guest posting based on relationships\">Step 5: Guest posting based on relationships<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_6_The_AI_Part\" title=\"Step 6: The AI Part\">Step 6: The AI Part<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_7_The_Results\" title=\"Step 7: The Results\">Step 7: The Results<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_8_Things_We%E2%80%99ll_Always_Remember\" title=\"Step 8: Things We&#8217;ll Always Remember\">Step 8: Things We&#8217;ll Always Remember<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Step_9_What_We_Would_Do_Differently\" title=\"Step 9: What We Would Do Differently\">Step 9: What We Would Do Differently<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/1000-backlinks-google-ai-visibility\/#Last_Thoughts\" title=\"Last Thoughts\">Last Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Beginning\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Beginning<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2023, our website was a well-kept secret. It had good content and some authority, but it was hard to find in the search results. We had tried guest posts, sharing on social media, and making numerous small changes, but something was still missing.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Backlinks are the currency of trust,&#8221; <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">every SEO expert said over and over.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seemed obvious at first, but then we found out that most of our links came from random, unrelated blogs that never sent us any visitors. That&#8217;s when we decided to start over, with <\/span><b>no shortcuts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>no bought links<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>no spam directories, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">just real connections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We created a plan to acquire 1,000 high-quality <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/link-building-strategies-in-seo\/\"><b>backlinks within six months<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and we would do it fairly and transparently.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Laying_the_Groundwork\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 1: Laying the Groundwork<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We laid the groundwork before sending out any emails.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We got together as a group and made a list of the things we really needed links for. The harsh truth is that you can&#8217;t get <a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/link-building-strategies-in-seo\/\">backlinks<\/a> if you don&#8217;t have content that people want to link to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We made five main assets as a result:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A report on SEO trends backed by data.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A PDF with a simple checklist for checking the quality of <a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/link-building-strategies-in-seo\/\">backlinks<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A tool that lets you classify keywords based on their intent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roundups of experts from Indian marketers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And some real success stories, including some of our own mistakes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The site finally had something to offer, not just ask for, when we uploaded these.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Note: Looking for a professional <a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/courses.php\">digital marketing course<\/a> that teaches you SEO and PPC? Enroll in NIDMM.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_The_Hard_Way_to_Reach_Out\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 2: The Hard Way to Reach Out<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We didn&#8217;t use any tools that automate things. All of the pitches were written by hand. I still remember those late nights when I had to rewrite subject lines for the hundredth time because &#8220;Quick collab?&#8221; didn&#8217;t sound right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We got in touch with journalists, bloggers, and founders who were real experts in marketing, SaaS, and local business. We didn&#8217;t beg for backlinks; instead, we gave value by saying things like &#8220;Here&#8217;s some new data your readers might like&#8221; or &#8220;We used your quote in our report.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only 23 of the first 200 emails were responded to. But 15 of them linked to us, and that small start changed everything.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Credibility_and_Digital_PR\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 3: Credibility and Digital PR<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also contacted digital magazines such as YourStory, TimesNext, and Inc42 to share new insights from our SEO tests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two news organizations picked up our story. That week, we acquired <\/span><b>120 backlinks naturally<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, all of which were from high-authority sites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No changing anchor text or swapping guest posts, just telling stories based on data. You could see the change in our analytics. Referral traffic increased, bounce rates decreased, and people began quoting us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/login\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_4_Making_Resources_That_Can_Move\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 4: Making Resources That Can Move<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We stopped thinking of backlinks as a &#8220;campaign&#8221; and started thinking of them as a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by-product<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of good assets. This was the turning point.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We made a list of the &#8220;Top 100 SEO Blogs in India.&#8221; It was a simple idea, but we wrote about each blog, including working links and short bios.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was almost funny what happened next: the blogs we listed started sharing our post because they were mentioned in it. In just two months, that one page got more than 300 backlinks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I learned: recognition leads to giving back.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_5_Guest_posting_based_on_relationships\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 5: Guest posting based on relationships<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We didn&#8217;t write guest posts to get links; we wrote to start conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The guest post &#8220;How Indian Startups Misunderstand SEO&#8221; went semi-viral because it was so brutally honest. A well-known SaaS founder shared it again, and three other sites picked it up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People listen and link when you stop trying to be perfect in SEO and start sounding like a real person.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_6_The_AI_Part\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 6: The AI Part<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Google<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> released its <\/span><b>AI Overviews<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>SGE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we saw something unexpected. AI summaries were using some of our pages as examples. We weren&#8217;t in first place, but our facts and ideas were in those short blurbs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was clear that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/gemini.google.com\/app\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>Google&#8217;s AI<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> still gets information from reliable, connected sources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more real people linked to our content, the more it appeared in these AI-generated answers. Backlinks weren&#8217;t just good for SEO anymore; they were also good for <\/span><b>AI to trust us<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_7_The_Results\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 7: The Results<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we checked Search Console six months later, we couldn&#8217;t believe it:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>1,043 total backlinks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from <\/span><b>312 referring domains.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Traffic from organic <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sources has increased by <\/span><b>187%.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AI Overviews are 60% more visible.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average keyword positions improved in all major groups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But this was the real win: our traffic felt alive for the first time. People were spending time on our pages, reading them, signing up for them, and even emailing us to work together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That&#8217;s when we figured out that backlinks aren&#8217;t just numbers; they&#8217;re signals of trust from the internet&#8217;s living network.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_8_Things_We%E2%80%99ll_Always_Remember\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 8: Things We&#8217;ll Always Remember<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three things stand out when I look back:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Real stories get real links.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Data is good, but emotion is better.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Follow-ups are important.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> After the third polite reminder, half of our links came in.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Be seen outside of your website.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Join discussions, leave comments on industry forums, and share your thoughts on LinkedIn.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Someone will eventually put the pieces together and link back every time you show up as yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_9_What_We_Would_Do_Differently\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 9: What We Would Do Differently<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We would restart this campaign at a slower pace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We would put more effort into building relationships first, such as getting to know small creators who later became big names. <a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/link-building-strategies-in-seo\/\">Backlinks<\/a> improve with age, so the ones you acquire today may be worth a lot more next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><b>If you want to become an Expert SEO from scratch, join our <a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/seo-training-course.php\">SEO training course in Dwarka, Delhi<\/a><\/b><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Last_Thoughts\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last Thoughts<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It sounds technical, but a <a href=\"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/link-building-strategies-in-seo\/\">backlink<\/a> is a link from one website to another. Someone is saying, &#8220;Hey, your work helped me.&#8221; I&#8217;ll tell other people about it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, yes, SEO tools and metrics are important, but what really makes a difference is a real connection. You can&#8217;t fake that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google&#8217;s algorithms are improving at understanding how people feel, but people remain the most trusted source on the web. And if you can get them to trust you, you&#8217;ll win every algorithm that comes after.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Beginning In 2023, our website was a well-kept secret. It had good content and some authority, but it was hard to find in the search results. We had tried <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","category-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1363,"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions\/1363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nidmm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}