# Backlink

> What a backlink is, why quality beats quantity, and why for AI assistants mentions of your brand count as well — even without any link at all.

Synonyms: backlinks, inbound link, incoming link

A backlink is created when another website links to yours. For search engines it has always been one of the strongest signals: a site that gets links from respected, relevant sites is considered more trustworthy. Quality matters, not quantity — bought or swapped links violate Google's guidelines and can do harm.

For AI assistants the weight shifts: they also get to know a business through mentions in the press, directories, forums or trade articles, often without any link at all. Such mentions belong to [earned media](https://btlabs.dev/en/glossary/earned-media).

Building backlinks is relationship and PR work, not a software feature. Once Bing Webmaster Tools is connected, btlabs Core shows which backlinks Bing knows for your most-linked pages, including the link texts — you can analyze them and learn from them there, but building them happens outside.

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Source: https://btlabs.dev/en/glossary/backlink
Last-Modified: 2026-09-25T15:08:58.092Z
Languages: [de](https://btlabs.dev/llms/de/glossary/backlink) · [it](https://btlabs.dev/llms/it/glossary/backlink)
See also: [llms.txt](https://btlabs.dev/llms.txt) · [ai.txt (Policy)](https://btlabs.dev/ai.txt) · [identity.json](https://btlabs.dev/identity.json)