Gustav The idea, in one sentence: being genuinely mentioned in relevant, credible places is what builds authority, and a pile of cheap links from unrelated sites adds little and can actively work against you.
Why it matters
Both doors judge you partly by the company you keep. Google has spent years learning to discount manipulative links, and its spam systems devalue or penalise obvious link schemes. AI models weigh how often, and in what context, you are credibly mentioned. A real mention on a relevant site is a vote that counts. A link from an unrelated blog that exists only to sell links is, at best, ignored.
What it looks like in practice
I recently reviewed the backlink profile of a company paying well every month for "SEO". Almost every link came from a network of unrelated low-authority blogs, with near-identical keyword anchors pointing at their money pages. One was an e-cigarette site linking to a home-renovation service. The only genuinely strong links were business directories the company could have created itself for free. They were paying for volume that bought them nothing durable, and carried a quiet risk.
Contrast that with one real mention: a relevant trade publication, an industry directory that matters, a genuine recommendation in a community where your customers actually are. One of those outweighs a hundred of the others.
How to do it
Get listed in the directories and portals that are real in your industry (the ones a customer might actually use). Earn genuine mentions: be quoted, contribute something useful, partner with adjacent businesses. Be present and helpful where your topic is discussed. The aim is citation in context, your name connected to your topic in places that mean something, not a raw link count.
The pitfall to avoid
Paying for bulk link-building because the number looks impressive. "300 backlinks" sounds like progress and is usually a warehouse of nothing, occasionally a warehouse you can be penalised for. Fewer, real, relevant citations beat hundreds of weak ones every time. If a link would embarrass you to show a customer, it is not helping you with Google or with AI either.