Link building for startups
You have no brand, few links and little budget. LinkGecko finds the lists, threads and podcasts behind your category's AI answers, then shows which ones a small team can land first.
Find your link targets →7-day free trial · $0 due today · first analysis in minutes
How AI answers pick brands
Incumbents hold the big roundups through years of reviews and backlinks. Answers to narrow questions like 'invoicing tool for freelancers in Germany' often cite a small blog post or a single thread. A founder with a good email can reach those pages.
What missing a cited page costs
Each open question goes to the first product a cited page mentions. Once a rival takes that spot, getting added means persuading an editor to reopen a list they consider finished.
How LinkGecko finds link targets
LinkGecko maps your category's buying questions and shows which are held and which are open. For each one it lists the cited pages and flags those that mention a competitor. Outreach emails, thread replies and podcast pitches arrive drafted.
Each capability has its own section on the features page.
Where AI answers find their sources
Startups have one edge in AI answers: freshness. A recent mention of a new product in a specific roundup can beat an incumbent's stale coverage on niche questions. 'Alternative to' questions favor challengers, since incumbents cannot answer them without underselling themselves.
Steps from first run to placement
You enter your domain or a buyer question like “best invoicing tool for freelancers free”. The agent maps your competitors, drafts the questions buyers ask, and puts each one to live AI answer engines.
Each answer is kept in full with the pages it cited. Sources flags every cited page that names a competitor and leaves you out.
The plan drafts an email for each cited site worth pitching and a reply for each quoted thread. Journalist and podcast requests come from a separate feed, matched to your brand with a pitch attached.
The Auto-agent re-runs every week and emails what changed. Answer share across runs shows whether new mentions moved the answers.
AEO, GEO and link building, defined
Answer engine optimization (AEO) gets your brand named when an AI assistant answers a question like “notion alternative for small teams”. Generative engine optimization (GEO) pursues the same goal under another name.
Both depend on third-party pages. AI answers often cite reviews, lists and threads ahead of vendor sites, so link building here means earning mentions on the pages answers read. SEO still ranks your own pages in a list of links.
How startups use LinkGecko
Sources shows which niche blogs and newsletter roundups get cited for specific questions. Their editors tend to reply to founders, which national publications rarely do.
Product Hunt and similar launch pages sometimes appear among cited sources for new categories, and a launch there then makes the plan. LinkGecko does not suggest bulk directory-submission packages.
Threads asking for an alternative to the market leader get quoted in 'X alternative' answers. The plan drafts a disclosed founder reply for each cited one.
The Auto-agent re-runs every week and emails what changed. Next month's outreach can go to the kinds of sites that moved answers this month.
What startups ask us
We have zero domain authority. Can we really earn citations?
On specific questions, yes. Editors of small roundups tend to judge the product, not your domain metrics. Incumbent authority protects head terms far better than the long tail.
How much time does this take a solo founder?
The analysis runs on its own. Acting on it fits a few hours a week: two or three outreach emails, one thread reply and one podcast pitch.
Is this a replacement for SEO or ads?
No. It adds a channel you can run alongside whatever already works, and the trend chart shows whether it earns more of your time.
What does the trial include?
Seven days with 5 credits and every feature included. A card is required but nothing is charged today, and you can cancel anytime.
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Your answer share, the cited pages that name rivals instead of you, and outreach drafted for each, in minutes. Free for 7 days, cancel anytime.
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