Publish original statistics with clear methodology. Track citations via Google Alerts on the specific statistic phrasing + brand mention search. Reach out to citing-but-not-linking publishers requesting attribution link. Conversion: 28-52%
Publish original statistics with clear methodology. Track citations via Google Alerts on the specific statistic phrasing + brand mention search. Reach out to citing-but-not-linking publishers requesting attribution link. Conversion: 28-52% on professional outreach to legitimate publications. Best for sites with original research or published benchmarks (which is exactly what we recommend for AEO regardless).
Prospect quality drives yield. The named criteria for this playbook: topical relevance to your content area, editorial discipline (real review process, not pay-for-placement), domain authority (DR 30+ is the realistic floor for measurable lift in 2026), audience overlap with your target market, and link-placement context (contextual editorial vs. footer / sidebar / list).
Apply criteria as a filter, not as a single ranked score — different prospects fail different criteria, and you want to disqualify on any failure rather than average across.
**Step 1: Prospect qualification.** Apply the criteria above. Disqualified prospects are removed before outreach effort starts.
**Step 2: Personalized outreach.** Generic outreach gets generic results. Each outreach cites specific context (named article, named author, named angle). Templates support efficiency but personalization carries the conversion.
**Step 3: Value proposition first.** Lead with what you offer (named asset, named quote, named research) rather than what you want (the link). The link is a side-effect of value provision.
**Step 4: Follow-up cadence.** 7-day follow-up after initial outreach for non-responders. Maximum 2 follow-ups before standing down. Persistent multi-follow-up degrades sender reputation.
Yield varies materially by prospect quality, asset quality, and outreach skill. The ranges cited in the playbook above are drawn from anonymized 2026 Canadian client campaigns. Sample-size context: each yield range is calculated across at minimum 100 outreach attempts in our portfolio.
Expect lower-end yield in the first 60 days as the prospecting machine is calibrated and outreach response patterns are learned. Yield typically improves 30-50% after the first quarter as patterns are refined.
**Generic outreach.** Templates without personalization carry materially lower conversion.
**Asset quality below threshold.** Outreach pitching weak content yields weak conversion. Invest in asset quality before scaling outreach.
**Wrong prospect set.** Pitching prospects with poor topical fit wastes outreach budget. Prospect qualification is the highest-leverage step.
**Over-aggressive follow-up.** More than 2 follow-ups degrades sender reputation and burns prospect goodwill.
**Confusing volume with success.** 100 low-DR irrelevant links carry less value than 10 high-DR contextually-relevant links.
Depends heavily on prospect-pool size in your topical area. Typical: 4-15 links per month per playbook for active programs in well-supplied topical areas.
First links typically arrive 14-45 days after outreach starts; the prospecting + outreach machine takes 30-60 days to reach steady-state response rates.
Per-playbook work: typically 8-25 hours per month including prospect generation, outreach, follow-up, asset production. Pricing scales with volume target.
Yes — the playbook is documented for in-house execution. Most clients benefit from agency execution because outreach response rates compound with prospect-relationship history that takes 6-12 months to build internally.