Signals
Top backlink directories for new launches: which ones actually work
By Arnav Mukherjee, founder of TofuBofu · July 17, 2026
When I started listing TofuBofu, I fell into the same rabbit hole everyone does: which directories give a dofollow link, because that is what every SEO blog obsesses over. Then I noticed something more useful. The directories that barely pass any link equity, G2 and Capterra and Crunchbase, were the ones AI engines actually quoted back when I asked ChatGPT for tool recommendations in our category.
The backlink was almost beside the point. So let me save you the rabbit hole. For a brand new launch, the point of directories is not link juice. It is that these listings are exactly the pages AI engines cite when a buyer asks for the best tool for a job. Chase citations and first discovery, not dofollow counts.
Do backlink directories even work in 2026?
Yes, for two reasons that have nothing to do with the old backlink math. First, first discovery: a listing on a directory people browse is a genuine front door for a product no one has heard of yet. Second, AI citations: directories and review sites are high-trust, structured, and comprehensive, which is exactly what AI engines lean on. Being listed is how you get named in an answer.
What has stopped working is treating directories as a link farm for Google rank. That game is mostly dead. The discovery-and-citation game is very much alive.
dofollow vs nofollow: what actually matters for a launch
Quick definitions, because the jargon trips people up. A dofollow link passes ranking signal to your site. A nofollow link tells Google not to count it as an endorsement. Since 2019, Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a hard rule, so authoritative nofollow sources can still pass some value.
Here is the part most SEO advice gets wrong for launches. For a new product with no domain authority yet, chasing dofollow links is optimizing the wrong variable. You do not have enough authority for a handful of directory dofollows to matter much. What moves your needle on day one is showing up where buyers and AI engines look. Some of those places are nofollow. Do them anyway.
The free dofollow set worth your afternoon
These give a real dofollow link on the free tier and are relevant to most SaaS or B2B products. Knock them out in one sitting. Domain ratings shift, so treat them as directional.
| Directory | Note |
|---|---|
| SaaSHub | The big one. A SaaS cross-reference hub whose listing keeps accruing views and equity over months. |
| AlternativeTo | List yourself as an alternative to the incumbents in your category. That phrasing gets picked up and cited. |
| F6S | Startup profile, dofollow, high domain rating. |
| BetaList | Good for pre-launch and early launch visibility. |
| Indie Hackers | Founder profile plus product page, dofollow, an on-brand audience for builders. |
| Launching Next | Free, permanent dofollow, and listings that surface in long-tail search for years. |
| Smol Launch / StartuPage | Free dofollow startup profiles worth the few minutes each. |
| Turbo0 / findly.tools | Indie and AI-tool directories with strong domain rating, but they require a badge on your site to lock the dofollow link. |
Also cross-post your launch content to Medium, Dev.to, and Hashnode with canonical tags. Those carry dofollow links in the body and double as pages AI engines can read.
The nofollow ones you should still do, and why
G2, Capterra, Crunchbase, and Product Hunt are all nofollow. Do them first anyway. These are the single most-cited sources when someone asks an AI engine for a recommendation in a software category. Kevin Indig's analysis with G2 found G2 alone holds 22.4% share of voice for software in AI answers, and that roughly 10% more reviews correlates with about 2% more AI citations. Crunchbase carries a very high domain authority, so even as a nofollow hint it can pass signal.
The link type is not the point. Being in the source AI reads is the point. This is the same logic behind why your SEO tool alone is not enough for AI search, and why G2 is worth its own playbook.
The trap: 1000-directory bulk lists
You will find lists promising a thousand-plus free dofollow backlink sites. Skip almost all of them. Most are low-authority link farms, and a link from a site with no trust is worth less than nothing for a brand whose credibility you are trying to build. Worse, blasting your URL across hundreds of junk directories in a day is the exact footprint spam filters look for. Quality of source beats quantity of links, every time, and doubly so in the AI-citation era where trust is the whole game.
How to submit without tripping spam filters
Keep the velocity natural: roughly 3 to 10 new listings a week, not 200 in an afternoon. Vary your listing copy a little so 300 sites do not carry a byte-identical blurb. Prioritize relevance over raw domain rating: a niche directory your buyers actually browse beats a generic high-DR one they never visit. And fill listings out fully, because complete, structured profiles get accepted more and get cited more.
List first, then measure if it worked
A free scan asks your category's buying questions across six engines and shows where you are cited and who is named instead, so you can tell directories that moved the needle from ones that did not.
Run your free scanHow do you know it worked?
Do not just count links. Count citations. After you list, ask the engines the buying questions in your category and see whether you now get named, and from which sources. Your TofuBofu AI Visibility Index, or AVI, is that scoreboard: it tracks whether the listings turned into mentions, engine by engine, rather than leaving you to guess from a pile of dofollow badges. That is the only measure that reflects what directories actually buy you in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Are nofollow links from directories useless?
No. Since 2019 Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a hard directive, and authoritative sites can still pass value. More importantly, nofollow directories like G2 and Capterra are top sources for AI citations, which for a new launch often matters more than link equity. You are chasing the citation, not the link.
How many directories should I submit to?
Prioritize maybe 15 to 30 relevant, reputable ones over a bulk blast to hundreds. Coverage of trusted, on-topic directories beats raw volume, and it will not trip spam filters. A link from a directory nobody browses and no engine trusts is worth less than nothing when your whole goal is to build credibility.
Should I pay for a directory submission service?
Only to save time on the grunt work. Services submit you to 60 to 200 or more directories for roughly 35 to 300 dollars, but they do not make a product worth listing. Do the high-value directories by hand first, then use a service for the long tail if your time is worth more than the fee.
Do directory backlinks help me rank on Google?
A little, and less than SEO blogs claim for a new site with low authority. Their bigger 2026 value is discovery and AI citations. Optimize for being listed where buyers and AI engines actually look, not for accumulating dofollow counts that barely move a young domain.
Which directories do AI engines cite most for software?
G2 leads by a wide margin. Kevin Indig's analysis with G2 found it holds about 22.4 percent share of voice for software in AI answers, followed by other review and comparison sites like Capterra and Clutch. Getting listed and reviewed there is a direct citation play, even though those links are nofollow.
Is there any harm in listing everywhere I can?
Yes, if everywhere means hundreds of junk directories at once. Low-trust links and a spiky submission pattern can hurt more than help. Stick to relevant, reputable sources at a natural pace of a few to ten a week, and fill each listing out fully so it gets accepted and cited.
Sources and further reading
- Kevin Indig, analysis with G2: G2 holds about 22.4% share of voice for software in AI answers, and roughly 10% more reviews correlates with about 2% more AI citations
- Profound research on AI answer engines: Clutch accounts for roughly 2.4% of citations, part of the review-site cluster AI leans on
- Google: Evolving nofollow (2019): the change that made nofollow a hint rather than a strict directive