Why link-building outreach is worth doing
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines still treat links from respected sites as a sign that a page deserves to rank, and AI answer engines draw heavily on the pages search engines rank and other sites reference. If your competitors keep outranking you, or keep getting named in ChatGPT answers when you don't, the sites that link to them are often part of the reason.
Most small teams know this already. The problem is time. Good link building is slow, careful work:
- finding sites that would plausibly link to you
- deciding which page on your site they should link to
- finding the person who edits the page you want to be on
- writing a pitch that doesn't read like the hundred others in their inbox
- following up, and then checking whether the link ever appeared
The writing is the part people dread, but the research is what decides whether a pitch works. Editors ignore pitches that could have been sent to anyone. They answer pitches that show the sender read the page, noticed a real gap, and has something on hand that fills it. That kind of research across fifty sites is exactly the work an AI agent can do well, because it's mostly reading pages, comparing link data, and making a judgment about fit.
Kite is an AI marketer. It researches your business, builds a growth strategy, and ships the work that brings you new customers. For link building, it does the research, picks the targets, writes the pitches, and sends them from your own mailbox once you approve them.
How Kite builds backlinks with outreach pitches
Kite starts with what it already knows about your business. When your team signed up, Kite researched your company, your competitors, and your website's search presence, including how many sites link to you. So it already knows which competitors to compare you with and which of your pages are strong enough to pitch.
From there, the work follows a clear order. Kite decides which of your pages deserve links. It builds a list of sites worth asking, using backlink data and the sources AI answers cite, and it checks that each one is a real, relevant site. For each target, it reads the page where your link would sit, finds the person responsible for it, and drafts a pitch that names that page and the reason your link belongs there. You approve the pitches, and Kite sends them from your mailbox. A few weeks later, Kite checks which sites now link to you and drafts follow-ups for the ones that haven't answered.
You can work with Kite in the Kite web app or in Slack. Either way, the target list and the drafts arrive in the conversation where you asked.
- Decide which of your pages deserve the links
- Which websites should you ask for backlinks?
- Find the right person to pitch
- How do you write a link-building outreach email that gets replies?
- See which pitches earned a link
Decide which of your pages deserve the links
Kite starts by choosing what each pitch asks the other site to link to, because a pitch needs a page worth pointing at. Asking an editor to link to your homepage gives them nothing to offer their readers. Asking them to link to a useful guide, a set of original numbers, a free tool, or a clear comparison gives them a reason to say yes.
Kite looks at which of your pages already earn links, and which pages earn your competitors theirs. If most of a competitor's links point to an annual pricing survey, that tells you what your market likes to cite. Kite matches that against what you already have. Sometimes you already have the right page and it just needs to be pitched. Sometimes the right page is missing, and Kite proposes writing it first. On a site Kite hosts, or through a connected content system such as Webflow or WordPress, Kite can write and publish that page once you approve it.
Say you sell scheduling software for dog groomers. Your competitors' most-linked pages are a guide to pricing grooming services and a printable checklist for new salons. You have a blog post about pricing that's two years old and thin. Kite proposes updating it with current price ranges by region and service before any pitches go out, because the update turns a weak ask into a strong one.
Which websites should you ask for backlinks?
The best sites to ask are the ones that already link to sites like yours. Kite builds the target list from three sources, and each one gives the pitch a different reason to land.
- Sites that link to your competitors but not to you. Kite compares the sites linking to each of your competitors with the sites linking to you and picks out the ones that link to two or more competitors and never to you. Those sites already cover your category and have shown they're willing to send readers to products like yours.
- The sources AI answers cite. When Kite tracks your buyers' questions in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, it records which pages each answer cites. A roundup or guide that keeps appearing in those answers is worth a pitch twice over, because a link there can help your search rankings and your chances of being named in the answer.
- Pages that mention you without linking. Kite searches the web for articles that mention your company or product, reads each one, and notes the ones that don't link to you. These are the easiest pitches to win, because the writer already chose to write about you.
Kite then checks every site before it goes on the list. It looks at how many distinct websites link to each target and its domain rank score, so the list favors sites whose link carries weight. If you connect Moz, Kite also reads each site's Domain Authority and Spam Score, which flags sites that look like the link farms search engines penalize. Kite drops sites that have nothing to do with your audience, even when their numbers look good, because a link from an unrelated site helps neither of you.
For the groomer example, the list might include a pet-industry blog's roundup of salon software that names three of your competitors, a grooming trade association's resource page, a business-advice site whose article on starting a grooming business ChatGPT keeps citing, and a local news story that mentioned your company last spring without a link.
Find the right person to pitch
A pitch sent to a general inbox rarely reaches anyone who can add a link, so Kite finds the person responsible for each page. For an article, that's usually the writer named on the page or the editor who covers that topic. For a resource page or a directory, it's often whoever runs the site's content or partnerships.
Kite reads the target page to see who wrote it and when it was last updated. Then it looks up that person's public professional profile to confirm they still work there and still cover the topic. Kite's built-in research includes professional email addresses when its sources have one. If your team uses Hunter, Kite can also search the site's domain in Hunter for its editors and writers and verify each address before you send.
When Kite can't find a direct address, it tells you and suggests the next-best route, such as the site's editorial contact form or the writer's profile on LinkedIn.
How do you write a link-building outreach email that gets replies?
A link-building email gets replies when it's short, specific to one page, and useful to the person reading it. Kite writes every pitch around that rule. Each draft does four things:
- names the exact page on their site and the spot where your link would fit
- explains what's missing there, or what's out of date
- offers the specific page on your site that fills the gap
- makes the ask easy to say yes to, in a sentence
Kite writes in your brand's voice and uses what it knows about your business, so the pitch sounds like it came from someone at your company rather than an agency. It keeps the subject line plain and the email short enough to read in a few seconds. A pitch for the trade association's resource page might read like this:
Subject: A pricing guide for your new-groomer resources
Hi Dana,
Your "Starting a grooming business" resources page is the most useful list I've found for new salon owners. One thing it doesn't cover yet is pricing, which is the question we hear most from groomers in their first year.
We just updated our guide to grooming prices with current ranges by region and service, based on bookings from over 2,000 salons. It might be a good fit next to your business-plan template.
Here's the guide: [link]
Thanks for keeping that page up to date.
Sam
Different kinds of targets get different pitches. A writer whose article mentioned you without a link gets a short thank-you and a request to add it. A roundup that names your competitors gets a case for why your product belongs on the list, with the facts the writer would need to add you. Kite also drafts one follow-up for each pitch, to send if a week or two passes with no answer.
You review the pitches in the conversation and edit any you like. Once you approve them, Kite sends each one individually from your connected Gmail or Outlook account, or leaves them as drafts in your inbox if you'd rather press send yourself. Pitches go out under your name because editors respond to a real person at the company, and the replies come back to your inbox.
See which pitches earned a link
Link building only counts when the link goes live, so Kite checks the result. A few weeks after the pitches go out, or whenever you ask, Kite looks at the sites now linking to you and compares them with the target list. If you connect Moz, Kite can check up to 50 target pages at a time to see whether each one now links to the page you pitched.
Kite reports which sites added the link, which haven't yet, and which pitches are due a follow-up. It also notes which kinds of targets worked best. If the unlinked mentions converted well and the roundups didn't, the next list leans toward mentions. You can ask Kite to repeat the whole cycle every month, so the work keeps going without anyone having to remember it.
What you get
A page worth pitching
Kite picks the page on your site each pitch should point to, and proposes updating or writing one when the right page doesn't exist yet.
A vetted target list
The sites that link to your competitors but not to you, the sources AI answers cite, and the pages that mention you without a link, each checked for relevance and link strength.
A contact for each target
The writer or editor responsible for the page, with a professional email where one is available.
A pitch and a follow-up for each site
Short drafts in your brand's voice that name the target page, the gap, and the page on your site that fills it, ready for you to approve and for Kite to send from your mailbox.
A results check
A report of which sites now link to you, which pitches are due a follow-up, and what to pitch next.
How to get started
Get started for free and ask Kite in plain language. You might say, "Find ten sites that link to our competitors but not to us, and draft pitches for them," or "Who should we ask for links to our new pricing guide?"
Kite proposes the page to pitch and the list of target sites first, so you can cut or add sites before any pitches are written. Then it drafts a pitch for each site you keep. You don't need to connect anything to start, because Kite's backlink data and contact research are built in. If your team already works from Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, or Hunter, connect that account and Kite uses its data as well. Connect your Gmail or Outlook account when you want Kite to send the pitches for you.
Kite asks before it sends each round of pitches or publishes a new page on your site, until you trust it to handle more on its own.
Integrations used for link-building outreach
Kite's backlink data and contact research are built in, so the first round needs no accounts of your own. Connecting the SEO and email tools your team already uses adds their data to the target list and the contact search.
Find and vet the sites worth pitching
DataForSEO is built into Kite. It supplies the backlinks, linking websites, and domain rank Kite uses to compare you with competitors and find the sites that link to them but not to you.
Kite reads the websites linking to each competitor in Ahrefs, picks the strongest link from each site, and uses the linking page and its title to see exactly where your link could fit.
Kite compares the backlink profiles of several domains side by side in Semrush to find the sites that link to your competitors but not to you.
Kite reads each target's Domain Authority and Spam Score before outreach, then checks up to 50 pages at a time to see which ones now link to you.
Find the person to pitch
Common questions
Is link building still relevant to SEO?
Yes. Links from other websites are still one of the clearest signs to search engines that a page is worth recommending, and AI answer engines lean on the pages search engines rank. What has changed is that a few links from relevant, respected sites are worth far more than many links from directories and low-quality sites. That's why Kite builds small target lists of sites that already cover your category rather than large lists of any site that will accept a link.
How many pitches should I send, and how many links should I expect?
Start with ten to twenty well-matched pitches rather than hundreds of generic ones. Reply rates for cold link-building outreach are low across the industry, and the pitches that do get answered are almost always the specific ones. Kite reports which pitches earned links after each round, so you can see your own rate and decide whether to widen the list or tighten it.
Can Kite send the pitches for me?
Yes. Connect your Gmail or Outlook account, and once you approve a round, Kite sends each pitch individually under your name, then sends a follow-up to the sites that haven't answered. Editors are more likely to answer a real person at your company, and the replies come straight to the inbox you already use. If you'd rather send them yourself, Kite can leave the pitches as drafts in your inbox. Afterward, Kite checks which sites added the link.
Should I pay for links or offer a link swap?
Search engines treat paid links and arranged link swaps as attempts to game their rankings, and Google's guidelines say a paid link should be marked so it passes no ranking credit. Kite's pitches offer something the site's readers will find useful, such as a better guide, current numbers, or a correction, rather than money or a reciprocal link. If a site asks for payment in reply, Kite can help you decide whether a sponsored placement is worth it for the traffic alone.
How is this different from a link-building agency?
A link-building agency usually runs outreach from its own accounts and reports the links it placed. Kite does the research and writing an agency would do, using what it knows about your business and your competitors, and sends the pitches from your own mailbox, so every relationship stays with your company. For a look at the dedicated tools in this category, see Link Building Tools for Small Teams Coming soon .