After launch
Directory backlinks: what 36 directories' listing links really are
Directory backlinks are often not what the sales page suggests. On 31 October 2026 we tried to read listing links on 36 software, launch and AI directories. We could read 14. Of those, 7 linked directly without nofollow on every listing we sampled, 2 were mixed, 3 went through the directory's own redirect and 2 used a redirect with nofollow. Eleven blocked us or errored, 8 did not show the link in raw HTML and 3 were gone. Check your own listing rather than relying on any list.
In this guide
What do directory backlinks actually look like?
The link on a directory listing comes in several forms, and the form can change by plan or popularity. We sampled up to three listing pages per directory and read the visit link in the raw HTML.
| What we found | Directories | Which ones |
|---|---|---|
| Direct link, no nofollow, on every sampled listing | 7 | Fazier, Uneed, Microlaunch, Startup Stash, Tool Pilot, AIcyclopedia, Twelve Tools |
| Mixed across sampled listings | 2 | Open Launch (nofollow on 1 of 3), AI Tools Directory (its own link subdomain on 1 of 3) |
| Through the directory's own redirect | 3 | BetaList, FutureTools, Dang.ai |
| Through a redirect with nofollow | 2 | SaaS AI Tools, SourceForge |
| No listing link found in raw HTML | 8 | DevHunt, SaaSworthy, Easy With AI, Insidr, Futurepedia, Peerlist, SaaSHub, Crozdesk |
| Blocked our request or returned an error | 11 | G2, Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice, AlternativeTo, There's An AI For That, Toolify, TopAI.tools, Product Hunt, StackShare, Slant |
| Gone or not responding | 3 | AI Tool Hunt, AI Scout, AI Tool Guru |
Why a link without nofollow is not the whole answer
A followed link can depend on conditions. Uneed's pricing page ties the followed link on its free route to an upvote score of 20, and on its fast-track to a score of 10. Open Launch gives free launches a followed link only in the top 3, while its USD 9 launch has one from day one. That fits what we saw: one of the three Open Launch listings carried nofollow.
So a popular listing in our sample does not tell you what your listing will get. Read the terms for the plan you are on, then look at your own page after it goes live.
What about redirect links?
A redirect still sends visitors, and it lets the directory count clicks. It is less clear what it does for search. BetaList's visit address had no robots.txt rule against it and redirected to the startup's site. FutureTools' robots.txt disallows its /go/ path, so crawlers that follow that file won't request those redirects. SaaS AI Tools and SourceForge also added nofollow to the links we sampled, and the SourceForge pages we opened were large vendors, so their links may differ from a free listing.
We can't tell you how Google treats each of these. Google says rel values such as nofollow act as hints, and it does not publish a value for individual directories. Plan around what you can observe.
Are directory backlinks good for SEO?
They can give a new product a few relevant references, but this data doesn't measure ranking benefit and we won't claim one. Google's spam policies include low-quality directory links in their examples of link spam, while not ruling out every directory. Value tends to come from fit: a maintained directory, a category your buyers browse and a listing that describes you accurately.
Referral visits are often the better test. A nofollow listing that sends sign-ups is worth more than a followed link on a page nobody opens. See how to evaluate backlinks for your SaaS and where SaaS backlinks should point.
How to check your own directory link
Do this after your listing is live, and record the date, because directories change their templates.
- Open your listing in a normal browser and right-click the link to your site, then choose Inspect.
- Read the href. Does it go straight to your domain, or through an address on the directory's site?
- Read the rel attribute. Note nofollow, ugc or sponsored if present.
- If it redirects, open it once and check that it lands on the right page.
- Open the directory's /robots.txt and look for a rule covering that redirect path.
- Check again in a few months, then use the Google Search Console links report to see whether Google has recorded the link.
What this means if you buy submissions
A list that labels every entry as dofollow can't be taken at face value, since some links here depend on plan or popularity and many pages couldn't be read automatically. Ask a seller how and when each entry was checked. Our comparison of directory submission services covers what to ask. Simple Backlinks reports live links separately and with dates, and we don't promise a link type on any directory, because the directory decides.
How we checked
We tried 36 software, launch and AI directories on 31 October 2026, without logging in, using a labelled automated request and pauses between pages. We sampled up to three public listings from each site's own links, which favours recently featured or large products. Because we read raw HTML, a link built by JavaScript counts as not visible even if your browser shows it, so a site in that row may have ordinary links. Sites that blocked us may also be fine for human visitors. This is a one-day snapshot and not a quality ranking.