Press Release SEO. What Still Works, What Does Not and What to Do Instead.

We make wire service links nofollow. However, when we announce a press release and it is picked up by journalists and is published in full, with their own editorials, the links are real. Press release link building distributes newsworthy content to media outlets.

What Still Works

Press Release SEO in 2026. What Actually Moves the Needle.

Traditional press release distribution alone no longer moves rankings. Here is what actually works for SEO in 2026 and what you should avoid.

Weighing it up? Take a look at digital PR campaigns, turn data into coverage, and coverage in trade media.

01

Press Releases That Lead to Earned Media

Press releases are the lifeblood of many journalists and with a well crafted digital PR campaign, it is possible to encourage quality reporters to turn your content in to their own reports with your website as the link of choice.

02

Brand Entity Signal Generation

Google indexes and surfaces brand mentions. Even a press release released on a newswire will pick up a number of first wave branded mentions on sites that are aggregate news feeds for keywords and entities that have become relevant to your business.

03

Data-Driven Newsworthy Content

Press releases built around original data Media Relations 101: Getting Reporters to Cover Your News In days and weeks ahead, we’ll be posting more Media Relations 101 items, but this one stands by itself as a basic primer.

What Does Not Work

Press Release SEO Tactics That Stopped Working.

01

Mass Distribution for Link Building

N.B.: Wire service links are nofollow, and syndicated copies are considered duplicate content. In Aug. 2008, Google updated their official guidelines to say that links from press releases “should not be interpreted as votes that influence PageRank”.

02

Keyword-Stuffed Anchor Text

In the pre-Penguin days, keyword-rich anchor text in press releases was a common SEO tactic. Now, it can land your content in the spam filter. Normal conversations about a brand, however, are still okay.

03

Treating Distribution as Link Building

There are many agencies offering “link building” to customers and listing out “50+ placements” in reports when they simply and only mass syndicate press releases with nofollow links through automatic services. Not actual, editorial links.

04

Better Alternative: Editorial Link Building

Editorial link building Editorial link building creates high quality backlinks within contextual, published content on high authority domains. Our links are dofollow, indexed and provide a legitimate authority value.

Proof of placement

Real editorials on real publications.

Screenshots from live campaigns we run for brands, affiliates, and agency partners.

AOL editorial placement
AOLPlaced
MSN editorial placement
MSNPlaced
Nasdaq editorial placement
NasdaqPlaced
Yahoo editorial placement
YahooPlaced
GoBankingRates editorial placement
GoBankingRatesPlaced
Indie Hackers editorial placement
Indie HackersPlaced
Proof

Built for teams that need more than a list of websites.

Great value for agencies building at scale.

Very transparent, with incredible customer support. Highly recommend.

ABAustin BenoitTrustpilot

In another stratosphere with link building.

Real results that actually stick. Don't use anyone else, it's that simple.

LMLucas MateoTrustpilot

Good results in the SERPs, month after month.

Great quality at a fair price, with constant communication.

JHJosh HammerTrustpilot

The number one vendor in the market.

Phenomenal quality links, and I will keep being a returning customer.

EEdTrustpilot

Massive ranking gains in a brutal niche.

The results far exceeded my expectations. Real sites with real traffic.

MWMatthew WoodleyTrustpilot

Fast, reliable SEO and great support.

SERPChampion is awesome. Highly recommend working with these guys.

BLBrandon LiebowitzTrustpilot

Our Google ranking improved fast.

Very professional and effective link building. Patrick knows what he is doing.

SSSimon SchmidTrustpilot

One guest post paid for itself in two weeks.

I needed backlinks, but one placement generated a sale within the first two weeks.

TTiborTrustpilot

Penalty revoked within 25 days.

Hired these champs and within 25 days it was done. 200% recommended.

SSSuumit ShahTrustpilot

Real traffic, real relevance.

Great quality links from legit sites, very relevant to my clients' niches.

SSSotiris SotiriadisTrustpilot

Writing and placements are top of class.

I've used a lot of providers. The quality and service here is a class above.

RRyanTrustpilot

A professional, trusted firm.

Extremely reliable and dependable, with excellent communication.

MBMarc BermanTrustpilot

A marketplace that just works.

Great service, good backlink quality, everything runs smoothly.

JGJacob GTrustpilot

Great value for agencies building at scale.

Very transparent, with incredible customer support. Highly recommend.

ABAustin BenoitTrustpilot

In another stratosphere with link building.

Real results that actually stick. Don't use anyone else, it's that simple.

LMLucas MateoTrustpilot

Good results in the SERPs, month after month.

Great quality at a fair price, with constant communication.

JHJosh HammerTrustpilot

The number one vendor in the market.

Phenomenal quality links, and I will keep being a returning customer.

EEdTrustpilot

Massive ranking gains in a brutal niche.

The results far exceeded my expectations. Real sites with real traffic.

MWMatthew WoodleyTrustpilot

Fast, reliable SEO and great support.

SERPChampion is awesome. Highly recommend working with these guys.

BLBrandon LiebowitzTrustpilot

Our Google ranking improved fast.

Very professional and effective link building. Patrick knows what he is doing.

SSSimon SchmidTrustpilot

One guest post paid for itself in two weeks.

I needed backlinks, but one placement generated a sale within the first two weeks.

TTiborTrustpilot

Penalty revoked within 25 days.

Hired these champs and within 25 days it was done. 200% recommended.

SSSuumit ShahTrustpilot

Real traffic, real relevance.

Great quality links from legit sites, very relevant to my clients' niches.

SSSotiris SotiriadisTrustpilot

Writing and placements are top of class.

I've used a lot of providers. The quality and service here is a class above.

RRyanTrustpilot

A professional, trusted firm.

Extremely reliable and dependable, with excellent communication.

MBMarc BermanTrustpilot

A marketplace that just works.

Great service, good backlink quality, everything runs smoothly.

JGJacob GTrustpilot
Guarantees

Every link is covered.

Credit-back guarantee

Unfulfilled orders receive full account credit. Your balance is always protected.

Money-back guarantee

If we cannot fulfil a placement, you get a full refund. No fine print.

Index guarantee

Every placement is verified as indexed by Google, or replaced at no cost.

12-month replacement

Links removed within 12 months are replaced on a comparable site, free.

Case studies

Real stores. Real results.

Brands in competitive niches, from a standing start to full-funnel organic growth. Live data; client names withheld.

From zero to $428,175 in twelve months.

A United States restaurant-equipment eCommerce store, from no organic revenue: buyer-intent keywords first, on-page fixed, then 21 curated SERPpro placements plus 7 earned digital PR links.

Verified clientRestaurant equipment eCommerce · United States · 12-month window
$428,175Client-reported revenue, 12 months from $0
28Links built: 21 curated placements plus 7 earned via digital PR
3,131Monthly search clicks, from near zero
Search visibility · Google Search Console · clicks over the last 12 months
Google Search Console clicks growing from near zero to a new high over twelve months

How the growth was built

  • Buyer-intent first. We mapped the keywords with real purchase intent and targeted those before spending a dollar.
  • On-page fundamentals. Every target page was fixed and aligned to the exact query it was competing for.
  • 21 curated placements. High-traffic, relevant backlinks from SERPpro, each with anchor text optimized for its target page.
  • 7 earned digital PR links. A digital PR push earned 7 editorial links on high-authority publications, the kind of coverage you cannot buy off a menu.
  • Compounding growth. Clicks climbed from near zero to a new high, at an average position of 10.3.
Recommended by AI, not just ranked by Google

Observed across recent queries: the same pages now surface where buyers look.

Google AI Overviews · RecommendedChatGPT · Cited

Results are not guaranteed. SEO outcomes depend on many factors outside any tool's control, including your competition, content, technical health, and search engine updates. SERPpro surfaces the gaps and recommends the optimizations and placements to influence your campaigns positively. It does not guarantee rankings, traffic, or revenue.

100 keywords, all ranking in the top 3.

A United States dance and ballroom shoe store in a niche full of specialist retailers, now the default result for its category.

Shoes ecommerceUnited States · competitive niche · organic search
0keywords ranking in the top 3
0keywords ranked #1 on Google
0queries showing in Google AI Overviews
Keyword rankings by Google position · 100 tracked keywords · SEMrush
5545
#1 · 55#2-3 · 45#4-10 · 0#11-20 · 0

What the rankings show

  • Total top-of-page coverage. All 100 tracked keywords rank in the top 3, and 55 sit at #1.
  • A crowded niche. An established field of specialist retailers, yet this store is the default result for its category.
  • Real traffic. Around 6,936 organic clicks a month from this keyword set alone.
  • Answer-engine visibility. Present in Google AI Overviews for 63 of these queries.
Winning in AI search too

Cited in Google AI Overviews for 63 of its tracked queries, not just ranked in the classic results.

Google AI Overviews · 63 queriesTop 3 · 100 keywords

Positions, search volumes, and AI Overview presence from live SERP tracking (SEMrush, 2026). Keywords hidden for client privacy. Results are not guaranteed and depend on competition, content, technical health, and search updates.

Ranked #1 for 76 keywords in a brutal niche.

A United States jewelry store competing with major brands on some of the highest-volume terms in the category.

Jewelry ecommerceUnited States · highly competitive niche · avg difficulty 31 · organic search
0estimated monthly organic clicks
0keywords ranked #1 on Google
0queries showing in Google AI Overviews
Keyword rankings by Google position · 100 tracked keywords · SEMrush
761310
#1 · 76#2-3 · 13#4-10 · 10#11-20 · 1

What the rankings show

  • Owns the head term. Ranked #1 for its category's highest-volume query, worth roughly 165,000 searches a month.
  • Depth, not one lucky win. 76 keywords at #1 and 89 in the top 3 across the set.
  • A brutal niche. Average keyword difficulty of 31, up against major jewelry brands.
  • Serious traffic. Around 54,794 organic clicks a month from these keywords.
Winning in AI search too

Cited in Google AI Overviews for 69 of its tracked queries, in a niche where brand trust decides the sale.

Google AI Overviews · 69 queries#1 · 76 keywords

Positions, search volumes, and AI Overview presence from live SERP tracking (SEMrush, 2026). Keywords hidden for client privacy. Results are not guaranteed and depend on competition, content, technical health, and search updates.

Integrations

Brands we integrate with.

Search Console
Analytics 4
Claude
ChatGPT
Telegram
Slack
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More ways to build authority.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Do press release backlinks help SEO?
Our wire service links are nofollow and will not generate link equity. Ultimately, the SEO value of your press release comes from the media coverage you earn, not the syndication links.
Should I stop using press releases entirely?
No. Press releases are good for announcement type topics, general awareness for journalists and brand entity signals. For backlinks, we recommend using editorial link building, also known as digital PR.editorial link building or digital PR.
What is the difference between distribution and digital PR?
Press release distribution pushes to wire services. Digital PR We offer a media relations service where we distribute press releases to all major news wires. We also carry out Digital PR, which involves directly pitching journalists with relevant, newsworthy content in order to secure legitimate media coverage that includes a high authority backlink.
Does SERPpro offer press release distribution?
In 2017, Brian linked to Press Feed, mentioning a “harmful” $179 price tag for a single release. We still recommend including outreach for press releases in your budget, and categorize it as a paid link opportunity along with editorial links, digital PR and guest posts.editorial link building, digital PR, and guest posts.

Ready to build real editorial backlinks?

Editorial placements on vetted publishers, guaranteed and tracked for you.

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