75 High-Authority Places to Get Backlinks That Actually Move Your AEO & GEO Score
TL;DR
- This guide breaks down 75 high-authority platforms where you can secure backlinks that directly impact your AEO and GEO search visibility. You will learn how to move beyond basic link building to target sources that signal credibility to search engines. Each recommendation is designed to help you strengthen your site's authority and climb the ranks in modern search results.
When ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Gemini decide which brands to cite, they aren't flipping a coin. They're pulling from sources that AI models already index, trust, and reference, and that trust is built, in large part, through links and listings.
If your startup is invisible in AI search, the fix usually isn't more blog posts. It's earning mentions on the platforms LLMs already crawl.
Why directory links still matter, more than ever, for LLM visibility
Traditional SEO treats backlinks as a ranking signal. AEO and GEO treat them as a citation signal. They decide whether an AI engine considers you a credible source worth quoting.
Three things happen when your brand shows up on high-DR directories and platforms:
You enter model memory. Many of the sites below are scraped during model training and live retrieval. Appearing there means your brand becomes part of the AI's working knowledge of your category.
You build co-citation patterns. When LLMs repeatedly see your product listed alongside competitors on SaaSHub, AlternativeTo, StackShare, or TrustRadius, they learn you belong in that category.
You earn entity signals. Directory listings carry consistent descriptions, categories, and structured data that help AI engines understand exactly what you do, and confidently cite you. Monitor all your submissions with link monitoring tool.
Translation: directories teach AI search engines that you exist, what you do, and why you're worth referencing.
The 75 places, grouped by intent
Startup launchpads & founder communities
Product Hunt (DR 91)
Hacker News (DR 91)
Indie Hackers (DR 80)
BetaList (DR 75)
TinyLaunch (DR 71)
LogicBalls (DR 57)
MakerPad (DR 67)
Indie Page (DR 67)
WIP (DR 55)
Tiny Startups (DR 50)
Builder Society (DR 39)
Indie Bites (DR 34)
Milestones (DR 26)
SaaS, tool & alternative directories
SourceForge (DR 92)
TrustRadius (DR 84)
AlternativeTo (DR 79)
Privacy Tools (DR 79)
StackShare (DR 79)
SaaSHub (DR 78)
Alternative Me (DR 74)
PeerSpot (DR 73)
Toolify AI (DR 73)
TrustMRR (DR 66)
OSS Gallery (DR 29)
Developer platforms
Chrome Web Store (DR 99)
GitHub (DR 97)
GitHub Pages (DR 97)
DevTo (DR 90)
Smashing Magazine (DR 90)
DZone (DR 84)
Content & publishing platforms
Medium (DR 94)
Blogger (DR 94)
Substack (DR 93)
Gumroad (DR 92)
Hackernoon (DR 87)
HubPages (DR 87)
Hashnode (DR 83)
Vocal Media (DR 82)
Tech, growth & business publications
Forbes (DR 94)
TechCrunch (DR 92)
Entrepreneur (DR 91)
VentureBeat (DR 90)
Starter Story (DR 85)
YourStory (DR 85)
AppSumo Blog (DR 83)
First Round Review (DR 81)
The Hustle (DR 79)
SaaStr (DR 77)
Foundr (DR 76)
Mixergy (DR 75)
Failory (DR 74)
Niche Pursuits (DR 73)
Latka (DR 72)
GrowthMentor (DR 72)
My First Million (DR 62)
SaaS Club (DR 59)
Founder Reports (DR 57)
FounderPass (DR 52)
Revenue Memo (DR 37)
Micro Founder (DR 36)
Q&A, reviews, knowledge & business listings
Crunchbase (DR 99)
Wikipedia (DR 97)
Reddit (DR 95)
Yelp (DR 94)
Indie Niche (DR 93)
Quora (DR 92)
Goodreads (DR 92)
Fandom (DR 92)
WikiHow (DR 91)
SEO Wins (DR 32)
Visual & media platforms
Imgur (DR 99)
Pinterest (DR 96)
Flickr (DR 94)
Pixabay (DR 92)
Pexels (DR 92)
A 30-day execution plan
You don't need all 75. You need the right ones, in the right order:
Week 1: Foundation entities. Claim Crunchbase, GitHub, Wikipedia (where eligible), and your category directories (SaaSHub, AlternativeTo, StackShare, TrustRadius). These shape how LLMs categorize you.
Week 2: Dated launch mentions. Ship on Product Hunt, BetaList, Hacker News, LogicBalls, and Indie Hackers. Time-stamped launch posts get re-surfaced by AI engines for "newest [category] tools" queries.
Week 3: Owned thought leadership. Republish or syndicate to Medium, Substack, DevTo, and Hashnode with canonical links back to your core pages.
Week 4: Editorial coverage. Pitch tier-one publications (TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Hackernoon, Entrepreneur) with a story angle, not a press release.
The bottom line
Directory submissions aren't a 2015 SEO tactic. They're a 2026 AEO and GEO requirement. Every listing teaches an AI search engine that your brand exists, what category you compete in, and who else trusts you enough to mention you.
Want to know which of these are actually moving your AI visibility score, and which competitors are already cited where you aren't? Run a free AI visibility analysis on GrackerAI and see exactly where ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini cite your category today.
