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Elevam

Link building for SEO and GEO · Elevam service

Most link building sold in Spain doesn't work. We'll tell you how it's done when it's done right.

Recycled PBNs, mass press releases, vanity metrics. The market has been selling volume for years because it's easier than building real authority. We work the other way around: mentions that move positions in Google and that AI models use to recommend you. Slower, more expensive, and with measurable impact.

Request a diagnosis of your mentions profile
  • Continental
  • Decathlon
  • PwC
  • Vinted
  • Cartier
  • Volkswagen
State of the sector

Before we talk about how we work, what's being sold out there

The link building market in Spain has been operating on autopilot for years. Many agencies sell the same thing under different names, and most companies hiring these services have no way of knowing exactly what they're buying. These are the six patterns we see most often when we audit mentions profiles of companies that come to Elevam:

  • 0101

    PBNs presented as authority media

    Networks of purchased blogs, repopulated with generic content and sold as real press. Google identifies them more easily every day and applies systematic devaluations. AI models, trained on editorial quality criteria, don't consider them reliable sources. You're paying for something that doesn't exist for anyone useful.

  • 0202

    Mass press releases

    You pay so that your release appears on forty portals like Europa Press Distribución and similar. On paper it looks like authority. In practice these portals rarely rank for competitive keywords, generate residual traffic, and LLMs detect the self-published content pattern and discount it.

  • 0303

    Nofollow presented as dofollow

    It happens more than it seems. The agency shows you a screenshot of the link, charges you as dofollow, and when you check the HTML the nofollow attribute is there. Always check it directly in the source code, not in the screenshot they send you.

  • 0404

    Generic anchor text

    "Click here", "read more", "see link". It transmits the link but not the context. For SEO it contributes little. For GEO it contributes nothing: models need to know what you're relevant for, not just that you exist somewhere.

  • 0505

    DR as a vanity metric

    They sell you links on sites with DR 70+. That DR is built with… other purchased links. It's a closed system where the metric inflates without anyone measuring real traffic, topical authority or business impact. A high DR without real organic traffic is a warning signal, not a quality signal.

  • 0606

    Monthly packages of "10 links"

    Volume without strategy. Without prior analysis of the client's mentions profile, without subsequent measurement of what moved and what didn't. It works as recurring billing for the agency; as a growth system, no.

If you've ever worked with link building, you probably recognize several of these patterns. It's not a problem with your previous provider. It's the sector's average standard.

Why it matters today

External authority is no longer just for Google

Five years ago link building had one function: raising positions on Google. Today it has two.

SEO analysis session at Elevam

Layer 1 · Classic SEO

Despite all algorithmic changes, authority remains one of the main factors in Google's ranking. Not the only one, but one of the most impactful. A page can have the best content in the sector and the best technical optimization on the market, and still lose to a worse page when that other page has a more solid mentions profile.

What has changed is what kind of mentions count. Google has spent years refining its ability to detect artificial links. The link building that worked in 2018 today is noise at best and an algorithmic penalty at worst.

Layer 2 · GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

This is where most companies still aren't operating. Generative models —ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude— decide which companies to recommend by evaluating four pillars: entity (knowing who you are), extractability (being able to cite you), evidence (others endorsing you) and consensus (those signals being coherent).

External mentions are the raw material of the last two pillars. There's no way to appear recommended by an LLM if there are no external sources verifying what your own website says about you. And those external sources can't be just anything: they have to be among those the model considers reliable.

This changes the question. It's no longer "how many links do I need?". It's "what mentions, in what sources and with what context do I need so that two different systems —Google and the LLMs— consider me a legitimate option when someone asks about my category?".

Editorial work of source selection at Elevam

A link in a PBN doesn't help you on either layer. A mention with context in a real sector media helps you on both.

How we do it

Elevam methodology: mentions that matter to humans and machines

We work link building as part of a broader system. It's not an isolated service of "getting links"; it's the external lever within the CREF© methodology and is executed under Elevam Labs' HSA Protocol. This means four concrete things.

Request a diagnosis of your mentions profile
  1. 01

    Mentions profile diagnosis

    Before getting any new mention, we analyze what the internet says about your brand: where you're mentioned, in what context, with what anchor text, what sources have mentioned you in the past, what gaps you have compared to your real competitors. Without this map, any subsequent action is blind.

  2. 02

    Editorial source selection

    We don't work with link marketplaces. The sources we collaborate with are chosen one by one based on three criteria: real authority in your sector, consistent presence in generative model responses when someone asks about your category, and verifiable organic traffic (not purchased DR). This reduces monthly volume but multiplies impact per mention.

  3. 03

    Editorial production with context

    Every mention we obtain comes with context. The media doesn't publish a generic note with a link; it publishes a real editorial piece where your brand appears described in its category with its differentiating attributes. The difference between "X sponsored the event" and "X, consultancy specialized in [category], has developed [specific asset] that [specific result]" is the difference between a mention that goes unnoticed and one that an LLM can use to recommend you.

  4. 04

    Measurement on two axes

    We measure impact on SEO (target positions, organic traffic, topical authority) and on GEO (citation share, share of recommendation, presence in responses from relevant models). The data is delivered in a quarterly report cross-referenced with your initial baseline. If we can't attribute the movement to the actions, we don't bill as if we could.

What we do NOT do

A short and clear list

  1. 01We don't use PBNs or private networks. Ever. Regardless of client, sector or budget.
  2. 02We don't sell fixed monthly packages. Volume comes from diagnosis, not a sales spreadsheet.
  3. 03We don't use DR as the main metric. It's one signal among many, not the goal.
  4. 04We don't sell mass press releases. If a press release has editorial sense, it's done with real writing. The rest is noise.
  5. 05We don't promise positions or short timelines. Serious link building works on horizons of 3 to 6 months to see consistent impact.
  6. 06We don't work with sectors we can't serve well. If your vertical isn't defensible with the methodology, we say so on the first call.
Smoke vs Elevam

How to tell link building smoke from link building that moves business

SourcesLink building smoke:PBNs, aggregators, mass press releasesLink building Elevam:Real media, verifiable sources, sector authority
Anchor textLink building smoke:Generic ("click here", "more info")Link building Elevam:Descriptive, with editorial context
Metric being soldLink building smoke:DR / DA (vanity)Link building Elevam:Citation share, referral traffic, SOR impact
Business modelLink building smoke:Fixed monthly packagesLink building Elevam:Strategy adapted to the client's mentions profile
SEO impactLink building smoke:Marginal or noneLink building Elevam:Measurable movement on target positions
GEO impactLink building smoke:NoneLink building Elevam:Building evidence + consensus for LLMs
Honest timelinesLink building smoke:"Results in 30 days"Link building Elevam:3-6 months to see sustained impact
Who is this for

Qualification filter

This service makes sense for you if:

  • You are a company with revenue between 1 and 20 million euros that already invests in SEO and needs an external authority layer it doesn't have.
  • You've worked with link building agencies before and the results haven't been what you expected, or you don't know whether the results they report are real.
  • You're starting to notice that your brand doesn't appear when you mention it to ChatGPT or Perplexity, and you've understood that this is going up, not down.
  • You're looking for a strategic partner, not a link provider measured in units.

This service does NOT make sense for you if:

  • You want fast volume at the lowest possible price. There are agencies that do that. We don't.
  • Your goal is to raise DR regardless of the link sources.
  • Your business model depends on keywords Google penalizes (grey sectors) and you need aggressive link building. We only operate within practices that Google and LLMs accept.
  • You don't have internal capacity to produce minimum editorial content on your website. Link building on a weak website doesn't hold up.

Four phases, with no decorative intermediate steps

Process

Phase 1 · Diagnosis · Weeks 1-2

Analysis of the current mentions profile, map of sources that are working for your real competitors, baseline of presence in generative models, identification of priority editorial gaps and opportunities.

Phase 1 · Diagnosis

Deliverable: diagnostic document with quantified priorities.

Phase 2 · Editorial strategy · Weeks 3-4

Design of the mentions strategy for the next 3-6 months: types of sources to work, editorial angles by sector, production calendar, target metrics.

Phase 2 · Editorial strategy

Deliverable: operational roadmap with responsibilities per milestone.

Phase 3 · Execution · Month 2 onwards

Production and publication of editorial mentions in the selected sources. Coordination with your team for message alignment and cross-leverage with other brand actions.

Phase 3 · Execution

Biweekly communication about pieces in progress, in publication and published.

Phase 4 · Quarterly measurement · Every 3 months

Consolidated report every three months with impact on SEO (positions, organic traffic) and on GEO (citation share, share of recommendation, presence in responses).

Phase 4 · Quarterly measurement

Strategic review session to adjust priorities for the next cycle.

Operational patterns observed

Recurring learnings from auditing B2B mentions profiles

Without entering into specific client figures, we can share patterns that we see repeating when auditing mentions profiles of companies that come to Elevam:

Mention profiles audit at Elevam
Pattern 1

The volume mirage

Companies with hundreds of historical links but 80-90% of the profile concentrated in sources that Google already discounts or that LLMs don't consider. High volume, low real authority.

Pattern 2

Entity-mentions misalignment

Companies whose website clearly positions a category, but whose external mentions talk about something else. The model receives contradictory signals and resolves by not recommending.

Pattern 3

Chronic generic anchor

Profiles where more than 70% of the anchor text is generic or navigational. Domain authority is passed but context is not transmitted, which drastically reduces the impact on GEO.

Pattern 4

Editorial obsolescence

Old mentions in sources that have lost relevance. Inherited authority decays if not renewed with recent mentions in sources that maintain active traffic and citation.

Each of these patterns is worked on differently. That's why the initial diagnosis is mandatory and that's why we don't operate with pre-packaged plans.

Questions everyone asks us

It depends on the diagnosis. There are profiles where it makes sense to produce three extremely high-quality mentions per month and others where the priority is to work on entity and consensus before adding new mentions. The right question is not how many links, it's what your profile needs to move the business.

No. Anyone who guarantees you specific positions in closed timeframes is lying or doesn't understand how the algorithm works. What we do guarantee is documented methodology, honest attribution and quarterly review of real impact.

DR is one metric among many. We work with sources that have real authority in their sector, verifiable organic traffic and active presence in responses from generative models. The DR of those sources is a consequence of that, not the selection criterion.

The first movements in SEO are noticed from month 3. Consistent impact on GEO usually requires 4-6 months, because models take time to reflect changes in their understanding of your brand. Any shorter timeline promised to you is marketing, not methodology.

No. We operate with reasonable sector exclusivity. If we work with your company in a category, we don't accept a direct competitor during the contract term.

The service doesn't operate below a certain threshold because below that threshold we can't guarantee methodological quality. The exact investment is defined after the diagnosis and depends on the starting state and the objectives.

We start by understanding where you are

Before proposing any service, we want to see how your mentions profile is today

We send you a free initial diagnosis that includes:

  • 01Map of your current mentions profile (quality, not just quantity).
  • 02Comparison with your three closest competitors in visibility.
  • 03Baseline of presence in responses from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini for your category.
  • 04Identification of the three priority moves for your specific case.

If after the diagnosis it makes sense to work together, we talk. If it doesn't, we tell you. We don't sell services we don't believe will work.

Request your mentions profile diagnosisBook a strategic call with the Elevam team

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