Nofollow links do help SEO, just not the way dofollow links do. They rarely pass ranking authority directly, but they send referral traffic, build brand awareness, keep your backlink profile looking natural, and help search engines and AI tools discover you. Since 2020 Google treats the nofollow attribute as a hint, so the old "nofollow links are worthless" rule no longer holds.
That is the honest answer to whether nofollow links help SEO: not directly for rankings, not reliably, but yes, they matter in ways a simple link count never shows. This guide covers what nofollow links are, how Google treats them now, the real benefits, where they come from, common mistakes, and how to fold them into a healthy link strategy.
rel="nofollow" as a hint, not a hard rule.A nofollow link is a normal hyperlink with one extra instruction in its code: rel="nofollow". That attribute tells search engines the linking site is not necessarily vouching for the page it points to. A reader cannot see any difference; the distinction lives entirely in the HTML and is aimed at search engines.
The two basic states are simple:
Both look and click identically on the page. Link equity matters because backlinks remain a core ranking input, and most pages have almost none. Ahrefs, in a study of about one billion pages, found that roughly 96% of pages get zero organic search traffic from Google, and a thin or absent backlink profile is one of the biggest reasons why. So the question of which links count is not academic.
You cannot tell a nofollow link from a dofollow one by looking at the page, but checking the code takes seconds. Three reliable methods:
<a> tag. Look at its rel attribute.Ctrl+U (or Cmd+Option+U on Mac), then use find (Ctrl+F) to locate the destination URL and read its surrounding tag.What you are reading the rel value for:
rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" means the link is not a standard followed link.rel attribute (or only noopener/noreferrer, which are security and privacy attributes, not link-equity ones) means a standard dofollow editorial link.That last point trips people up: noopener and noreferrer are unrelated to SEO and do not stop a link from passing authority. Only nofollow, sponsored, and ugc change how search engines treat the link.
Mostly no, with an asterisk. You should assume a nofollow link passes little to no direct ranking value and treat anything beyond that as a bonus. Google has never published how it weighs the hint, so anyone quoting you a precise "nofollow link value" is guessing. The safe planning assumption is to build for the indirect benefits and treat any ranking value as a happy extra.
Why the asterisk? In 2020 Google changed nofollow from a strict directive into a hint. That means Google may choose to consider a nofollow link for crawling or ranking when it makes sense, but it might not, and you cannot count on it either way. That uncertainty is exactly why you never build a strategy that depends on nofollow links passing authority.
If your goal is pure ranking power, dofollow editorial links remain the priority. That is the work that moves the needle, and it is the core of any white-hat link building program. Google's own guidance backs this up: its spam policies target link schemes and warn that links must be earned, not bought or manipulated, with rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc" available for paid and user-generated links.
Two confirmed signals from Google explain why nofollow links and even plain mentions still matter. First, the 2020 shift to treating rel="nofollow" as a hint means Google reserves the right to use these links for crawling and ranking when useful. Second, Google's own Gary Illyes, speaking at Brighton SEO in 2017, described what quality content looks like in terms of being "highly cited" and getting "mentions on social networks," not purely in terms of followed link equity. The takeaway: Google has long looked at how often and where a brand is referenced, and a nofollow attribute does not erase a mention.
No, not for anything competitive. A profile made entirely of nofollow links looks engineered, because real sites earn a blend of link types. To rank for valuable terms you still need standard editorial dofollow links carrying authority. Nofollow links support that work; they do not replace it. Anyone promising top rankings from nofollow links alone is selling you a story Google's link evaluation does not support.
Google expanded the system in 2019, and three attributes still define how links are labeled today. Knowing which is which keeps you from misreading your own profile or a prospect's.
| Attribute | Use it for | Typical example | Ranking signal |
|---|---|---|---|
rel="nofollow" | Links you do not want to vouch for | A source you cite but do not endorse | Hint only |
rel="sponsored" | Paid or affiliate links | Ads, affiliate links, paid placements | Hint only |
rel="ugc" | User-generated content | Blog comments, forum posts, Q&A answers | Hint only |
| (no attribute) | Editorial links you stand behind | A reference inside your own article | Full, by default |
The key update: since 2020 Google treats all three labeled attributes as hints rather than hard directives. A standard editorial link with no attribute is still the one that reliably passes authority, which is why earning those is the heart of real link building.
Direct PageRank is not the only thing that matters. Nofollow links pull weight in several indirect ways that affect your results over time:
A healthy mix of link types is a sign of organic growth, and that is what you want. Authentic links arrive from places that nofollow by default: major media outlets that nofollow all outbound links, social platforms, forums, and comment sections. If none of your links were ever nofollow, that pattern would look suspicious to Google. Diversity is a feature, not a flaw, and trying to engineer a pure dofollow profile is one of the fastest ways to look manipulative.
Brand mentions, linked or not, now feed the systems that recommend businesses. Gartner predicted in 2024 that traditional search volume would fall around 25% by 2026 as users shift toward AI assistants, and Google reports its AI Overviews reach more than 1.5 billion users a month across 100-plus countries. In that world, being named and cited on trusted sites helps AI engines such as ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Gemini associate your brand with a topic, whether or not the link is followed. A nofollow mention on a respected publication can influence an AI answer even when it sends no PageRank.
Many of the most visible places on the internet hand out nofollow links by default. That is worth knowing, because a placement on one of these sites is valuable for exposure even when the link will not pass authority:
These are some of the highest-authority, highest-traffic properties online. A mention on any of them builds brand and sends traffic, which is why a "dofollow only" filter on your outreach quietly throws away some of your best opportunities.
You do not chase nofollow links, and you do not refuse them either. Follow these steps to put them to work:
When we ran this kind of profile-diversification and link-building work for our client Understood Care, organic traffic grew from around 1,000 to more than 3,000 visits a month. The lift came from pairing earned editorial links with strong, link-worthy content, not from chasing a particular link attribute. The lesson holds for any business: build something worth citing, accept the full mix of links it earns, and let the dofollow editorial wins compound.
For a deeper look at outsourcing the heavy lifting, see our guides to white-label link building and how to outsource link building without buying junk.
Most nofollow mistakes come from treating the attribute as a verdict on a link's worth. Watch for these:
rel="sponsored". If you are tempted anyway, our honest look at the best place to buy backlinks walks through the real risks and the safer alternatives.Picture a local bakery. A popular city food blog mentions it with a nofollow link. That link will not move rankings on its own, but it sends a wave of hungry local readers, and a chunk of them start searching for the bakery by name. A few weeks later a regional food magazine notices the buzz and writes its own feature, this time with a standard dofollow link.
The nofollow mention did not pass authority directly, but it kicked off the chain that led to a link that did. That is the funnel nofollow links quietly feed, and it is why writing them off as worthless costs you real growth. This scenario is illustrative, not a specific case study.
What is a nofollow link? A nofollow link is a normal hyperlink with one extra instruction in its code: rel="nofollow". That attribute tells search engines the linking site is not necessarily vouching for the page it points to. A reader cannot see any difference; the distinction lives entirely in the HTML and is aimed at search engines.
How do I check if a link is nofollow? Right-click the link and choose Inspect, then look at the anchor tag's rel attribute. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc", the link is not a standard followed link. You can also view the page source (Ctrl+U) and search for the URL, or use a browser extension or SEO toolbar that highlights nofollow links automatically. A link with no rel attribute, or rel values like noopener or noreferrer only, is a standard dofollow editorial link.
Do nofollow links help SEO rankings directly? Mostly no, with an asterisk. You should assume a nofollow link passes little to no direct ranking value and treat anything beyond that as a bonus. Google has never published how it weighs the hint, so anyone quoting you a precise "nofollow link value" is guessing. The safe planning assumption is to build for the indirect benefits and treat any ranking value as a happy extra.
Are nofollow links bad for SEO? No. They will not hurt you, and they bring real indirect benefits like referral traffic and brand recognition. The only genuinely bad links are spammy, manipulative ones, and that is a separate problem from the nofollow attribute. A natural profile is expected to contain plenty of nofollow links, so there is nothing to fear.
What is the ideal dofollow-to-nofollow ratio? There is no official number, and chasing one wastes time. Natural profiles vary widely depending on industry and how a site earns coverage. Focus on earning good links from relevant places and the ratio takes care of itself. If anyone sells you a "perfect ratio," treat it as a sign they do not understand how Google actually evaluates links.
Do nofollow links from Reddit or Wikipedia help? Indirectly, yes. They rarely pass direct ranking authority, but they drive traffic, build brand recognition, and help search engines and AI tools associate your brand with relevant topics. A well-placed Reddit answer or Wikipedia citation can send qualified visitors and seed the kind of awareness that later earns editorial dofollow links.
Does Google really ignore nofollow links completely? Not anymore. Since 2020 Google treats rel="nofollow" as a hint rather than a strict directive, which means it may use a nofollow link for crawling or ranking when it judges that useful. You cannot rely on this happening, so plan around the indirect benefits, but the blanket claim that Google ignores every nofollow link is out of date.
Should I add nofollow to my own outbound links? Sometimes. Use rel="sponsored" for paid or affiliate links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content like comments. For links you genuinely cite and trust, leave them as standard editorial links, since linking out to authoritative sources is a normal, healthy signal. Reserve plain rel="nofollow" for sources you reference but do not want to endorse.
Can nofollow links help with AI search and answer engines? Yes, indirectly. AI engines lean on brand mentions and citations across trusted sites to decide what to recommend, and a mention counts even when the link is nofollow. As more searches move to AI assistants, being named on reputable sources helps those systems connect your brand to a topic, regardless of the link attribute.
Stop sorting your links into "good" and "worthless" by the nofollow tag and start judging them by the traffic, brand lift, and future links they create. Audit your current profile, keep the healthy mix you already have, and aim your dedicated outreach at editorial dofollow placements while welcoming the nofollow mentions that come with real coverage. If you want a clear picture of where your backlinks and rankings stand right now, our free local SEO audit will show you exactly what is working and where the fastest wins are. For a wider tune-up, work through our SEO audit checklist and fix the gaps it surfaces.
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