Proxy Client Case Study 2025: How We Won Won AI Overview Visibility with Targeted Link Building?

Challenges

When our client approached us, they had a strong DR but:

• Fewer authority links to key guides and comparison pages.
• Weak entity signals & mentions around core proxy topics.
• Weak presence on third-party listicles and Q&A pages that AI systems often cite.
• Not posting about the brand in the related forums, Reddit threads, and Quora
  answers.
• Higher Domain Rating but Weak Brand Authority.

Objectives:

1. Increase the number of client pages cited in the AI Overview.
2. Increase total citations across AI systems (Google AI Overview, ChatGPT, Gemini,
   Perplexity, Copilot). 
3. Strengthen the topical link graph with clean, editorial links to the right pages.
4. Dominate the AI search results for the core commercial product queries. (eg,
   residential proxies, free proxies).

SaaS Link-Building Strategy We Used

From the very first day of setting up our campaign, we ensure that we don’t just focus on
traditional link-building strategies. We built a plan that consists of different strategies for
achieving the ultimate goal.

1.Publishing Detailed Guide (Guest Posts on Authority Sites)

• We audit the backlink profile of our client and figure out the opportunities our client
  was missing out on.
• We then used tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and People Also Asked for to find the
  relevant long-tail keywords with less competition.
• Our outreach team prospected the fresh batch of relevant sites perfect for
  publishing our guides.
• They crafted a solid offer and reached out to all the bloggers, influencers, and
  webmasters for a content collaboration.
• We wrote educational articles in the form of “how-to, can you, what-is, and an
  ultimate guide” form, and published them on trusted, topic-relevant sites
  (networking, scraping, security).
• Included checklists, tables, FAQs, and a light schema to match how AI extracts
  answers.
• We got Contextual links to the client’s explainers (not just the homepage) to
  reinforce entity relevance around “proxies,” “rotating IPs,” “residential vs
  datacenter,” etc.

2. Link Insertions on Top-Ranking Listicles

• Link Insertions/Niche edits are the most powerful tactic for a quick authority boost.
• We picked 5 Pages already ranking in the top 10 search results.
• We figured out the top-ranking listicles appearing in the AI results for our targeted
  keywords.
• We reached out to the respective sites and requested editorial updates (neutral
  blurb + brand/partial-match anchor).
• We placed our links contextually and featured our client as an option in all the
  ranking listicles to keep it natural.
• Pushed more links to the client’s most citable resources (e.g., comparison hubs,
  definitions, benchmark pages).

3. Guest Posts: “Brand vs Competitor”

• We’ve been doing this for our other clients in the past, and found that these kinda
  comparison works very well.
• We published unbiased vs articles with feature tables, use-cases, pros/cons, and
  pricing snapshots.
• Linked out to supporting docs and independent sources to keep the piece neutral.
• These pages match the comparison intent that AI Overviews often summarize.

4. Reddit Comments (Value-First Mentions)

• Joined evergreen threads in relevant subs (webscraping, privacy, data engineering).
• Posted answer-first comments with steps and small proof points; linked only when
  allowed.
• Disclosed affiliation when required; avoided promo-only subs.

5. Forum Links (Niche Boards)

• Answered long-tail questions on industry forums and scraping communities.
• Shared mini checklists, screenshots, and troubleshooting steps; linked to
  non-sales guides.
• Kept threads active by responding to follow-ups so crawlers revisit.

6. Quora Mentions

• Wrote evidence-based answers (500–800 words) for core questions (e.g., “What
  are residential proxies?”).
• Cited third-party references plus one deep link to our guide.
• Maintained cadence so profiles stay trusted and answers keep visibility.

Proxy Client Case Study: How We Executed it?

1. Mapping & Baseline:

• Pulled starting AI citations/pages, isolated target queries and pages.
• Built an influence list of listicles, communities, and Q&A sources AI already
  cites.

2. Acquisition & Publishing:

• Rolled out the six tactics above, prioritizing editorial quality and topical fit.
• Balanced anchors (brand + descriptive), avoided exact-match stuffing.

3. Consolidation:

• Made link insertions on high-impact listicles.
• Light internal linking from strong pages to targets.
• Monitored AI coverage and refreshed content where needed.Results Speak Louder than the Strategies.

Results Speak Louder Than Words

1. Referring Domains (3496-4329)

• Total Number of Referring Domains increased from 3496 to 4329.

2. Organic Traffic

• Total Organic Traffic moves up from 157,598 to 186,554.

3. Organic Keywords

• Total Organic Keywords: 90312 – 84951
• Organic Keywords in top 3: 4834 – 6147

4. AI Overviews

From January 2025 to July 2025, we’ve introduced more than 100+ pages in the AI results.

Why did it work?

• We placed links on sources AI already trusts (ranking listicles, credible guides,
  active Q&A).
• We linked site to citable, educational pages that AIs prefer over sales pages.
• Balanced anchors and clean editorial context strengthened entity signals around
  proxy topics.
• We published Reddit comments, forum links, and Quora answers that people were
  looking for.

Guidelines We Followed

• Clear disclosure on Reddit/Quora when needed.
• No paid “advertorial” or sponsored tag to enhance the link juice.
• Anchors: brand + descriptive, not keyword-stuffed.
• Links pointed to informational resources to attract AI citations.