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For agencies and in-house teams

Link building with the evidence attached.

Editorial placements with a natural connection to your business, backed by documented checks on the publication, its audience and the metrics behind it.

Know where your link is going, why the placement makes sense and what we checked before accepting it.

Diligence record Illustrative
publication.example
Proposed section: Personal finance
  • Publication legitimacy Needs attention No named editors; contributor-style articles across unrelated topics.
  • Audience and traffic Fail Top queries are variants of the domain name, not the subject of the article.
  • Metric integrity Evidence gap Score not supported by the referring domains we could verify.
Not accepted

The traffic figure does not describe an audience for this article.

Illustrative. Based on patterns recorded in two 2026 audits; not a real publication or client record.

Audit findings

The metrics looked convincing. The evidence told another story.

Purchased-link audits uncovered domain-name-driven search visibility, high DR with thin supporting backlink evidence, and adult-performer traffic on a site carrying a car-maintenance article.

45.1%
Average QA failure rate across two audits.
29.8%
Average share classified as manipulation across the same audits.

These are simple averages of two audit rates: one covering 424 unique domains, the other 21 purchased placements. Manipulation is included in QA failures. They are not measured rates for the wider 2,800-link project.

Audit A424 unique domains
Audit B21 purchased placements
Classified as manipulation Other QA failures Did not fail Manipulation is included within QA failures.
Ahrefs Top Pages report for mygreenbucks.net dated 20 August 2026: 25 pages, total traffic 40.1K, with the Top keyword column highlighted showing variants of the domain name on every leading page.
Exhibit 01mygreenbucks.netAudit B · Top Pages · 20 Aug 2026

40,100 estimated monthly visits. Top queries dominated by variants of the site's own name.

Source: Ahrefs, retained audit capture. Client names and explicit terms redacted by us.

Ahrefs Top Pages report for mygreenbucks.net dated 20 August 2026: 25 pages, total traffic 40.1K, with the Top keyword column highlighted showing variants of the domain name on every leading page.
Exhibit 01mygreenbucks.netAudit B · Top Pages · 20 Aug 2026

40,100 estimated monthly visits. Top queries dominated by variants of the site's own name.

Source: Ahrefs, retained audit capture. Client names and explicit terms redacted by us.

That was the pattern recorded for mygreenbucks.net in August 2026. The traffic headline alone did not explain what the buyer was getting.

Explore the research and evidence

A placement and the reasoning behind it.

We start with your target page and the audience you want to reach. We choose an editorial angle with a natural connection to that page, source an appropriate publication and document the reason for accepting the placement.

  • A topic that earns its place

    A current story, an active trend or a useful editorial angle gives the publication a reason to run the article. The connection to your business belongs in the story and in the paragraph around the link.

  • A publication reviewed in context

    We examine the publication, its audience and the section where the article will appear. A familiar domain or an impressive score starts the investigation; it does not settle the decision.

  • A written diligence record

    You receive the checks, supporting evidence and acceptance reasoning with your placement. That gives your team something concrete to review, retain and discuss with the client.

Start with an individual placement or discuss a campaign around your pages, market and objectives.

Three gates before we accept the publication. Then we check the placement.

Data screening supports the decision. Human review makes the call and records the reason.

  1. Gate 1

    Publication legitimacy

    Is there an identifiable publication behind the domain?

    We examine editorial activity, the people or organisation behind the site and available audience signals. We look at the actual section proposed for the placement, including whether it is a community area or a section operated separately from the main publication.
  2. Gate 2

    Audience and traffic

    What is generating the visibility, and who is it reaching?

    We read the pages and queries behind traffic estimates, check geographic distribution and examine changes over time. We look for concentration in unrelated content, unexplained patterns and a mismatch with the client's market.
  3. Gate 3

    Metric integrity

    What supports the reported score?

    We assess DR alongside the backlink profile, referring-domain quality and historical changes. Where a filtered view supports a finding, the filter belongs in the evidence. No single score decides acceptance.
  4. Then

    Placement approval · Article, paragraph and destination

    Does this particular link make editorial sense?

    We check the article topic, the surrounding paragraph, the destination page and the intended audience. A general-interest publication can be a good fit when that connection is clear.

See how the checks worked in the audits

Start with the audience you need to reach.

The target country, publication and article context shape the placement. Tell us where your customers are and which pages you want to support.

  • US local and regional news

    Our initial focus includes local and regional US publications, where a business can connect to a story that matters to a particular community. We assess the editorial opportunity and publisher availability for each brief.

  • Legal services

    Law firms and legal businesses are welcome. Public safety, employment, local development and data privacy are among the topics that can create a natural editorial connection when the article supports it.

  • Healthcare and medical businesses

    We welcome medical practices, healthcare businesses and related services. The publication, topic and surrounding context should support how the business wants to be represented.

  • Finance

    We work with financial-services briefs where the audience and editorial angle connect clearly to the target page. The placement needs a reason to belong in the publication.

  • Crypto and casino / iGaming

    We also consider crypto and casino / iGaming projects. Each campaign is scoped around the target market, publication requirements and editorial context. The same diligence applies.

  • Other markets and sectors

    Send us your brief. We'll discuss suitable publications and confirm the available scope before proposing placements.

Tell us your market and target pages

Why we built Pharos.

Reviewing purchased links kept exposing the same gap: reassuring metrics, with too little evidence about the publication behind them.

For an agency, that gap becomes a client conversation. For an in-house team, it becomes a budget decision. In both cases, someone needs to explain why the placement was worth buying.

Pharos brings publication research and documented diligence into the placement process from the start.

Max Geraci

Consulting and client strategy

Max brings the consulting perspective: what the business is trying to achieve, how the placement connects to its target pages and what the team needs to understand before committing budget.

Publication research and quality review

Our research and outreach team examines publications, reviews the evidence and documents acceptance decisions. Client strategy and publication review meet in the final placement recommendation.

Find out what's in your latest link batch.

Send us up to 200 placement URLs for a free due diligence review. You'll receive a written assessment explaining which placements pass, which need attention and why.

The review covers publication legitimacy, audience and traffic, metric integrity and the context of the placement. We identify evidence gaps where a confident decision needs more information.

What the assessment tells you

  • Pass
  • Needs attention
  • Fail
  • Evidence gap

No purchase is required. You can use the findings to review your current suppliers or discuss a future brief with us.

Your list is not ready? Send the request now and provide the URLs by email.

Request your free link review.

Send up to 200 placement URLs. We'll review the publication, audience, underlying metrics and placement context, then return a written assessment with our findings and reasons.

No purchase required. We'll confirm the scope and next steps by email.

We'll reply here about your review.
Where should the audience for these placements be?
Placement list
Share a link to your spreadsheet or document containing up to 200 placement URLs. Make sure it can be opened by someone outside your organisation.
Use a CSV or Excel file with one placement URL per row. Include the destination page and supplier where available. Maximum file size: 5 MB.
Include the destination pages if you would like us to assess how the placements connect to them.

We'll use your details and submitted list to respond to this request and carry out the review. Read our Privacy notice for information about how submitted material is handled.

Questions

Do you work with agencies as well as businesses?

Yes. We welcome agencies buying on behalf of clients and in-house teams managing their own link-building activity. The written diligence record makes the acceptance reasoning available to the people responsible for the purchase.

Do you use DR to decide whether a publication passes?

DR is one input. We examine what supports it, along with the publication's audience and editorial activity. A high score does not override a failed review, and a low score does not automatically exclude a genuine publication.

Does the entire publication need to match my niche?

A publication can cover several subjects and still carry a suitable article. We assess the connection between the article, the surrounding paragraph and your target page, alongside the audience and publication checks.

What does the free review include?

A written assessment of up to 200 submitted placement URLs, with findings and reasons. We flag concerns, distinguish them from accepted placements and identify where more evidence is needed. We'll confirm the scope and next steps by email.

Can I send a list of domains instead of placement URLs?

Yes, for a publication-level review. To assess the article and link context, we need the full placement URLs. Include those wherever possible.

Do you work with crypto and casino businesses?

We consider crypto and casino / iGaming briefs individually. The target market, publication requirements and editorial context determine whether we can propose a suitable campaign.

What do placements cost?

Send us your target pages, market and requirements. We'll discuss the scope and provide a quote for the proposed placements.

Start with your latest batch.

Get a clear view of the placements you already own before deciding what to buy next.