# Dofollow vs nofollow backlinks
> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://workpods.ai/llms.txt)
A dofollow backlink is a link with no `nofollow`, `ugc` or `sponsored` in its `rel` attribute, so it can pass ranking value in Google. Nofollow links pass little or none, but they still send visitors and sit on pages that AI answers read, so a listing is worth judging on more than its `rel` value.
## What is a dofollow backlink?
A link is dofollow when its `rel` attribute contains none of `nofollow`, `ugc` or `sponsored`. There is no `rel="dofollow"` in HTML; the word only means the link lacks those three values.
| The HTML | What it is |
|---|---|
| `` | Followed |
| `` | Followed: these values only tell the browser how to open it |
| `` | Nofollow: a hint not to pass value |
| `` | User-generated content: a hint |
| `` | Paid placement: a hint |
The second row trips people up. Our listings on Postman and the Manufact leaderboard both link to us with `noopener noreferrer`, and both links are followed.
## Do nofollow links help SEO?
Nofollow links don't pass ranking value in Google, but they still bring visitors, help crawlers find your site and put your product on pages AI answers read. Our Chrome Web Store listings link to us with `ugc nofollow`, and the Chrome Web Store is still the software directory Google's AI answers cite most, about 76,000 times in the sample we pulled.
People click a nofollow link exactly as often as a followed one, so a nofollow listing on a page that ranks can be worth more than a followed link on a page nobody visits. Weigh rankings, AI citations, visitors and the link together.
## Do backlinks added by JavaScript count?
Links that JavaScript adds count for Google, which renders pages before it reads their links, as long as they are real `` elements that appear without a click. Ahrefs and Semrush render only part of what they crawl, so they may never report them.
Public crawler studies from 2024 and 2025 found that the crawlers behind ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity mostly read raw HTML without running JavaScript. If that holds, they never see a link that only appears after a script runs, which makes our Hermes marketplace and Wix App Market links, both in the server HTML, the strongest kind we have.
## What cancels a dofollow link?
A canonical tag pointing to another page, or a `noindex` tag, can cancel a followed link, because Google may drop the page it sits on from its index. When we checked StackShare on 9 November 2026, our listing page's canonical pointed to the StackShare homepage, so its followed "Try It" link may count for little.
If robots.txt blocks the listing page, Google can't read the link at all. Check the page's robots meta tag and canonical along with the link itself.
## How do I check if a backlink is dofollow?
Fetch the listing's server HTML and look for your domain, then read the `rel` value on each match. If curl prints nothing, the link is either added by JavaScript or missing.
```bash
curl -sL -A "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) Chrome/147.0 Safari/537.36" \
"https://www.wix.com/app-market/b9407962-67b2-43c6-a0cf-3c9ed465a527" \
| grep -o -E ']*href="https?://(www\.)?workpods\.ai[^"]*"[^>]*>'
```
To see what Google sees after rendering, open the page in Chrome, open DevTools and run this in the console with your own domain:
```javascript
JSON.stringify({
robots: document.querySelector('meta[name=robots]')?.content ?? null,
canonical: document.querySelector('link[rel=canonical]')?.href ?? null,
links: [...document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="workpods.ai"]')]
.map((a) => ({ rel: a.getAttribute('rel') ?? '(none)', href: a.href })),
}, null, 2)
```
A link in both outputs with no `nofollow`, `ugc` or `sponsored` is followed, and every crawler sees it. A link only in the console output is followed for Google but may be missed by backlink tools and AI crawlers. Run both on another vendor's listing and you know what a venue gives before you apply.
## Which sites give free dofollow backlinks?
The Hermes marketplace, the Wix App Market, Microsoft Edge Add-ons, Postman team profiles, CB Insights company profiles and the Manufact leaderboard gave followed links in our checks. The Chrome Web Store, the VS Code Marketplace, GitHub, npm, Product Hunt and Crunchbase did not.
Of those, Hermes and Wix put the link in the server HTML; Edge and Postman add it with JavaScript. The [SaaS directories guide](https://workpods.ai/guides/saas-distribution) sets these links beside how well each directory ranks, [Chrome Web Store SEO](https://workpods.ai/guides/saas-distribution/chrome-web-store-seo) covers the extension stores, and [app marketplaces](https://workpods.ai/guides/saas-distribution/app-marketplaces) covers VS Code, JetBrains and website builders.
## Why isn't Ahrefs showing my backlink?
Search Console, Ahrefs and Semrush only see a new link after their crawlers revisit the page it sits on, and deep listing pages are revisited rarely. Expect weeks, not days.
Domain Rating is also slow to move, because it counts each linking domain once and weights it by how many sites that domain links to. One more directory barely moves it; many different sites writing about you does.
Once a link is live, check the page it points to with [Agent Ready](https://workpods.ai/tools/agent-ready), which reads it the way search engines, AI answers and agents do. If you'd rather have the listings done for you, see our [agent platform listing work](https://workpods.ai/axo/agent-platforms).
## Sources
- AI citation counts: DataForSEO LLM mention data, US, English, November 2026; a sampled dataset, so read the counts as relative signals.
- Link statuses: our own listings and other vendors' live listings, read in Chrome DevTools and with curl, 5 to 11 November 2026.
## Questions buyers ask
### Is noopener noreferrer nofollow?
No. `noopener` and `noreferrer` only change how the browser opens the link, so a link with just those values is followed.
### Is there a free dofollow backlinks checker?
Yes: the curl command and DevTools snippet above. Together they show the link's `rel` value, whether it's in the server HTML, and the page's canonical and robots tags.
### Do nofollow links help SEO?
Not directly for Google rankings. They still bring visitors, help crawlers find your site and put your product on pages AI answers read.
### Where can I get free dofollow backlinks?
In our November 2026 checks, the Hermes marketplace, the Wix App Market, Edge Add-ons, Postman team profiles and CB Insights gave followed links at no cost. Recheck a venue's current listings first, because platforms change their markup.
By Prateek Tomar · Reviewed by Shefali Munjal · Published 2026-11-12
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Source: https://workpods.ai/guides/saas-distribution/dofollow-vs-nofollow · WorkPods.ai, updated 2026-11-12