Do nofollow directory links have any value for AI search?
Probably some, but LinkPing has not measured it: nofollow tells search engines how to treat a link, while an AI assistant reading a page can still see the mention of your product and its description. Of 127 live directories with a known link type, 16 (13%) use nofollow as of 2026-10-20.
Updated Markdown version
The nofollow attribute is a hint to search engines about passing ranking signals. It does not hide a page from crawlers, and it does not stop a language model or a retrieval system from reading the text around your listing. Whether an AI engine weights such mentions differently is not publicly documented.
| Link type | Directories |
|---|---|
| Dofollow | 111 of 127 |
| Nofollow | 16 of 127 |
What likely matters more for AI visibility
- The listing page is crawlable and says clearly what your product does.
- Your name, category and description are consistent across sources.
- The directory itself is a site AI tools already read.
Data pending. LinkPing does not yet have enough submission records to publish whether nofollow or dofollow listings are cited more by AI engines, and we will not estimate it. LinkPing is measuring this; results will be published in the monthly Directory Index at /data once the sample is large enough to be meaningful.
Related directories
Related questions
- Why do AI answers cite directories and listicles?
- Which startup directories still give dofollow backlinks for free?
- What signals make an AI engine trust a new SaaS?
Source: LinkPing directory library snapshot 2026-10-20. Figures update when the snapshot is refreshed.
Frequently asked questions
Should I skip nofollow directories?
Not necessarily. They can still provide visibility, referral traffic and consistent product descriptions.
Do AI crawlers respect nofollow?
There is no published standard for that; nofollow is a search-engine ranking hint.