In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Tamara Novitovic, Head of SEO at the Bazoom Group and international SEO speaker. Tamara shares her insights into the evolving landscape of link building, the role of AI in search, and practical advice for building backlinks that matter in 2026 and beyond.

We discuss how backlinks continue to play a role in both traditional SEO and AI-driven search models, why context is critical, and how to navigate modern link-building strategies in an era where AI models and LLMs are increasingly influencing visibility. Tamara also shares her perspective on guest posting, buying links safely, and the importance of publisher relationships in digital PR and outreach.

Tamara discusses:

- How backlinks retain their importance through context and authority signals

- The evolving influence of AI and LLMs on backlink evaluation

- Safe strategies for purchasing or earning links

- How to prioritise high-quality publishers and measure link effectiveness

Topics covered include:

- The difference between traditional SEO signals and AI-powered evaluation of backlinks

- Contextual relevance: why the page and surrounding content matter more than anchors

- Hybrid link-building strategies: balancing high-authority links with LLM-optimized approaches

- How AI search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini interact with backlinks

- Best practices for guest posts, PR links, and content-driven link building

- Insights from large-scale case studies analysing millions of URLs

- Key SEO events to attend for learning and networking in 2026