FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Clear answers about wallet credit, usage, subscriptions, and how Tycoon charges for work.
Isn't link building mostly dead because Google deprecated PageRank?
PageRank-style link signals are less dominant than in 2015, but backlinks from authoritative sites remain one of the top 3 ranking factors according to every correlation study and Google's own leaked documents. What's dead is paid/spammy link building (PBNs, link farms, Fiverr blasts). What works: earning editorial mentions in real publications, placements on resource pages, guest posts on genuinely authoritative sites, and HARO quotes that journalists cite. Tycoon runs the work that still works; none of the work that gets you penalized.
How is this different from Pitchbox, BuzzStream, or Respona?
Those are outreach-management tools — CRMs for link builders with email templates and prospecting integrations. Tycoon is the link builder who runs the campaigns. Pitchbox gives you a place to track a campaign; Tycoon designs the campaign, finds the prospects, writes personalized emails, handles replies, and books placements. Many agencies use Pitchbox + outsourced virtual assistants; Tycoon replaces the virtual assistant with a much more consistent AI team. Link-building agencies that charge $3-10K/month typically can't outperform a Tycoon setup run by an in-house SEO manager.
What about link penalties — can AI-driven outreach trigger Google action?
Google penalizes link schemes (buying links, PBNs, link swapping at scale). None of Tycoon's workflows do these. Every link earned is editorial: a journalist quoted you in HARO, a site owner replaced a broken link, a resource page added you, an editor accepted your guest post. These are exactly the link-earning behaviors Google's guidelines encourage. The risk vector would be if you configured Tycoon to do bulk low-quality submissions (fiverr-style link blasts) — the default setup won't do that, and you'd have to actively configure it to misbehave.
My site is new (<6 months). Is it too early for link building?
Not too early, but prioritization matters. For new sites, the highest-ROI link work is: HARO (journalist mentions establish E-E-A-T signals early), guest posts on niche authority sites (2-5 per quarter), and resource page placements on non-competing sites in your space. Skip broken-link outreach until you have enough content to actually replace broken sources. Skip PR/press outreach until you have traction worth covering. Start with the foundational work and graduate to bigger campaigns as your content library grows.
Does this replace my SEO agency?
Partially. A full SEO agency also does on-page optimization, technical SEO audits, content strategy, local SEO, and client reporting. Tycoon runs the link building piece plus some content work, often replacing 40-60% of what an SEO agency delivers at a fraction of the cost. Teams at 10-50 employees often find the right mix is: Tycoon for the weekly operational work + a fractional SEO consultant ($2-5K/month) for strategy and audits. Full-service agencies at $5-15K/month are usually overkill for that size company when Tycoon handles the execution layer.