Does a press release help SEO? Not much through its own links. Google’s spam policy names links with optimized anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites as link spam, and the large distribution services make those links nofollow for that reason. A press release can still help indirectly, when a journalist turns it into a real story that links to you because it’s useful, and when people who read the news search for your name. Buy distribution for the reach and the coverage, not the backlink.
Last updated 30 October 2026.
What Google’s spam policy says about press releases
This one has a direct answer in Google’s own words. Google’s spam policies define link spam as “creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings.” In the list of examples, one line names press releases outright:
“Advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass ranking credit, or links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts, or press releases distributed on other sites.”
Read it slowly, because it covers two separate things. The first is paid content with links that pass ranking credit. The second is optimized anchor text, the keyword-stuffed link like “best invoicing software for freelancers” planted in a release that then gets copied to hundreds of sites. Google even gives an example of what that looks like: a paragraph where the words “wedding,” “best ring” and “wedding dress” are each a separate link.
The same policy also says how to stay inside it. Google understands “that buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web for advertising and sponsorship purposes,” and says “it’s not a violation of our policies to have such links as long as they are qualified with a rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored” attribute value to the <a> tag.” A press release you paid to distribute is paid placement. Its links belong in that category.
Press release backlinks: what the link actually does
Google treats nofollow and sponsored as hints. Its 2019 announcement on evolving nofollow says “all the link attributes, sponsored, ugc, and nofollow, are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search.” It also says that “in most cases, the move to a hint model won’t change the nature of how we treat such links. We’ll generally treat them as we did with nofollow before and not consider them for ranking purposes.”
So a nofollow link in a syndicated release is, for ranking purposes, mostly a link Google sets aside. That doesn’t make it worthless. A reader can still click it. It just isn’t the ranking lever many people think they’re buying.
Here’s what the distribution services themselves said on the pages we read on 30 October 2026:
| Service | What it says about links in releases |
|---|---|
| EIN Presswire FAQ | “EIN Presswire only allows for no-follow links in press releases,” because it is a Google News provider and “must follow Google’s guidelines to maintain this status.” |
| eReleases FAQ | Links are tagged no follow “as per Google’s press release requirements.” |
| Brand Push | Asked whether links are dofollow: “Some are, but not all.” It adds: “The link type on any individual outlet is not guaranteed.” |
Turns out the services that put the most weight on Google compliance are also the ones most frank about SEO. eReleases goes further than most. Its FAQ calls any ranking gain “a temporary increase in visibility on the search engines” that “should be viewed only as a temporary side effect or bonus,” and says plainly: “We stand behind Google in affirming that press release issuances should not affect SEO.”
Most people miss the gap between the two camps. A service that sells some dofollow placements is selling exactly the kind of link Google’s policy names, unless those links carry rel="sponsored". Our explainer on dofollow vs nofollow links covers what each attribute does.
Where a press release can help SEO
If the link isn’t the point, what is? Once a release goes out, three different things can happen to it, and only some of them matter for search.
It gets copied. Distribution networks republish the release word for word on many news sites. Brand Push describes this as “normal news syndication” that “does not create duplicate content on your own website.” These copies are where the nofollow links live. In practice, they’re mostly useful as proof the release exists and as a place readers might find it.
It becomes a story. A journalist or blogger reads the release, finds something worth covering, and writes their own article. If that article links to you, it’s because the link helps their readers. That’s an earned, editorial link, the kind Google’s systems are built to count. Nobody can sell you this part. eReleases says “we cannot promise you will receive actual media coverage.” EIN Presswire’s only guarantee is “that your releases will be published on the distribution networks that we control.” Brand Push says rankings “cannot be guaranteed.”
It gets searched. People who saw the news look you up by name. That shows up as branded searches and direct visits rather than as a backlink. It’s harder to trace to one release, but it’s real attention.
Honestly, the second outcome is the only one that moves SEO in the way people hope, and it depends almost entirely on whether you have news. A new product, original data, a local first, a real partnership. “Company updates website” isn’t news, and no wire changes that.
Press release distribution: what it costs and what you get
Distribution is priced per release, and the range is wide. These are the figures each service published on 30 October 2026:
| Service | Price on the page | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|
| EIN Presswire | “Pricing ranges from $50-$149 per release” | Publication on its own networks; “pay-as-you-go” |
| Brand Push | Access $195, Growth $265, Authority $595, Ultimate $795 | One-time payment; a set number of news sites per package |
| eReleases | Package prices on a separate pricing page; international adds “$150 per country or $1000 for global” | Distribution over Cision PR Newswire, with an editorial review |
| Rhino Rank | Press releases from $99 on 30 October 2026 (from our Rhino Rank review) | Paid syndication; its pricing file calls pickup and rankings “possible outcomes, never guarantees” |
When you compare them, ask three questions rather than looking at the outlet count. Does a human edit or check the release before it goes out? Are the links nofollow, sponsored, or “it depends”? And what, if anything, is guaranteed beyond publication on the service’s own network?
Worked example: a SaaS tool announces a free tier
Here’s a realistic scenario with round numbers. A small company makes scheduling software for dental and physiotherapy clinics. It’s launching a free plan for single-practitioner clinics and wants to know if a press release is worth it.
Option one: the release for the link. They write a release with three keyword-rich anchors (“best clinic scheduling software,” “free appointment booking app,” “online booking for physiotherapists”), pay $149 for a top EIN Presswire tier, and expect the copies to lift their rankings. EIN’s own FAQ says every link will be no-follow. Google’s policy names this exact pattern of optimized anchors in distributed releases. Result for rankings: little to nothing, and the anchors read like an advert to any journalist who opens it. Skip the keyword anchors entirely.
Option two: the release for the story. Same $149, different release. The headline is the news: a free plan for one-person clinics, with a quote from a practitioner who used it during the beta and one figure from their own data, say the share of bookings made outside office hours. The only link is the company name, pointing to the announcement page, marked nofollow by the wire anyway. Then they send the same news directly to two trade newsletters for clinic owners.
If one trade newsletter writes its own piece and links to the free plan page, that’s an earned link from a relevant site, plus readers who might sign up. If nobody covers it, they’ve spent $149 on reach and a public record of the launch, which is roughly what EIN Presswire says it sells. Either way, they haven’t put anything on the web that Google’s policy describes as link spam.
Don’t forget the cheapest step. The announcement page on the company’s own site is the thing journalists link to. If that page is thin, coverage has nothing to point at.
How to write a press release that might earn coverage
- Start with real news. A launch, a number, a result, a first. If you can’t say what’s new in one sentence, wait.
- Put the news in the headline and first paragraph. Editors skim. The who, what and when go up top.
- Add something only you have. Original data, a customer’s own words, a photo, a short quote that says something.
- Link to one useful page, with your brand name or plain URL as the anchor. Not a keyword phrase.
- Pick a distribution service by how it handles links and review, not by the number of outlets.
- Pitch the story directly to two or three writers who cover your niche. A wire is a megaphone; a personal note is a conversation.
- Measure the right things. Original articles written by named reporters, referral visits and branded searches, not the count of syndicated copies.
Common press release SEO mistakes
Stuffing keyword anchors into the release. That’s the exact pattern Google’s spam policy describes. Use your brand name or plain URL.
Counting syndicated copies as backlinks. A hundred word-for-word copies with nofollow links aren’t a hundred votes. They’re one release, repeated.
Buying dofollow placements without a label. If you’ve paid for a release, its links are paid links. The policy’s fix is rel="sponsored" or nofollow.
Sending releases with no news in them. When you announce minor updates every month, journalists learn to ignore you.
Expecting a ranking jump. None of the services we read promise rankings, and eReleases says releases “should not affect SEO.”
If you’re weighing paid links more broadly, our guide on whether you should buy backlinks sets out the trade-offs, and what is link building covers the earned alternatives.
FAQ: press release SEO questions
Do press release backlinks still work?
Not as a ranking shortcut. Google’s spam policy names press releases with links that pass ranking credit or use optimized anchor text, and services like EIN Presswire and eReleases make every link nofollow. The links can still bring readers, and coverage that follows a release can earn real links.
Are press release links dofollow or nofollow?
It depends on the service and the outlet. EIN Presswire and eReleases say they make links nofollow. Brand Push says some outlets use dofollow links but that “the link type on any individual outlet is not guaranteed.” Check each live link yourself.
Can a press release hurt my SEO?
A single, honest release with a nofollow brand link is unlikely to cause trouble. The risk comes from the pattern Google’s policy names: paid releases with keyword-rich anchors, distributed across many sites. That’s link spam under the policy, which says violations found by automated systems or human review “can result in a manual action,” and that such sites “may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all.”
Is press release distribution worth paying for?
It can be when you have real news and want reach, a public record, or a chance at coverage. It isn’t worth paying for as a backlink package. Decide by what you’d be happy with if no journalist picks it up.
The short version
- A press release rarely helps SEO through its own link: Google’s spam policy names optimized links in distributed releases as link spam.
- EIN Presswire and eReleases make release links nofollow; Brand Push says link type isn’t guaranteed.
- The SEO value, when there is any, comes from coverage that earns an editorial link and from people searching your name.
- Lead with real news, link with your brand name, and pitch writers directly.
- If a paid release carries links, they belong under
rel="sponsored"ornofollow.