AI Link building agency performance review — What to change after 90 days.

In the timeline of an SEO (keresőoptimalizálás) engagement, the 90-day mark is the "Inflection Point." The first month is setup and prospecting. The second month is the initial outreach and production. The third month is where the data matures enough to tell a story.

For a client employing an AI Link Building Agency, this moment is critical. You are no longer buying promises; you are analyzing a dataset. Unlike traditional agencies, where human delays are common excuses, an AI agency operates on computational efficiency. If the machine isn't working by Day 90, it likely won't work by Day 365 without significant intervention.

This article serves as an executive guide to that quarterly review. It details exactly what metrics to audit, how to spot "AI hallucinations" in your link profile, and the specific strategic pivots you must demand to ensure the next 90 days deliver ROI.

Part 1: The "Honeymoon" is Over — Why 90 Days?

Why is the quarterly review the standard? Because Google's algorithm is not instant, but it is consistent. While you may not see a jump to Position #1 in three months, you should see "Leading Indicators."

In the context of AI link building, 90 days allows for three full "Sprint Cycles."

1. Cycle 1: Calibration (AI learning the niche).

2. Cycle 2: Velocity (Ramping up volume).

3. Cycle 3: Optimization (Refining based on response rates).

If you arrive at the 90-day review and the agency says, "We are still warming up," that is a red flag. AI does not need to warm up. It needs to be tuned. The review is your tuning fork.

Part 2: The Audit — Validating the "AI Advantage"

The primary selling point of an AI agency is that they build better links faster by using machine learning to filter prospects. Your audit must verify if this claim is true or if they are just using AI to spam faster.

1. The Semantic Relevance Audit

Traditional agencies often build links on high-DR sites that are irrelevant (e.g., a link to a "CRM Software" on a "Mommy Blog"). AI agencies claim to use NLP (Natural Language Processing) to match "Vectors" of relevance.

The Check: Take a random sample of 20 links built in the last 90 days.

• Pass: The linking page is topically related to your niche (e.g., "Sales Tech" blog linking to "CRM").

• Fail: The linking page is a "General News" site or a "Guest Post Farm" covering crypto, gardening, and tech on the same homepage.

The Pivot: If you find >20% irrelevant links, the AI's "Strictness Threshold" is too low.

• Action: "Please increase the Semantic Relevance Score threshold in your AI model from 60 to 80. I would rather have fewer links than irrelevant ones."

2. The "Fake Traffic" Detection

A major issue with AI automation is that it can be tricked by "Bot Traffic." Some publishers buy fake traffic to inflate their metrics so AI tools will target them.

The Check: Look at the traffic trend of the sites where links were placed.

• Pass: Steady, organic traffic growth or stability over 12 months.

• Fail: A site had 0 traffic six months ago, suddenly spiked to 50,000, and flatlined. This is a bot farm.

The Pivot:

• Action: "Update your exclusion rules. Any domain with a 'Traffic Volatility' index of >200% in a single month should be blacklisted."

3. The Indexation Rate

AI can build links faster than Google can crawl them. If you paid for 50 links, but only 20 are indexed, you effectively paid for 20.

The Check: Run the list of 90-day deliverables through a bulk index checker (or search site:url in Google).

• Benchmark: A healthy indexation rate is >85%.

• Fail: <70% indexation suggests the agency is placing links on "Orphan Pages" or sites that Google has "shadow-banned."

The Pivot:

• Action: "We need a 'Tier 2' indexing strategy. For any link not indexed after 21 days, I expect you to build social signals or Tier 2 links to force a crawl, or replace the link."

Part 3: Assessing the "Leading Indicators"

You might not have revenue yet, but you need proof of life. The 90-day review looks for "Tremors" before the "Earthquake."

1. Keyword "Impression" Spikes

Log into Google Search Console. Filter for the pages the agency has been building links to. Look at "Impressions," not "Clicks."

• The Logic: Before you rank on Page 1 (Clicks), you rank on Page 3 or 4 (Impressions). A spike in impressions indicates that the new links are passing authority, and Google is testing the page.

• The Verdict: If impressions are flat after 90 days of link building, the links are not passing weight. This usually means the content on your page is not good enough to justify a higher rank, regardless of links.

2. The "Striking Distance" Movement

Identify keywords that were in positions 11–20 (Page 2) at Day 1.

• The Check: Have they moved into positions 4–10 (Page 1)?

• The Verdict: AI link building is most effective at nudging existing rankings. If Page 2 keywords haven't budged, the agency is likely targeting the wrong anchor text or the wrong pages.

Part 4: Strategic Pivots — What to Change

Based on the data above, you must issue a "Change Order" for the next quarter. Here are the three most common strategic pivots after 90 days.

Pivot A: The "Anchor Text" Correction

Scenario: You gained authority (DR increased), but rankings are stagnant. Diagnosis: The agency played it too safe. They used 80% "Branded" anchors (e.g., "Company Name") or "Naked" URLs to avoid penalties. The Change: "Safe Mode is over. For the next 90 days, I want to shift the Anchor Ratio. Let's move to 30% 'Partial Match' anchors (e.g., 'best CRM for small business') to signal specific relevance to Google."

Pivot B: The "Target URL" Rotation

Scenario: You poured 50 links into a specific "Ultimate Guide," but it's stuck at Position 5. It won't move to #1. Diagnosis: Diminishing returns. The page has hit its "Link Saturation" point relative to the competition. The Change: "Stop building deep links to the Guide. Pivot the budget to the Homepage. We need to lift the overall Domain Authority to break the ceiling for the Guide." Alternatively: "Pivot to 'Hub & Spoke.' Start building links to the supporting articles that link up to the Guide."

Pivot C: The "Velocity" Adjustment

Scenario: Competitors are still outpacing you. You built 10 links/month; they built 20. Diagnosis: The "Link Gap" is widening, not closing. The Change: "We need to check the 'Gap Analysis.' The current budget isn't sufficient to overtake Competitor X. Can we switch strategies to 'Digital PR' to get higher authority links, or do we need to increase the volume of mid-tier links?"

Part 5: Reviewing the "AI Operations"

An AI agency should get smarter over time. If they are making the same mistakes in Month 3 as in Month 1, their "Learning Loop" is broken.

1. Outreach Personalization Review

Ask to see the email templates used in Month 3 vs. Month 1.

• Bad AI: They are using the exact same prompt. "Hi [Name], loved your post on [Topic]."

• Good AI: The templates have evolved based on "Reply Rate" data. They are now referencing specific data points or using different "Hooks."

The Demand: "Show me the A/B test results from the last 90 days. Which subject line had the highest open rate? Which value proposition had the highest positive reply rate? I want to ensure we are doubling down on the winner."

2. The "Burn List" Efficiency

By Day 90, the agency should have contacted thousands of prospects.

• The Check: Are they re-contacting sites that already said "No"?

• The Demand: "Ensure your 'Do Not Contact' list is synchronized. I don't want to burn bridges by annoying webmasters."

Part 6: The "Bad Fit" Warning Signs (When to Fire)

Sometimes, the review reveals that the agency is simply not performing. Here are the "Hard Stop" signals. If you see these after 90 days, do not pivot—terminate.

1. The "Link Farm" Discovery: If you find >10% of links are on sites that are clearly "Made For Advertising" (no real audience, generic content), the agency is risking your domain. AI should be filtering these out, not finding them.

2. Zero Transparency: If the agency refuses to show you the "Prospect List" before they reach out, or delays the "Live Link Report" by weeks. In SEO (keresőoptimalizálás), hiding data means hiding failure.

3. The "Google Dance" Excuse: If rankings dropped significantly and the agency blames "Google Volatility" without offering a technical audit or a disavow strategy.

Part 7: The Roadmap for Days 91–180

A successful review ends with a new roadmap. Do not just say "Keep doing the same thing." The ecosystem has changed.

1. Tiered Link Building

Now that the foundation is laid (Day 1–90), move to sophistication.

• Days 1–90: Standard Guest Posts & Resource Page links.

• Days 91–180: "Link Insertions" (Niche Edits) into aged content that already has traffic.

  • Why: These pass link equity faster. The page is already indexed and trusted.

2. Content Refresh Integration

By Month 4, you likely have "Old Winners" on your site (content that ranked well years ago but faded).

• The Strategy: instruct the agency to run a "Content Decay" audit.

• The Action: "Let's allocate 20% of the budget to 'Re-Optimizing' old posts and building fresh links to them to signal freshness."

3. Competitor "Vulture" Mode

After 90 days, the AI has enough data on competitors to predict their moves.

• The Strategy: Look at the new links competitors built in the last 90 days.

• The Action: "Run a 'Link Intersect' report on the last quarter. Any site that linked to a competitor should be pitched immediately with our updated assets."

Conclusion: Data over Loyalty

The 90-day review is the moment you transition from "Trust" to "Verification." An AI Link Building Agency is a tool. Like any complex machinery, it requires calibration. It is your responsibility as the client to look at the dashboard, tap the gauges, and ask the hard questions.

If the agency has delivered clean metrics, relevant placements, and positive leading indicators, the decision is easy: Scale. If they have delivered excuses and low-quality directory links, the decision is equally easy: Pivot or Terminate.

In SEO (keresőoptimalizálás), time is more expensive than money. Wasting another 90 days on a strategy that isn't working is a cost you cannot afford. Use the data, make the change, and ensure the machine is working for you, not the other way around.