Some do, and many attach conditions. On 10 October 2026 we read the live listing markup on 23 launch and directory sites: 13 served a plain followed link, 9 used nofollow and 1 used ugc. Several of the followed ones only give it to paid launches, top 3 products, or makers who link back, so check the link on your own listing after you go live.
Free dofollow backlink checker. Paste the page that links to you and your domain to see every link to your site and whether it is dofollow, nofollow, ugc or sponsored.
Open Dofollow Backlink Checker → Free toolFree launch readiness check for your website. One click checks HTTPS, title, meta description, social preview, favicon, mobile viewport, H1, indexing and speed, with a score and a fix for each problem.
Open Website Launch Readiness Checker →Directories often advertise a backlink without saying what kind. The common patterns are a nofollow link on free listings with a followed link for paid launches, a followed link only for products that finish in the top 3, or a followed link in exchange for a badge or link back on your site. That is a fair trade, it just is not the headline.
The only reliable answer is the HTML of your own listing page. Look at the link that points to your site and read its rel attribute. Also check the page itself: a robots meta tag set to nofollow or noindex cancels the value of every link on that page.
In our 10 October 2026 check, 13 of the 23 sites we could read served a plain followed link on the listing we opened.
No. It can still send visitors and helps people and AI assistants find you; it just passes little ranking value.
Only if the audience is worth it too. One followed link is a small factor next to content and real mentions.