What is parasite SEO?

We cover the evolution parasite SEO, from historic black-hat tactics to how UGC platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn and YouTube complicate things

Apr 29, 2025

#SPONSORED

Your SEO Agent Just Clocked In — Meet KIVA by Wellows

If your SEO still lives across 5 tabs, it’s time for KIVA. Built by Wellows, it pulls in your GSC data, maps real search intent and creates ready-to-go content briefs. Trusted by 3,000+ users who’d rather work smart—not harder.

Try KIVA Now!

Hello, and welcome back. Shelby here, riding the high of an incredible — but very busy — weekend (and the reason this newsletter is late! Blame me! Only me!). My publication, The Athletic, has come out on the other side of a wild NFL Draft and I couldn’t be prouder of our performance. Meanwhile, my voice seems to have gotten lost between yelling for the Toronto Maple Leafs to not blow a 3-0 lead and emceeing my cousin’s wedding. Next up: the Kentucky Derby!

This week: Parasite SEO. We dive into this practice and its evolution in the search industry, from historic black-hat tactics to how UGC platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn and YouTube complicate things — and what publishers need to know.

THIS WEDNESDAY: We are hosting our spring community call on the must-have skills in news SEO!
PLUS: We are launching a mentorship program! Interested in connecting with someone in news SEO or audience? Want to guide the future generation? Details are here, and more shared soon.

Am I mad Sir Computers A Lot has a nicer ponytail than me? …maybe

Let’s get it.

In this issue:

What is parasite SEO?
Why it’s not always bad
How publishers should think about parasite SEO

THE 101

What is parasite SEO?

Parasite SEO refers to when one entity leverages the authority of another established company’s website to rank higher on search engines. This is done by publishing one website’s content on another site with links back to the smaller site. It is also known as barnacle SEO or piggyback SEO.

Parasite SEO has a long history as a black-hat tactic, due to its legacy of companies posting on multiple sites with high domain authority and not being transparent about it. As Google’s spam policies have changed, parasite SEO has evolved from being entirely black hat to having grey areas. Parasite SEO can be white-hat if done within Google's policies and parameters.

For example, a site that explicitly explains that it is hosting sponsored content — such as the screenshot below, where Toronto Life hosts an article paid for by Hot Docs about their festival — is practising white-hat tactics.

However, if a well-established site hosts a ton of streaming content and does not explicitly outline that it is a partnership, that becomes black hat. The key here is transparency.

More examples of parasite SEO in news include:

Sponsored content, including across multiple sites;
AI-generated content by freelancers who work for multiple publications (and create similar stories);
User-generated content from sites like Reddit, LinkedIn or Quora;
Cross-promotion or guest posting on a higher-authority site (like a freelancer publishing an article on a news site and getting a backlink to their own, smaller site).

Parasite SEO works because you are benefitting from a site’s topic authority and brand equity. Backlinks are typically given in this instance.

A screenshot from MedResponsive shows some of the benefits from engaging in parasite SEO.

While in many cases, parasite SEO refers to the black-hat tactics or sites that are not transparent about sponsored content, there are platforms (and publishers) that benefit from parasite SEO-type work — including on sites like Reddit, LinkedIn, Quora or even YouTube.

Posting content natively on these sites is technically parasite SEO. These sites are now routinely found in search results. Reddit and LinkedIn, for example, have also seen their visibility surge in recent years (more on this below). People and publications can publish content directly to these sites and generate traffic in an alternative way.

Join our community of news SEOs on Slack to chat any time.

Some of these platforms are also likely already part of a publication’s social strategy, such as AMAs on Reddit. With the surge in visibility, there’s now the added benefit of also potentially showing up in SERPs. If employed correctly, it can almost be like a one-two punch.

This is another reason why it’s so important for your search and social strategies to be in tandem, and for the teams to be working together. Both social and search traffic have declined over the years, so it’s important to holistically look at the landscape and identify where opportunities lie that may cross multiple channels.

So… it’s not always bad?

Yes and no. When the phrase “parasite SEO” is used, it’s usually in reference to bad or nefarious accounts who employ a “burn and churn” approach. Companies pay publishers to put sponsored content on their site, and then do it again on another site, and so on. This is why it’s referred to as “barnacle” SEO, too — once there is one little barnacle on a lobster’s claw, there will be five more very soon.

When handling content that is published on an established site, transparency and following Google’s spam policies is top priority.

However, when referring to publishing content on platforms like Reddit or LinkedIn, the waters are much more murky. Google’s recent core algorithm updates have accentuated the visibility of these platforms and forums.

In a screenshot from Trisolute News Dashboard looking at mobile visibility in the U.S., YouTube and Reddit surged in visibility from October to December 2024.

Visibility of sites like YouTube (dark blue line) and Reddit (brown) have climbed on mobile SERPs substantially over the last few months, taking up more real estate with aggregated content.

As such, it’s increasingly important to think about how these platforms can improve the visibility and traffic for publishers.

Additionally, LinkedIn “Pulse” articles are seeing greater visibility than ever. News stories and blog-style posts are featured on Pulse. This is then surfaced to relevant networks on LinkedIn.

But this user-generated content is also ranking in SERPs. This means you can write an article about a trending or evergreen topic on LinkedIn Pulse and potentially see it show up for the targeted keywords. Lily Ray experimented with this in March 2025 and successfully had her Pulse article rank — with a rich snippet! — on organic search.

Lily Ray tested posting an article to LinkedIn's Pulse platform in March 2025. Later that day, it ranked on SERPs for the targeted keywords.

So, while this still falls under the umbrella of parasite SEO, whether it's a cause for concern comes down to a classic SEO answer: it depends.

Publishers should be most concerned with parasite SEO that exploits site reputation. In March 2024, Google announced its new spam policies that targeted expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse and site reputation. The company also launched the March 2024 spam update at the same time.

In November 2024, Google updated the site reputation abuse policy to “make it clear” that using third-party content on a site “in an attempt to exploit the site’s ranking signals” is a violation of the policy, “regardless of whether there is first-party involvement or oversight.” This means that even if the overarching site is not involved in the production of that content, it can still be penalized or receive a manual action.

These changes were rolled out amidst widespread misuse by sites with affiliate arms. Forbes said it will stop hiring freelancers to produce content for its product review section Forbes Vetted, citing Google's policy for the change.

(A manual action is a punitive response against a website by a human reviewer, where a site is penalized for not being in compliance with Google’s policies. These are becoming more prevalent as Google fights back against spam in results. Not all manual actions have been warranted, however.)

Google has updated its spam policy multiple times since to clarify when a site reputation violation — or a manual action — would be handed out.

It’s clear Google is cracking down on sites that exploit domain authority. If you're engaging in parasite SEO, proceed carefully. Be transparent about your content and ensure it is aligned with best practices.

What publishers should think about with parasite SEO

The best way to build long-term success is to not engage with parasite SEO — within reason. Instead, build the authority yourself. Yes, it takes longer, but the benefits are greater.

Keep the following factors in mind if you consider parasite SEO:

Transparency. Make it clear if an article is sponsored or written by AI. If an article has fake comments, remove them immediately. If you are posting on another platform, ensure your brand is mentioned as the byline or in the body copy, and links to the responsible outlet.

Long-term business (and editorial) goals. It’s possible — especially if you’re a smaller publication — that parasite SEO may be helpful to the business. It is often a cash flow generation asset (and usually in affiliate), so short-term engagement is the goal. Long-term traffic and authority gains will likely not be as beneficial when posting on another site.

What does Google look like? Increasingly, SERPs include a ton of Reddit threads, LinkedIn Pulse articles and YouTube shorts. These platforms are growing in visibility and popularity, especially as readers gravitate to user-generated content for people-first experiences. If it makes sense, consider strategizing how to start testing content and its performance on these platforms as a means of ranking on SERPs in non-traditional ways.

The bottom line: Parasite SEO is a way to leverage the authority of an established website to rank higher on search engines, but requires thoughtful consideration and adherence to Google's spam and reputation abuse policies. Stay away from black-hat SEO tactics, and be sure to understand your publication’s goals and objectives.

Support WTF! Buy a tote!

#SPONSORED - The Classifieds

Get your company in front of more than 13,000 writers, editors and digital marketers working in news and publishing. Sponsor the WTF is SEO? newsletter!

THE JOBS LIST

Audience or SEO jobs in journalism. Want to include a position for promotion? Email us.

The BBC is hiring a Senior Audience Engagement Editor (London, U.K.).
The Washington Post is hiring a Social Media Editor (Washington, D.C., 5-month contract).
The Associated Press is hiring a Social Video Producer (U.S., Remote).
The New York Times has opened applications for The Times Corps, a career-guidance program for college students in the U.S.
Shared Bylines is accepting applications for its title scholarship and mentorship program, including a scholarship for visually impaired journalists in Canada.