Dofollow Directories for AI Tools
Sites that accept AI tool listings and pass real link equity, checked on live listings, because dofollow claims on old lists have a shelf life.
A dofollow link passes authority from the linking site to yours. It is the difference between a listing that strengthens your link profile and one that merely exists. Plenty of lists circulating on X mark sites as dofollow based on how they behaved in 2023, and directories switch to nofollow quietly, sometimes site-wide during a redesign, with nobody updating the list.
So we check. Sites marked dofollow here had it confirmed on a live listing rather than copied from someone else's spreadsheet, and we recheck rather than assuming it holds.
One honest note before the table: nofollow links are not worthless. They send referral traffic, they build the brand searches that increasingly feed AI-era discovery, and Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a command. A natural profile has both. But when you are deciding where to spend your submission time first, dofollow with decent DR is the shortlist.
Confirmed dofollow, and they accept AI tools
| Site | DR | Listing | Link status |
|---|---|---|---|
| softwareadvice.com | 87 | Free | Dofollow |
| financesonline.com | 87 | Free | Dofollow |
| wellfound.com | 87 | Free | Dofollow |
| fazier.com | 83 | Free | Dofollow |
| trustmary.com | 83 | Free | Dofollow |
| dang.ai | 82 | Free | Dofollow |
| twelve.tools | 82 | Free | Dofollow |
DR syncs from Ahrefs. Link status is rechecked periodically; rows we cannot currently verify are marked unverified rather than left showing an old result.
How to check it yourself in 30 seconds
Open any published listing on the directory, right-click the link that points to the tool’s own website, and inspect it. If the anchor carries a rel attribute containing nofollow, ugc or sponsored, the link is not passing full equity. Check the link to the tool’s site specifically rather than the directory’s own navigation, and check a normal free listing rather than a featured one, since the two are sometimes treated differently.
If you are prioritising a DIY round, the order that works: dofollow sites with decent DR first, then high-DR nofollow sites that send real visitors, then everything else. That ranking is what this page gives you.
Dofollow is the shortlist, not the whole strategy
A directory list sorted by dofollow status is the ranking of where your backlink budget goes first, not the entire plan. Nofollow listings still drive referral traffic, improve brand awareness, and contribute to the kind of natural link profile that search engines reward. The best approach is to submit everywhere worth submitting, and to know which links are doing the most structural work for your domain.
What you can skip entirely is the bottom: low DR, nofollow, no traffic. Those listings exist only to make a submission count look bigger, which is why our plans cap at 300 rather than padding to 450.
Frequently asked questions
What is a dofollow backlink?
A dofollow link passes link equity from the linking site to yours, which is what search engines use as an authority signal. Nofollow links carry a rel attribute that tells search engines not to pass equity through that link, though Google now treats nofollow as a hint rather than a strict command. The practical difference: dofollow listings contribute directly to your domain authority, nofollow listings contribute indirectly through traffic and brand exposure.
Do nofollow directory links have any value?
Yes, just less direct SEO value. They still send referral traffic, build the brand searches that increasingly drive discovery, and Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a command. A natural link profile has both. The dofollow distinction is about prioritisation, not about ignoring nofollow sites entirely.
How do I check a directory is really dofollow?
Open a published listing, right-click the link pointing to the tool’s own website, and inspect it. If the anchor carries rel="nofollow", rel="ugc" or rel="sponsored", the link is not passing full equity. Also check for a page-level nofollow meta tag, which overrides every link on the page regardless of what the individual anchors say.