Grumpy SEO Guy – Episode 141: Negative SEO (High Level – What It Does)

Date: February 25, 2026
Host: Grumpy SEO Guy

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the concept of Negative SEO: what it is, how it’s used, and why many people misunderstand or underestimate it. Drawing from over 14 years of experience in the SEO industry, the Grumpy SEO Guy explains both the mechanics and impact of negative SEO in practical, straightforward language. The host also shares a recent real-world negative SEO case from his advisory practice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining Negative SEO

[01:36]

• Negative SEO involves building bad (spammy) backlinks to a competitor’s site in an attempt to trigger penalties or reduce their rankings.
• The host stresses:

  “I'm not telling you to do this. Okay? I'm just explaining it.” (01:36)

2. Is Negative SEO Real?

[02:16]

• Some claim Negative SEO doesn’t exist, but the host asserts otherwise based on personal experience:

  “A lot of people say that it's not a real thing. That's wrong. We've had at least one client successfully get negative SEO'd.” (02:16)

• Effectiveness: Often doesn’t work (especially against strong sites), but it is a real threat in some cases.

3. How Negative SEO Works: The Two Main Tactics

[03:24]

• a) Association with Bad Quality Sites:
  • Target sites get backlinks from low-quality (spammy) domains, which can signal to search engines that something unnatural is happening.
• b) Irrelevant or Harmful Keyword Relevance:
  • Attackers use backlinks with anchor text including irrelevant or potentially damaging terms (such as adult content), linking the targeted site to these themes.

  “Negative SEO provides you relevancy for phrases that you do not want to be part of your website and that have nothing to do with your company.” (03:52)

4. Classic Example: Adult Link Spam

[05:04]

• One common attack: spam backlinks with adult industry terms.

  “One of the most popular types of Negative SEO involves building a lot of low quality backlinks and using adult terms… whatever you’re visualizing, that's probably the correct terms.” (05:08)

• These make the target site seem (to search engines) connected to adult content, even if it’s not.

5. Does It Work? And Why or Why Not?

[06:52]

• Does Google Ignore Spammy Links? Sometimes, but not always.

  “Well, spammy backlinks just get ignored by the search engines, don't they? Well, not always, because negative SEO can be effective. Now again, I'm not saying that it's always effective. In fact, I would say it is usually ineffective.” (07:09)

• Success Rate: Host has seen many failed attempts and only one clear “success.”

  “We've seen a lot more negative SEO attempts than we've seen negative SEO victories, I guess.” (07:30)

6. Why Don’t More SEO Pros Talk About Negative SEO?

[08:08]

• Some in the field prefer to believe backlinks can't hurt a site, focusing solely on content.

  “People don't want to think that, like, a specific type of backlink can hurt you… but it's mostly just you're creating relevancy for something that you shouldn't.” (08:16)

7. How To Detect Negative SEO

[09:15]

• Classic sign: sudden influx of thousands of irrelevant (e.g., adult) backlinks with no connection to your site’s content or business.

  “You can tell that the backlinks are deliberately trying to… make your website seem like it is in an industry that it is not.” (11:43)

8. Case Study: Recent Negative SEO Attempt Against a Client

[09:38]

• An advisory client reported a sudden surge of thousands of backlinks with adult anchor text.
  • Host’s analysis: It was clearly a negative SEO attempt.
  • Outcome: Rankings remained stable (“position one and position two”), so the attack failed.

  “It was an—it didn’t work. The negative SEO didn’t work, so it didn’t succeed. So, like, it wasn’t a problem.” (10:38)

9. How to Respond & What to Ignore

[11:00]

• Not all spammy backlinks are negative SEO; some are just irrelevant marketing spam (like mass domain sales campaigns).
• For most spammy/negative SEO links, host recommends ignoring them unless you see your rankings drop (in which case, a penalty may have occurred).

  “Basically ignore it. You can basically ignore it if you see it happening to you. If it works, your rank will drop because you'll get a penalty.” (12:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the reality of Negative SEO:

  “We've had at least one client successfully get negative SEO'd.” (02:22)

• On detecting unnatural links:

  “If you have a business that has nothing to do with adult, and you start getting hundreds or thousands of adult backlinks, do you think that looks natural? No, of course not.” (05:35)

• On what really matters:

  “Just do good SEO on your own website, right? Like, come on.” (08:52)

• Advice to those targeted:

  “You might freak out a little bit if somebody's negative SEOing you, but you're probably gonna be good because probably it's not gonna work. Probably.” (12:30)

Important Timestamps

• 00:37 – What is Negative SEO? First definitions
• 02:16 – Negative SEO: Is it real? Host’s personal experience
• 03:24 – Two main attack methods (bad backlinks & unwanted relevancy)
• 05:08 – Adult link spam example
• 07:09 – The myth that Google ignores spammy backlinks
• 09:38 – Case study: Client attacked with adult term backlinks
• 12:00 – Advice: How to react to negative SEO or spammy links

Key Takeaways

• Negative SEO is real, though mostly ineffective.
• The strategy involves linking a site to spammy or irrelevant sites and terms, hoping to trigger a penalty.
• If you’re attacked and see no ranking drops, ignore it; only worry if there’s a clear, significant impact.
• Maintaining good SEO practices is still the best defense.

For More Information

Host referenced multiple related episodes on backlink quality and penalty handling; check the podcast feed for these deep dives on backlink strategy and SEO penalties.

Summary prepared for listeners and readers seeking practical, experience-backed insight into negative SEO—without the fluff.