Why Are There No Good Examples of PBN Sites? - 139

Summary

Podcast Summary: Grumpy SEO Guy – Episode 139

Title: Why Are There No Good Examples of PBN Sites?
Date: February 4, 2026
Host: Grumpy SEO Guy

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Episode Overview

This episode takes a no-nonsense look at a frequently asked question in the SEO community: Why are there no good public examples of PBN (Private Blog Network) sites? The Grumpy SEO Guy dismantles this topic with directness, drawing from his 14 years of experience and sharing practical, opinionated advice. The central argument is that sharing real PBN examples is both impractical and counterproductive, for beginners and professionals alike.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why No One Shares Good PBN Examples

[01:31–04:41]

• Copycat Problem:
  The host points out that if he published a successful PBN example, everyone would just copy the exact theme, layout, number of images, word counts, and even footer details:

  "You don't want websites that all look exactly the same... That's a bad plan." (A, 01:53)

  • This would create uniformity across sites, an obvious footprint for Google or competitors to exploit.

• Security and Longevity Threats:
  Revealing PBN examples would endanger both the owner and anyone trying to use that domain in the future:

  "If I were to share a site... [it] would become known on the Internet as a PBN site. And then I could never do anything with that domain again, and neither could anyone else." (A, 03:00)

  The host highlights concerns that publicizing a PBN invites sabotage or malicious linking from others.

2. The Myth of the “Ideal” PBN Site

[04:41–06:57]

• Stop Overthinking Design:
  Listeners often obsess over specifics—what theme to use, how many words per post, excerpts vs. full posts, etc.—but the host says this is the wrong approach:

  "The more important thing is that it doesn’t matter... Just build a website. What do I generally say, right? I say, build a normal website." (A, 04:46)

• Diversity is Key:
  Rather than uniformity, the host stresses the importance of natural variation across your sites:

  "It’s not gonna matter if some of them show the full post and others show the excerpt, because you have a variation, and that’s good." (A, 05:24)

  • He gives examples of clients who succeed by making each PBN site look different, with varying numbers of posts and unique designs.

• Avoid Spammy Tactics:
  The only "wrong" way is to use spammy link placements (blogroll, footer, or non-contextual links).

3. Terminology: PBN vs. PBP

[03:23–03:53]

• The host prefers the term "Private Blog Portfolio (PBP)" over "Private Blog Network (PBN)" to reflect best practice:

  "A portfolio is a bunch of websites that are not linked together. And network means a bunch of sites that are linked together. And you don't want to link your sites together in a pbn because that's a bad idea." (A, 03:33)

  • Linking all sites together creates a network footprint that's easy for Google to catch.

4. Guidance for Newcomers

[04:42–04:46; 05:44–06:57]

• Answers to common technical questions about PBN setup can be found in earlier episodes.
• The key takeaway: build normal-looking, diverse sites—don’t obsess over mimicking a formula.

5. Community Success Stories

[05:35–05:53]

• The host shares brief accounts of clients who have followed his advice, creating diverse, effective PBNs after Zoom advisory calls.

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Memorable Quotes

• On the futility of public PBN examples:

  "I'm not going to share an actual PBN site. Then you know who some of our clients are. That’s not good for anybody, okay?" (A, 02:24)

• On what a “normal” site looks like:

  "Go online and look at websites. That’s what a normal website looks like. I don’t know what else to tell you." (A, 04:58)

• On variation and naturalness:

  "Stop trying to make them all the same. Because as long as you have a blog and it has authority and you're linking to another website, you're doing it correctly." (A, 05:43)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:38: Introduces central question—why no good PBN examples are shared
• 01:31: Begins explanation, outlining risks of copying and publicizing PBNs
• 03:23: Advocates for "Portfolio" over "Network" terminology
• 04:46: Advises listeners to stop overthinking the technical details
• 05:24: Explains why natural variation is essential; shares success stories
• 06:57: Wrap-up; invites listener questions

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Conclusion

The Grumpy SEO Guy underscores that safe, effective PBN/PBP use relies on uniqueness and normalcy—not secret formulae or templates. Publicly showcasing “good PBNs” is a lose-lose for both sharer and would-be copier. The real solution is to treat each site as unique and strive for diversity across your portfolio. If you think you’re overcomplicating it, you probably are.

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Transcript

[A]

This is Grumpy SEO Guy, episode 139. Why are there no good examples of PBN sites?

[B]

You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. I'm the grumpy SEO Guy, and I'm sharing with you the strategies that have helped me successfully run my SEO agency for the last 14 years. In this podcast, I'll be sharing my knowledge and experience, discussing tips and strategies, and and trying to help you cut through the confusion that permeates this industry. If you listen to this podcast, you will know more about SEO than 99% of people on the planet. Ready? Let's get started.

[A]

I'm the Grumpy SEO Guy. Let me tell you why I'm grumpy today. I'm grumpy today because people always want to know why there's no good examples of PBN sites. And that question has many answers, and we're going to discuss a lot of them now. First, couple reminders. Okay, reminders. You can email [e-mail] if you have a question and you want to set up a zoom advisory call. You can email me there and we'll talk about setting that up. If you want to ask a question to the Grumpy SEO Guy subreddit, you can do so at Reddit.com r Grumpy SEO Guy. If you want to support the show, you can do [e-mail] Grumpy SEO guy. Okay, let's continue.

[B]

But before we do that, my lawyer tells me that I have to say this right now. A quick disclaimer before we get started. Everything I say here is based on my experience and opinion from 14 years in the industry. I don't officially know how Google or any other search engines work. Everything I say here is hypothetical. And based on my experience, this podcast does not constitute advice or services. What worked for me may or may not work for you. Okay, back to the show.

[A]

So the question is, why are there no good examples of PBN sites? That's a great question. Here's some of the reasons. Reason number one, let's say I were to share a site and say, this is how you. This is what you should make your PBN site look like. Okay, so the first thing that would happen is everybody would just build a site that looks exactly the same as mine, and that's not going to help you guys. And that's not going to help me either, because you don't Want websites that all look exactly the same. You want a bunch of different kinds of websites, okay? So people would copy my theme and they would copy my number of images, and they would copy my layout, and they would copy where I put the links, and they would copy the number of words in the post and the number and how long the excerpts are. And they would. They would copy the information in the footer and they would. And I don't want that, okay? I don't want you to copy my sites, and you don't want to copy my sites either, especially if you're going to be making more than one, because you don't want. Want your portfolio to have a bunch of websites that all look the same. That's a bad plan, okay? That's a. That's a bad idea. So don't do it that way, okay? Don't do it that way. Don't do it that way, okay? So that's first reason. And we're going to talk more about that in a minute, by the way. Second reason, I'm not going to share an actual PBN site. Then you know who some of our clients are. That's not good for anybody, okay? And who knows what people would do to it, right? Are you going to build a bunch of, like, garbage links to my site? Because, hey, hey, hey, I ruined Grumpy SEO guy. No. Like, no, I don't want that to happen. So I'm definitely not going to do that. And also, if I were to do that, no one could ever use that website again because it would be publicly available, right? It would either be if I were to share a site. Hey, here's an example of a PBN site. Probably people would post it all around the Internet. Oh, look, here's Grumpy seou guys, PBN site, blah, blah, blah. And it would become known on the Internet as a PBN site. And then I could never do anything with that domain again, and neither could anyone else. So, like, the reason would be because that site would have so many, like, here's an example of a PBN type of backlinks that nobody would ever, like, want to use it for anything else. And it also wouldn't be useful as a PBN anymore because it would be identified as a PBN site. So by the way, PBN Private Blog Network is the common name, but we call it. But we call it Private Blog Portfolio or pbp, because a portfolio is a bunch of websites that are not linked together. And network means a bunch of sites that are linked together. And you don't want to link your sites together in a pbn because that's a bad idea. It's a footprint. You don't want to do that. So anyways, in case you list this episode and you're like, I'm not aware of what PBN means now. Now you know, okay, so anyways, look, anyways, so that's another reason I'm not going to do it. And then somebody's like, well, you could just build a brand new one and not you. No, I don't want. First of all, I don't want to. No. If I had a domain, I'd probably just use it anyway. Second of all, the same problems from before, everybody would copy it. And then no one could ever use that. No one could ever use that domain for anything else ever again anyway. Because then we're going to be like, oh, here's a PBN site. Well, look at this PBN site. Here's a different PBN site. And then they would link to it and. No, I don't, I don't. I don't want to ruin a domain like that. So we're just, we're just, we're just not going to do that, okay?

[B]

I'm not.

[A]

I'm not going to. I'm not going to do that. Look. So I have given specific instruction on how to build PBNs Private blog portfolios for those of you paying attention in many episodes, okay? And the biggest questions that people have are things like what theme should I use? How many words should my post be? How many should I have the full post or the excerpt show like, those questions are all answered. But the more important thing is that it doesn't matter, okay? Like, you're overthinking it and just build a website. What do I generally say, right? I say, build a normal website. What does a normal website look like, really? Go online and look at websites. That's what a normal website looks like. I don't. I don't know what else to tell you. Anyways, so here's. This is. I think this is the most important point, though, when you get a lot of sites in your portfolio, okay, like 15 or 20 or 30 or however many you have, okay? It's not gonna matter if some of them show the full post and others show the excerpt, because you have a. You have a variation, and that's good. You do not want every website linking to your client or every website linking to you to be exactly the same. So have some of them show the full post. Have some of them show the excerpt have some of them look one way and have some of them look another way and stop trying to make them all the same. Because as long as you have a blog and it has authority and you're linking to another website, you're doing it correctly. Okay, we've got a couple clients who have been listening to the podcast for a while and they've built their own PBNs. And I know this because they've done a couple zoom advisory calls and they did it correctly. Now maybe the zoom advisory call was because they wanted to look at domains together or something like that, but they, but they did it. They did it correctly. They have different looking websites with different numbers of posts and everything is different, which is the way you want to do it. There's not a wrong way to do it as long as you're not doing anything spammy like blog roll links or footer links or or non contextual links. Anyway, I hope this answers your question. If it doesn't, let me know what questions you have in the comments and I'll talk to you later.

[B]

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe and if you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review. It would really help the show out. I hope this episode was helpful. If you have any questions or want to suggest a subject for a future episode, you can contact me on Reddit. My username is Grumpy SEO Guy. You can visit the Grumpy SEO Guy subreddit or or you can email [e-mail] if you email me, please either whitelist my email address or check your junk folders because I've been told that my replies are going into the junk folder and it's probably because we're talking about things like SEO and backlinks and I think those words will classify an email as spam. And if you want to support the podcast because it's the best source of SEO information on the planet and it's free, you can do [e-mail] grumpy SEO guy and I will talk to you later. You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. Join us next Wednesday for another episode.