Are you still actively chasing backlinks, or focusing on content people want to cite?

Google says PageRank, one of its core ranking systems from launch, has evolved a lot since then and continues to be part of its core ranking systems.
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide
The full answer on whether backlinks are still relevant in 2026 is here:
https://aiwebpageseo.com/blog/are-backlinks-still-relevant-2026
What approach to earning links has worked best for you, and what would you avoid?