Q&A submission sites are platforms where people ask questions and anyone can answer. Quora, Reddit and the Stack Exchange network are the largest. Almost every link in an answer is nofollow, so they pass no ranking power. The value is traffic, visibility, and getting quoted by AI search tools.
Below are 52 Q&A submission sites that were active when we checked them in October 2026. The list covers general question sites, the Stack Exchange technical network, professional advice platforms, and study sites.
This post is also honest about the part most lists get wrong. The reason to answer on Quora in 2026 is not the link. It is that large language models read Quora and cite it.
What are Q&A submission sites?
A Q&A submission site is a website built around one simple loop. Someone posts a question. Other people write answers. The best answers get votes, and the page stays online for years collecting search traffic.
They are not the same as forums. A forum is a conversation that moves on. A Q&A page is a reference document with one question as its title. That is why Q&A pages rank so well. The page title matches exactly what a person typed into a search box.
Quick answer: Q&A submission sites let you answer public questions in your field. You get referral traffic and brand visibility, not link equity, because nearly all answer links are nofollow.
28 Q&A submission sites worth your time
Domain Rating is a 0 to 100 score from Domain Rating by Ahrefs, pulled on 13 October 2026. A higher number means the domain carries more link authority. It is not a Google score and it is not the same as Moz Domain Authority.
The Stack Exchange network runs more than 170 separate question and answer sites. Only the ones a marketing or technical reader is likely to use are in the table above. If your topic has its own Stack Exchange site, the rules are the same on all of them: answer the question properly first, and only link out when the link is the source of your answer.
All links checked on 13 October 2026.
The Site column is the platform. The “Where to submit” column is the page where you ask or answer, which on the Stack Exchange network is the ask-a-question form rather than the homepage.
Why Quora matters more now than it did for links
Here is the shift that changed this tactic. Quora answers are being used as source material by AI assistants and AI search tools. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews a practical question, a Quora thread is often one of the pages the model draws on.
That is a different kind of win from a backlink. Your answer does not need to pass authority to your domain. It needs to be the clearest, most specific answer on that page, so that a model summarising the thread quotes your sentences and your brand name.
It changes how you write. One fact per sentence. Real numbers. Named tools and platforms. No long warm-up paragraph. The same writing habits that get an answer picked up by an AI tool also make it readable for a human. We go deeper into this shift in our piece on how ChatGPT is changing information search.
Quick answer: Quora is valuable in 2026 because AI assistants cite it, not because it passes link equity. Write answers that are easy to quote.
Two cautions. Nobody can promise an AI tool will quote you, and citation patterns change without notice. And a brand mention only helps if your name is spelled consistently everywhere, which is the same discipline behind good citation work.
How to submit to Q&A submission sites step by step
Pick two platforms, not ten. Most people should pick Quora plus the one Stack Exchange site or subreddit that matches their field. Spreading across ten sites means a weak profile on all of them.
Fill in your profile properly before you answer anything. Real name, a photo, a one line credential, and your site in the website field. An empty profile reads as spam to moderators and to readers.
Read the rules page of each platform. They differ a lot. Some allow a link in an answer, some ban links completely, and some ban any mention of your own company.
Answer five questions with no link at all. This builds a small history, which matters because new accounts that post links get flagged automatically on most platforms.
Find questions where you have a real, specific answer. Use a site search for your topic, sort by recent, and look for questions with few answers and a clear problem.
Write the answer so it stands alone. Lead with the direct answer in the first two sentences. Then give the detail, the numbers, and the exception. Never make the reader click to understand your point.
Only add a link when it genuinely adds something the answer cannot contain, such as a long checklist or a tool. One link. Never the same link on twenty answers.
Check back after a week. See which answers got views, and write more answers like those. This is the same feedback loop you use in any SEO content strategy.
Which Q&A sites allow links and which ban them outright
This is the question people actually want answered, so here is the plain version.
Quora allows links inside answers when they are relevant. It also removes answers that read as promotion. Quora publishes its rules in its official Quora Help Center, and the policy section is worth reading once before you start.
The Stack Exchange network allows links but holds you to a strict disclosure rule. If you link to something you own or profit from, you must say so in the answer itself. An answer that links to your own product without disclosure gets deleted and can get the account suspended. An answer that would be empty without the link is treated as an advert.
Reddit bans links in practice on most subreddits, even though the site allows them technically. Each subreddit sets its own rule, and many ban self promotion completely or allow it one week in four. Posting your link in a subreddit you have never taken part in is the fastest way to get banned.
Study sites ban promotion outright. Brainly, Chegg and Numerade exist to answer homework. A business link in an answer gets removed and brings no useful visitor.
Professional platforms want credentials, not links. Avvo, LawGuru and HealthTap let a verified professional answer public questions. Your payoff is the profile page attached to your answers, not an inline link.
Quick answer: Quora and the Stack Exchange network allow links with limits. Most subreddits and all study sites ban self promotion outright.
The pattern is consistent. The platforms that allow links are the ones where links are least likely to be abused, because answers are judged by a community. If you want genuine followed links instead, that is a different job, and our list of free question and answer sites and the second set of question and answer platforms cover more of the smaller sites.
Why self promotion gets your answer removed
The answer only exists to carry the link. Two lines of text and a URL is the clearest spam signal there is.
The same answer pasted on many questions. Duplicate detection catches this quickly, and it gets the whole account reviewed.
No disclosure of your own interest. On the Stack Exchange network this alone is enough for deletion.
A brand new account posting links on day one. Most platforms rate limit or shadow-hide links from accounts with no history.
An answer that ignores the actual question. Moderators read for relevance first, not for links.
Several accounts upvoting each other. Vote rings are detected and usually end in a site-wide ban.
Links to a page that does not match the promise. A “free checklist” link that leads to a pricing page gets reported fast.
Do Q&A submission sites still work in 2026?
Yes, for traffic and visibility. No, as a link building tactic.
Assume every link you place is nofollow, because on Quora, Reddit and most of the Stack Exchange network it is. That means no ranking power moves to your site. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
What you do get is real. A good answer on a question with search demand keeps bringing visitors for years. Those visitors arrive with a problem already in mind, so they convert better than most traffic. Your brand name sits beside a helpful answer in a space buyers read. And on Quora specifically, your words can end up inside an AI generated answer, which puts you in front of people who never visited a search results page at all.
The cost is time, not money. Write two genuinely useful answers a week in one place. That beats fifty thin answers across twenty sites, and it is the only version of this tactic that still works.
Frequently asked questions
which q&a sites allow links
Quora allows relevant links inside answers. The Stack Exchange network allows them if you disclose that you own or profit from the destination. Most subreddits ban self promotion, and study sites such as Brainly and Chegg remove it. Always read the individual platform rules before you post a link.
is quora good for seo
Quora links are nofollow, so they pass no ranking power to your site. It is still useful because answers rank in Google, bring referral traffic for years, and are cited by AI assistants and AI search tools. Treat it as a visibility channel, not a link source.
how do i get traffic from answer sites
Pick one platform and answer questions that already get search traffic. Lead with the direct answer in the first two sentences. Use real numbers and name real tools. Complete your profile with a credential and your website. Two strong answers a week beats fifty short ones.
are q&a submission sites nofollow
Nearly all of them are. Quora, Reddit and the Stack Exchange network set answer links to nofollow by default. A few small Q&A sites still use followed links, but you cannot tell without checking the page markup. Plan for nofollow and treat anything else as a bonus.
why was my quora answer collapsed or deleted
The most common reasons are promotional tone, a link that carries the whole answer, poor grammar, or an answer that does not address the question asked. New accounts posting links are flagged more aggressively. Rewrite the answer so it is useful with the link removed, then decide if the link is still needed.
can i answer my own question on a q&a site
Yes on the Stack Exchange network, where self answering is normal and even encouraged if the answer is good. It is allowed on Quora too. What gets punished is asking a question purely as a setup for your own promotional answer, which both platforms treat as spam.
how many q&a sites should i use
One or two. Pick Quora plus the single Stack Exchange site or subreddit where your audience already asks questions. Depth beats spread, because reputation on these platforms is per site and a thin profile gets less reach on every one of them.
