Most people associate off-page SEO with backlinks from authoritative and respected websites. Search engines see these as a vote of confidence that your site can be trusted.
When multiple sites create backlinks to yours, Google recognizes the trend, infers that you must be credible and rewards you with better positioning and visibility on the SERP.
Not all backlinks carry equal weight, however. A backlink from a recognized thought leader will drive SEO more than a backlink from a lesser-known site. The same is true for links that are followed when compared with those that aren’t.