Inviting a website to Rankbench
Updated September 11, 2026
Some of the sites you want to work with are not on Rankbench yet. An invitation is a personal link you send them, and it carries the reason you are inviting them all the way through their setup.
This is different from adding somebody to your own workspace. That is covered in people and roles.
Where the button is
Invite website sits in the header. You will also meet it in the places where a missing site blocks you: the guest post intake when the destination is not on Rankbench, and the swap directory when nothing matches your search.
The dialog
The website address is the only required field, and Rankbench takes it with or without https://. It notes that the recipient can correct it during setup, so an approximate domain is fine.
Website or business name is optional.
Their email is optional too, and the helper line says what each choice means: "We'll email the invitation. Leave blank to share the link yourself." Fill it in and Rankbench sends the invitation. Leave it blank and you get a link to send however you like.
Why are you inviting them? sets what the invitation is for, and it changes where the recipient lands at the end: guest posts, a link exchange, or SEO help.
Ask to join as their SEO agent is the one worth understanding before you tick it. The dialog is careful about what it does and does not do: "They choose whether to add you. Access starts only after they approve and verify their website. No admin privileges."
A personal note is shown on their invite page.
Afterwards you get the link, a Open a ready-written email button that opens your own mail client with the text prepared, and a way to track it.
Tracking what you sent
My invitations lists them, described as "Invitations you sent across your sites. Only you can see this list. Follow each website from a shared link to a verified site. We'll notify you when the owner accepts and when agent access is approved."
Before you have sent any it says so and points at the button.
You are notified when the owner accepts, when the website is ready, and when agent access is approved.
What the recipient walks through
Their link opens a page naming you and the site, with your note if you wrote one, and a reassurance: "Joining is free, and there's no obligation to accept anything."
From there they either sign in or create an account, and land in the setup wizard with their domain already filled in: "Your inviter suggested this address. Correct any typo or change the domain before continuing." The rest of setup is the ordinary one, covered in adding your first website.
If you asked to be their SEO agent, they meet an extra step. It names you, describes the request, and is explicit that it is optional and reversible: "Remove their access anytime from People." Declining does not stop the rest of setup.
They then verify ownership, and that is the gate on everything: agent access begins only after the site is verified.
The last step depends on why you invited them. For a link exchange they land on their Partners page, with your eligible sites recommended first. For guest posts they land on their rules and submission link. For SEO they land on their site's audit.
If they close the tab part way through, they can come back to it. A banner tells them their invited website is waiting and their progress is saved.
What an invitation does not do
It does not create a partnership. It does not place a link. It does not give you access to their site. Every one of those still needs them to agree separately.
An invitation produces a shareable link and, optionally, an email. It never claims an email was sent when it was not.
Where to go next
Once they are on Rankbench, finding a site to swap with is the next step for a link exchange, and opening your site to guest posts is the one for an editorial arrangement.
Still stuck?
Open Rankbench and the page this article describes — most screens explain themselves as you go.