The order matters more than the volume
Links pointing at a brand search engines cannot yet identify are wasted effort. Before anything else we make the entity unambiguous: one spelling of the name, one address format, one phone number, one category, repeated across sources that already trust each other. That is unglamorous work and it is the reason the later steps land.
Once the foundation is consistent, brand properties give search engines more surface to associate with you, and only then does outreach have something to point at. Agencies that start at outreach are building the roof first.