Do you mean websites with broad coverage of topics are enough?This is a different discussion considering you asked to describe SEO without using the words that make up SEO..
You don't need links to rank. You can rank with out them.
Change the way you deal with SEO.
think of it as multiple rings.
Start with the large outer ring or circle with all the "low quality" stuff no one wants to rank for any site can hit them. Once you hit all of that you work your way in a level and you keep chipping away till you built up natural authority and can go after everything thats laser focused within the middle.
The best thing about this is if your an ecom site or something that needs money off a customer (book, course etc) is you can pick up all the qualified customers / clients along the way while you zero in on broader market.
I feel like people don't understand what good content really means and this is where they fail.
But it's hard to outrank something that has 1000 links and has tons of content.
It's 2026 though. I think Google has figured out how to give traffic to everyone trying.