Persona 4 Golden's Social Link mechanic is identical to the one from Persona 3 (Portable), so familiar/returning fans of the series may know what to do. Unlike Persona 5 Royal, it's easy to miss Social Links if players aren't paying attention to NPC dialogue/hints. While the goal of maxing out Social Links is ultimately dependent on how a P4G player's time is spent, there are some ways to "speed up" the process, more or less.
Social Links in Persona 4 Golden have their own separate "leveling" system - just like in Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3. Each time the protagonist spends time with a Social Link, they'll receive "points" (appear as "music notes"). Sometimes, a bond won't be strong enough to reach the next rank, requiring the protagonist to meet up with them after school/evening or during holidays. However, there are a few ways players can "farm" points to speed up the Social Link.
8 Help Out Your Classmates
During class, the teacher may call on one of the protagonist's friends to answer a question (i.e., Yosuke or Chie). If this happens, they'll ask the protagonist for help. Choosing the right answer will add some points to the respective Social Link. Choosing the wrong answer won't decrease points, but players won't get anything out of it aside from possible disappointment from their friend.
Unfortunately, classroom lectures are only limited to the Social Links that are in the protagonist's homeroom. Players won't be able to get Social Link points via this method with characters from other classes, such as Rise and Naoto. Other Social Links that can't be helped during class are Margaret, Marie, the Dojimas, and the evening/holiday-only Social Links (ex: Sayoko Uehara).
7 Draw A Fortune from Tatsuhime Shrine
Players will have noticed the Tatsuhime Shrine if they've received the Bug Net from the lady in white. At the start of Persona 4 Golden, inspecting the shrine box won't do anything. However, once players unlock Rank 1 of the Hermit Arcana (Fox) on May 5th, they can draw fortunes. Interacting with the shrine box will open up a list of all the protagonist's current Social Links. The fortune itself is randomized, but the better the blessing, the more points received.
It's not recommended to use the fortune box during times when Social Links are available. The best time to get a fortune is during the evening since there are fewer Social Links during that time. Once players reach December, they can visit the Shrine more freely. Getting a fortune also uses up Free Time, so make sure to check the Shopping District first. Drawing a fortune also costs 200 yen.
6 Hang Out with Social Links During Evening
Another thing P4G players can do during the evening is walk around the Shopping District and spend their evening time with available Social Links. At the start, players won't be able to explore the Shopping District at night unless Dojima isn't home. Eventually, they'll be able to freely explore, but until then, most Social Links will have to use up Afternoon Free Time.
Social Links will have a blue exclamation point over their head. Talk to them to initiate a scene, and the protagonist will have to select an answer. Choosing the right response will net some points. It's recommended to save before spending evening time with a Confidant since this not only wastes up evening time but choosing the wrong answer won't do the protagonist any favors.
5 Bring Persona with Matching Arcana
When spending time with a Social Link, always check to see which Arcana they represent. By having a Persona with a matching Arcana in the party, the points normally received from right responses will be increased. As most P4G players have noticed, the number of music notes that appear after a response can vary from 1-3. Some answers will give 1 Music Note, but if players have the right Persona, that point will become 2 Music Notes instead.
During a first playthrough, players may not have a corresponding Persona. If that's the case, they can try to Fuse one in the Velvet Room, or they can spend time with the Social Link. Players will know if the Social Link is ready to Rank Up if the message "your relationship with [character] will become stronger soon" appears.
4 Accept Invitations
During Sundays or holidays, the player may be contacted by a Social Link to spend free time with them. This will waste an Afternoon, but if players need the points, they should accept the offer. Sometimes, the Social Link will invite friends along, or they'll run into another Social Link while they're out. This means players can potentially get points for more than one character at a time.
The most common time classmates will ask to hang out is during summer vacation. Refusing to hang out with them won't cost points. Players can always "Check Bond with [Character]" to get an estimate of the Social Link progress.
3 Choose the Best Answers
During Social Links, the protagonist will be given various ways to respond to certain questions/actions by the Social Link. P4G players know the drill at this point: choose the best response to get points, and selecting the least favorable response won't give them any. Players will also want to be careful when choosing responses for certain Social Links. Choosing the wrong reply can Reverse a Social Link, thus breaking it off between the protagonist and character.
Social Links that can be Reversed are Ai Ebihara (Moon) and Naoto Shirogane (Fortune). A broken Social Link means players will not be able to get the effects from that Arcana or be able to Rank Up. This means players will need to waste free time to "restore" the Social Link by speaking to the character when they're free.
Outside of Social Links, players can sometimes take the "right" action during story events. For example, during the Group Date Cafe at Inaba's School Festival, players can choose to help Chie to get a few extra Social Link points. Fortunately, it's impossible to Reverse a Social Link during story-related scenes, so P4G players can be as rude as they want to be if they don't mind missing out on additional points.
2 Keep Up Your Social Stats
Social Stats are important because there are some part-time jobs that can't be taken unless the protagonist's required stat is at a specific level. In fact, there are even some Social Links that require "max [Social Stat]" to Rank Up (ex: Ryotaro Dojima). Other characters like Naoki Konishi will need level 3 Understanding to simply start the Social Link.
There are various ways of increasing Social Stats. The main one is to read books or answer classroom questions. Some of the part-time jobs will also add points to Social Stats. Additionally, reaching a certain level of a Social Stat will allow the protagonist to choose specific responses during a Social Link Rank. For example, having high Courage will allow players to stand up to Dojima when he's lecturing Nanako and the protagonist during a scene in Nanako's Social Link. Responses that are limited by the Social Stats usually gain the most points, too.
Social Stats will carry over into NG+.
1 Sleep
Perhaps the least reliable and less productive way to gain Social Link Points is by sleeping. During days that the protagonist spends in the TV world, he'll be too tired to do anything when he gets home. Players will be forced to "> Go to sleep?" When this happens. However, willingly choosing to sleep will have the protagonist dream about one of his Social Links. This will increase the bond between them.
However, unlike Fortunes, the Sleep mechanic is entirely randomized. There's no telling who the protagonist will dream about, making this method not very useful. It can be useful if P4G players don't have anything to do during evenings. But there's also a chance the protagonist will dream about a character that can be Ranked Up.
Persona 4 Golden is available on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.