$ tree -l
.
└── a
├── file
└── link -> file
1 directory, 2 files
$ rclone copy -l a b
$ tree -l
.
├── a
│ ├── file
│ └── link -> file
└── b
├── file
└── link -> file
2 directories, 4 files
The local backend does a bi-directional conversion so reading a symlink reads it as a .rclonelink file, but if you write a .rclonelink file it writes it as a symlink.