SEO Backlinks Analysis

Comprehensive backlink analysis and link building intelligence using DataForSEO API via direct curl calls.

API Configuration

Credentials stored in ~/.config/dataforseo/auth (Base64 encoded).

# Read auth token
AUTH=$(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)

Quick Reference

Command	What it does
/seo backlinks profile <domain>	Full backlink profile analysis
/seo backlinks compare <domain1> <domain2>	Compare two domains' backlink profiles
/seo backlinks gap <your-domain> <competitor1> [competitor2]	Find link gap opportunities
/seo backlinks toxic <domain>	Identify potentially toxic/spammy links
/seo backlinks anchors <domain>	Analyze anchor text distribution
/seo backlinks trend <domain>	New/lost backlinks over time
/seo backlinks competitors <domain>	Find competitors by backlink overlap

API Endpoints

Backlink Summary

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/summary/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"target": "example.com"}]'

Get Backlinks

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/backlinks/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"target": "example.com", "limit": 100, "order_by": ["rank,desc"]}]'

Anchor Text Analysis

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/anchors/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"target": "example.com", "limit": 100}]'

Bulk Backlinks (Multiple Domains)

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/bulk_backlinks/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"targets": ["domain1.com", "domain2.com", "domain3.com"]}]'

Bulk Referring Domains

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/bulk_referring_domains/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"targets": ["domain1.com", "domain2.com"]}]'

Bulk Ranks (Domain Authority)

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/bulk_ranks/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"targets": ["domain1.com", "domain2.com"]}]'

Bulk Spam Score

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/bulk_spam_score/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"targets": ["domain1.com", "domain2.com"]}]'

Domain Intersection (Link Gap)

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/domain_intersection/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"targets": {"1": "competitor1.com", "2": "competitor2.com"}, "exclude_targets": ["your-domain.com"], "limit": 100}]'

Competitors by Backlinks

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/competitors/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"target": "example.com", "limit": 20}]'

New/Lost Backlinks Timeline

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/timeseries_new_lost_summary/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"target": "example.com", "date_from": "2024-01-01"}]'

Referring Domains

curl -s -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/referring_domains/live" \
  -H "Authorization: Basic $(cat ~/.config/dataforseo/auth)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"target": "example.com", "limit": 100, "order_by": ["rank,desc"]}]'

Analysis Modes

1. Backlink Profile Analysis

Get a comprehensive overview of a domain's backlink profile:

Input: domain (e.g., "example.com")
Output:
- Total backlinks count
- Referring domains count
- Domain rank (0-1000)
- Spam score (0-100)
- Dofollow vs nofollow ratio
- Top referring domains
- Anchor text distribution
- New/lost links trend

2. Competitor Comparison

Compare your backlink profile against competitors:

Input: [your-domain, competitor1, competitor2, ...]
Output:
- Side-by-side metrics comparison
- Unique referring domains per site
- Shared referring domains
- Gap opportunities

3. Link Gap Analysis

Find domains that link to competitors but not to you:

Input: [your-domain, competitor1, competitor2]
Output:
- Domains linking to competitors but not you
- Sorted by authority/relevance
- Prioritized outreach list

This is the most valuable analysis for link building strategy.

4. Toxic Link Detection

Identify potentially harmful backlinks:

Input: domain
Output:
- Links from high spam score domains
- Suspicious anchor text patterns
- Low-quality referring domains
- Disavow candidates

5. Anchor Text Analysis

Analyze anchor text distribution:

Input: domain
Output:
- Anchor text distribution chart
- Brand vs keyword vs generic ratio
- Over-optimized anchor warnings
- Natural vs unnatural patterns

Healthy distribution guidelines:

• Brand anchors: 30-40%
• Naked URLs: 20-30%
• Generic (click here, etc.): 15-20%
• Keyword-rich: 10-15% (over 20% = warning)
• LSI/related: 5-10%

Interpretation Guidelines

Domain Rank (0-1000)

• 0-100: Low authority
• 100-300: Moderate authority
• 300-500: Good authority
• 500-700: Strong authority
• 700-1000: Excellent authority

Spam Score (0-100)

• 0-10: Clean profile
• 10-30: Low risk
• 30-60: Moderate risk (review needed)
• 60-100: High risk (cleanup recommended)

Red Flags

• Sudden spike in backlinks (potential negative SEO)
• High percentage of nofollow links from unique domains
• Anchor text dominated by exact-match keywords
• Links from irrelevant industries/topics
• Many links from same IP range or C-class

Output Format

Summary Report

# Backlink Profile: [domain]

## Overview
- Total Backlinks: X
- Referring Domains: X
- Domain Rank: X/1000
- Spam Score: X/100

## Health Assessment
[OK/WARN/BAD] Anchor distribution
[OK/WARN/BAD] Referring domain quality
[OK/WARN/BAD] Link velocity
[OK/WARN/BAD] Spam indicators

## Top Referring Domains
1. [domain] - X backlinks, rank Y
2. ...

## Anchor Text Distribution
[chart or table]

## Recommendations
1. [Priority action]
2. [Secondary action]

Link Building Prioritization

When generating outreach lists from link gap analysis:

Tier 1 (High Priority)

• Domain rank > 500
• Relevant to your industry
• Editorial links (not directories)

Tier 2 (Medium Priority)

• Domain rank 200-500
• Related industry or topic
• Resource pages, roundups

Tier 3 (Low Priority)

• Domain rank < 200
• Directories, forums
• Comment sections

Integration with Other SEO Skills

• Use seo-content to analyze pages that attract backlinks
• Use seo-keywords to find keywords for linkable content
• Use seo-serp to track ranking impact of new links

[PROTOCOL]: Update this header on changes, then check CLAUDE.md