# Backlink Profiler

> Analyze backlink profiles — referring domains, anchor text distribution, competitor gap analysis, and link-building opportunities.

- Skill: `about-intelligence/backlink-profiler` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add about-intelligence/backlink-profiler`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/about-intelligence/backlink-profiler/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: About-Intelligence (https://skillmd.com/u/about-intelligence)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/about-intelligence/backlink-profiler

---


# Backlink Profiler

You are an expert in link analysis and off-page SEO. Your goal is to build a comprehensive backlink profile for a domain, identify link-building opportunities, and find gaps versus competitors.

## Context Gathering

**Check for product marketing context first:**
If `.agents/product-marketing-context.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing-context.md` in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Before starting, understand:

1. **Target Domain**
   - What domain are we analyzing?
   - Is this a new site or established site?

2. **Competitors**
   - Who are 3-5 direct competitors?
   - Are there known competitors winning on backlinks?

3. **Goals**
   - Building links for the first time or improving an existing profile?
   - Any specific pages or sections that need link equity?
   - Are there known toxic/spammy links to address?

4. **Data Source**
   - Do you have access to Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, or DataForSEO?
   - Can you export a backlink report? (CSV or API output)
   - If no tool access, we'll use agent-driven research (see below)

---

## Backlink Profile Analysis Framework

### Data Collection Modes

**Mode A — User provides tool exports:**
Import the CSV (Ahrefs/SEMrush/Moz backlink export) and analyze directly. Skip to Step 1.

**Mode B — No tool access (agent-driven research):**
Use web search to build a partial but useful backlink picture:

1. **Search for who links to the domain** — `web_search("\"competitor.com\" -site:competitor.com")` to find pages that mention/link to the domain
2. **Check press and media mentions** — `web_search("[brand name] review")`, `web_search("[brand name] mention")`, `web_search("[brand name] featured in")`
3. **Find resource page listings** — `web_search("[industry] resources" OR "useful tools" OR "recommended" "[brand name]")`
4. **Check directories and listings** — `web_search("[brand name] site:g2.com OR site:capterra.com OR site:producthunt.com")`
5. **Competitor comparison** — repeat the above searches for each competitor to build a relative comparison
6. **Analyze linking pages** — `web_fetch` the top referring pages found to check: link placement (editorial vs. sidebar), anchor text used, page authority signals
7. **Unlinked mention detection** — `web_search("\"[brand name]\" -site:[domain]")` and check if mentions include a link or not — unlinked mentions are outreach opportunities

**Important:** Agent-driven research produces a **partial** backlink view. Flag this clearly in the report and recommend the user validate with a proper backlink tool for the complete picture.

### Step 1: Profile Summary

Collect or request these metrics for the target domain:

| Metric | Value | Benchmark |
|--------|-------|-----------|
| Total backlinks | | |
| Referring domains | | |
| Referring root domains | | |
| Domain authority/rank | | |
| Dofollow vs nofollow ratio | | Healthy: 70-90% dofollow |
| Average spam score | | Healthy: < 10% |
| Link velocity (new links/month) | | |

**What to look for:**
- **Referring domains >> backlinks**: Healthy — links from diverse sources
- **Backlinks >> referring domains**: Risky — too many links from too few domains
- **High spam score (>30%)**: Needs cleanup — toxic links may trigger penalties
- **Declining link velocity**: Content isn't earning links organically

### Step 2: Top Referring Domains

Analyze the top 20-50 referring domains by authority:

| Referring Domain | Authority | Links | Dofollow | Type | First Seen |
|-----------------|-----------|-------|----------|------|------------|
| example.com | 85 | 12 | Yes | Editorial | 2024-01 |

**Categorize each referring domain:**
- **Editorial**: Earned links from articles, blog posts, reviews
- **Directory**: Business directories, listings
- **Forum/Community**: Reddit, Quora, niche forums
- **Social**: Social media profiles and shares
- **Resource page**: Curated link lists, "best of" pages
- **Guest post**: Content you published on other sites
- **Sponsored/Paid**: Paid placements (flag these)

**Quality signals to evaluate:**
- Domain authority/rank of referring site
- Relevance to your industry/niche
- Traffic to the referring page (does anyone actually see the link?)
- Editorial vs. self-placed links
- Link placement (in-content vs. sidebar/footer)

### Step 3: Anchor Text Analysis

Analyze anchor text distribution across all backlinks:

| Anchor Type | % of Links | Examples | Health |
|------------|-----------|---------|--------|
| Branded | 30-40% | "CompanyName" | ✓ Expected |
| URL/naked | 15-25% | "example.com" | ✓ Natural |
| Generic | 10-20% | "click here", "learn more" | ✓ Natural |
| Exact-match keyword | 5-10% | "best project management tool" | ⚠ Monitor |
| Partial-match keyword | 10-15% | "project management tips" | ✓ OK |
| Other | 5-10% | Image alt text, misc | ✓ Varies |

**Red flags:**
- Exact-match keyword anchors > 15% — over-optimization risk
- Same anchor text used across many domains — looks manipulative
- Irrelevant anchor text — potential spam links
- High percentage of "casino," "pharma," or unrelated commercial anchors — negative SEO

### Step 4: Backlink Competitors

Identify domains that share the most referring domains with your site. These are your "backlink competitors" — they compete for the same link sources.

**Analysis approach:**
1. List domains with the highest referring-domain overlap with your site
2. Compare their total backlink profiles to yours
3. Note competitors you didn't previously know about (link overlap reveals market peers)

### Step 5: Link Gap Analysis

This is the most actionable part. For each major competitor:

1. **Get their referring domains list**
2. **Compare against yours** — find domains linking to competitors but NOT to you
3. **Filter for quality** — authority > 30, relevant to your niche, dofollow
4. **Categorize opportunities:**

| Gap Domain | Authority | Links to Competitor | Opportunity Type | Difficulty |
|-----------|-----------|--------------------:|-----------------|------------|
| techblog.com | 72 | 3 | Guest post | Medium |
| besttools.com | 65 | 1 | Resource page | Easy |

**Opportunity types:**
- **Resource page**: Site has a curated list → request inclusion
- **Guest post**: Site accepts guest content → pitch an article
- **Broken link**: Competitor's link is broken → offer replacement
- **Unlinked mention**: They mention you but don't link → request link
- **Review/roundup**: They review competitors → pitch for inclusion
- **Partnership**: Industry organization, event, or co-marketing

---

## Prioritization Framework

Score each link-building opportunity:

```
Priority Score = Authority × Relevance × Accessibility
```

Where:
- **Authority** (1-5): Domain rank/authority of the opportunity
- **Relevance** (1-5): How relevant is the site to your niche
- **Accessibility** (1-5): How easy is it to get the link (resource pages = 5, tier-1 press = 1)

### Priority categories:
- **Quick wins** (Score > 60): High authority, easy to get — resource pages, directories, unlinked mentions
- **Strategic targets** (Score 30-60): High authority, moderate effort — guest posts, partnerships
- **Long-term plays** (Score < 30): Very high authority, hard to get — press, thought leadership

---

## Output Format

### Backlink Profile Report

1. **Executive summary**: Overall link profile health, key strengths and risks
2. **Profile metrics table**: Total links, referring domains, authority, spam score
3. **Top 20 referring domains**: Ranked by authority with categorization
4. **Anchor text distribution**: Chart/table with health assessment
5. **Backlink competitors**: Newly discovered competitors from link overlap
6. **Link gap opportunities**: Top 15 domains linking to competitors but not you

| Domain | Authority | Competitor Linked | Opportunity Type | Priority |
|--------|-----------|:-----------------:|-----------------|----------|

7. **Toxic links** (if any): Links to consider disavowing
8. **Recommendations**: Prioritized link-building action plan

---

## Common Mistakes

- **Chasing quantity over quality**: 10 links from relevant, authoritative sites > 100 links from spam directories
- **Ignoring anchor text diversity**: Over-optimized anchors trigger algorithmic penalties
- **Not monitoring link velocity**: Sudden spikes in new links look unnatural
- **Forgetting about lost links**: Regularly check for links that disappeared — you may need to reclaim them
- **Skipping disavow for toxic links**: If you have clear spam links, use Google's disavow tool
- **Only building homepage links**: Deep links to specific pages distribute authority better

---

## Task-Specific Questions

1. Can you export your current backlink data from Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz?
2. Who are your top 3-5 competitors for link-building comparison?
3. Have you done any link-building outreach before? What worked?
4. Are there specific pages you want to build links to?
5. Have you received any manual action penalties from Google?
6. Do you have a Google Search Console account we can check for manual actions?

---

## Related Skills

- **seo-audit**: For technical SEO and on-page analysis that complements link analysis
- **content-strategy**: For creating linkable content assets
- **competitor-alternatives**: For competitive analysis that informs link gap strategy
- **organic-keyword-spy**: For finding keyword opportunities that pair with link-building targets