HOME SKILLS BLOG GITHUB
// SKILL

FREE BACKLINK AUDIT
TOXIC LINKS + COMPETITOR GAP

Run a full backlink profile audit without paying for Ahrefs or Semrush. Claude SEO stitches together free APIs (Moz, Bing Webmaster, Common Crawl) plus a verification crawler to produce referring domain counts, anchor text health, toxic link detection, and competitor gap analysis. Optional DataForSEO extension upgrades to live commercial-grade data.

$
/seo backlinks https://your-site.com

REQUIRES CLAUDE SEO INSTALLED IN CLAUDE CODE

Claude SEO backlink profile audit with Moz Bing Common Crawl and verify crawler
// HOW IT WORKS

4 FREE SOURCES. 1 REPORT.

When you run /seo backlinks, Claude SEO detects which data sources are available, queries each one in parallel, and merges results with confidence-weighted scoring. Anonymous sources (Common Crawl + verify crawler) work out of the box. Free authenticated sources (Moz, Bing Webmaster) require one-time setup. The DataForSEO extension is optional and adds live commercial-grade depth.

The output is a 7-section report: profile overview, anchor text distribution, referring domain quality, toxic links, top pages, competitor gap, and new or lost links. Each section labels its data source so you know whether a finding is from Moz, Bing, Common Crawl, DataForSEO, or the verify crawler. A 0-100 health score sums up the profile.

01
PROFILE OVERVIEW
Referring domains, total backlinks, follow ratio, trend. Combines Moz Domain Authority with Common Crawl in-degree and PageRank.
02
ANCHOR TEXT HEALTH
Branded vs URL vs generic vs exact-match vs partial-match distribution against industry benchmarks. Over-optimization flags trigger automatically.
03
TOXIC LINK DETECTION
30 toxic patterns from references/backlink-quality.md: PBN footprints, hidden networks, expired-domain redirects, comment spam, low-quality directories.
04
COMPETITOR GAP
Domains linking to a competitor but not to you, ranked by authority. CSV export with contact details where available. Best with DataForSEO.
05
DISAVOW EXPORT
Google Search Console compatible disavow.txt with every flagged domain and the toxic pattern that matched. Review before upload.
06
VERIFICATION CRAWLER
Validates that known backlinks still exist on the linking page. Catches link rot, redirects, and removed mentions. Always-on, no API required.
// USAGE

COMMANDS AND SETUP

Commands

CommandWhat it does
/seo backlinks <url>Full backlink profile audit using all available sources
/seo backlinks gap <url1> <url2>Competitor gap analysis: links they have, you do not
/seo backlinks toxic <url>Toxic link detection and disavow file export
/seo backlinks new <url>New and lost backlinks (requires DataForSEO)
/seo backlinks verify <url>Verify a list of known backlinks still exist on the linking page
/seo backlinks setupWalks through free Moz and Bing Webmaster setup

Data Source Tiers

SourceCostWhat it adds
Common CrawlFree, always onDomain-level graph: in-degree, PageRank, harmonic centrality
Verify crawlerFree, always onValidates known backlinks still exist
Moz APIFree signup, 50/dayDomain Authority, Page Authority, Spam Score, anchor data
Bing WebmasterFree signup, your own sitesInbound link details, anchor extraction, link source
DataForSEO (extension)Paid, pay-per-useLive referring domains, new/lost links, anchor distribution, competitor data

Health Score Weighting

The 0-100 backlink health score weights four factors:

  • Referring domain count and growth: 35%
  • Anchor text distribution: 30% (over-optimization is the most common penalty trigger)
  • Toxic link ratio: 25%
  • Follow-to-nofollow ratio: 10%
// FAQ

BACKLINK AUDIT QUESTIONS

Yes. Claude SEO ships with four free data sources: Common Crawl (always on, no signup), a verification crawler (always on), Moz API (free signup, 50 requests/day), and Bing Webmaster Tools (free signup, your own verified sites). The DataForSEO extension is optional and adds live commercial-grade data, but is not required to produce a useful audit.
The toxic detector matches every referring domain against 30 toxic patterns documented in skills/seo/references/backlink-quality.md. Patterns include PBN footprints, hidden link networks, expired-domain redirects, low-quality directories, comment spam, and over-optimized exact-match anchor clusters. Each flagged link includes the matched pattern and recommended action (ignore, monitor, or disavow).
The 0-100 backlink health score weights four factors: referring domain count and growth (35%), anchor text distribution (30%), toxic link ratio (25%), and follow-to-nofollow ratio (10%). Industry benchmarks live in skills/seo/references/backlink-quality.md (e.g., branded anchors should be 30-50% of total, exact-match should stay under 10%). A health below 60 typically signals over-optimization or toxic exposure.
Run /seo backlinks gap <your-url> <competitor-url>. The skill pulls referring domains for both sites, finds domains linking to the competitor but not to you, and ranks the gap by domain authority. The output is a CSV of high-value link prospects with contact details where available. Best run with the DataForSEO extension for live data, but can also use Moz API for free.
Yes. Run /seo backlinks toxic <url> to get a Google Search Console-compatible disavow.txt with all flagged domains. Each entry includes a comment explaining the matched toxic pattern so you can review before uploading. Disavow files are written to your project directory, not auto-uploaded.
// RELATED SKILLS

EXPLORE MORE

DATAFORSEO LIVE DATA

Upgrade backlinks with live commercial-grade data: referring domains, new/lost links, anchor distribution, and competitor data via DataForSEO MCP.

DATAFORSEO EXTENSION →

FLOW FRAMEWORK

The Leverage stage of FLOW uses backlink data to drive off-site authority strategy and partnership planning.

FLOW LEVERAGE STAGE →

FULL SITE AUDIT

Run a backlink audit as part of a full site audit. 18 agents work in parallel and produce a single 0-100 health score with prioritized action plan.

FREE SEO AUDIT TOOL →

VIEW ALL 23 SKILLS →

// FROM THE BLOG

RELATED GUIDE

V1.8.0: FREE BACKLINKS INTEGRATION

The launch post for the backlink skill. How Moz, Bing Webmaster, and Common Crawl integration was built, what each source contributes, and how the verification crawler reduces false positives.

READ POST →

AUDIT YOUR BACKLINKS
IN 30 SECONDS.

$
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-seo.git && bash claude-seo/install.sh
VIEW ON GITHUB ALL SKILLS >