backlink intelligence, in plain english.
tactical guides, methodology deep-dives, and side-by-side breakdowns of what enterprise SEO tools really cost you.
how to get backlinks for free in 2026
free options for surveying a backlink profile - gsc, bing webmaster, crawlgraph's free tier - and what each one actually shows. for full lists, paid once.
11 domains link to every major monitoring tool
we compared 8 monitoring and error tracking tools using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 11 non-platform domains link to the full set.
how to track chatgpt traffic in ga4
Build a session-based AI referral report, review source aliases, and keep visits separate from citations, first touch and purchase attribution.
backlink api rate limits: safe retries
Handle monthly quotas, Retry-After headers and ambiguous timeouts with a bounded Python retry planner that avoids duplicate backlink jobs.
competitor backlink analysis template
download a 35-column CSV worksheet, qualify competitor link gaps, and use five hypothetical examples to choose the next research action.
common crawl host vs domain graphs
Choose the right graph resolution: how hostnames become registered domains, what aggregation removes, and why public suffix rules matter.
why backlink counts differ
Reconcile two backlink reports with a worksheet for scope, dates, link definitions, filters, and export limits, plus a worked example.
export backlinks to csv without losing context
save a useful backlink dataset, distinguish domain rows from page links, and convert api json to csv with a provenance sidecar.
backlink quality: evidence before scores
judge backlink quality with page context, editorial evidence and relevance. separate what you can verify from vendor scores and unknowns.
link reclamation: repair earned backlinks
Verify the original link, diagnose the break, then choose a content repair, equivalent redirect or specific editorial correction.
backlink monitoring: a change ledger workflow
Compare named snapshots, verify important source pages, and turn backlink changes into a review queue with an auditable change ledger.
lost backlinks: verify before reclaiming
a missing backlink row can mean a crawl gap, an inaccessible page or a removed link. use an evidence ladder to decide what to fix.
backlink crawling tools: choose the right one
site crawlers audit your pages. backlink indexes find domains linking to a target. choose between them and understand Common Crawl's limits.
29 domains link to every major password manager
we compared 8 password managers using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 29 non-platform domains link to the full set.
9 domains link to every major scheduling tool
we compared 8 scheduling tools using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 9 non-platform domains link to the full set.
27 domains link to every major online course platform
we compared 8 online course platforms using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 27 non-platform domains link to the full set.
query the common crawl web graph yourself - backlinks from a 16 gb edge list
three files, no api key, no cluster. the streaming pipeline that pulls one domain's referring domains out of the open graph on a laptop.
what is link building - the honest, short version
getting other sites to link to yours, why the count stopped mattering, and the three approaches that still work sorted by how much of your time they waste.
toxic backlinks and the disavow file - the unpopular, accurate version
toxic is a vendor word, not a google one. what the score actually is, the narrow case where disavow is correct, and why the default answer is to do nothing.
nofollow links - what they are, whether they help, and why some tools cannot see them
rel=nofollow became a hint in 2019, not a directive. what that changed, when to use sponsored and ugc instead, and the layer problem behind link-attribute reporting.
domain authority vs domain rating vs trust flow - what the scores actually measure
four vendors, four 0-100 numbers, none of them google's. what each one is computed from, why they never agree, and the only way to read them that survives contact with reality.
anchor text, explained - what it is, what it signals, and where it actually pays
the clickable words of a link are an independent description of your page. here is why that matters, what a natural profile looks like, and why internal anchors are the half worth working on.
how to find keyword cannibalization in search console (with a real diagnosis)
the aggregate report cannot show it. query+page pairs can. here is the query that finds it, and 44 cannibalized queries found on our own site.
what is a link gap - the set difference behind competitor link research
a link gap is the domains linking to your competitors but not to you. here is the arithmetic, why the count of competitors changes the answer, and why two tools never agree.
answer engine optimization: what actually makes a page citable
aeo, geo, and llm seo mostly describe the same job. here is the part that is genuinely different from ordinary seo, and what we ship on our own site.
is seo dead? what the link graph actually shows
the honest answer from 3.90 billion links across 121.1 million domains: rankings still work, clicks are worth less, and the signal AI systems read has not changed.
3 domains link to every major landing page builder
we compared 8 landing page builders using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 3 non-platform domains link to the full set.
crawlgraph vs serpstat - how many modules do you actually open?
serpstat at $69/mo is a fair buy if you use most of the suite. if you only ever open the backlink module, a one-time price covers that one job forever.
crawlgraph vs spyfu - different questions, different bills
spyfu is a ppc intelligence tool at $39/mo. crawlgraph is backlink data paid once. two different jobs, and within a few months the one-time price costs less.
13 domains link to every major social media scheduler
we compared 8 social media schedulers using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 13 non-platform domains link to the full set.
what is a backlink graph - nodes, edges, and where authority scores come from
a backlink graph is the web drawn as nodes (sites or pages) and edges (links). every authority score is different math over a graph of that shape.
how often do backlink tools crawl? why your new link is not showing up yet
no tool sees the web live. a link must be crawled, indexed, then published before it appears. how to read your tool's date and confirm a link yourself.
moz's crawler explained: dotbot, rogerbot, and the crawled flag
moz runs two crawlers: dotbot builds the link index behind DA, rogerbot runs site crawl in a moz pro campaign. what crawled means and why DA moves.
the cheapest ahrefs alternative in 2026
compare a free preview, a one-time license and recurring subscriptions. check feature fit, export caps and current quotes before using the cost-parity arithmetic.
12 domains link to every major help desk
we compared 8 help desks using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 12 non-platform domains link to the full set.
35 domains link to every major web host
we compared 8 web hosts using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 35 non-platform domains link to the full set.
13 domains link to every major no-code tool
we compared 8 no-code tools using the top 2,000 referring domains per subject from common crawl. 13 non-platform domains link to the full set.
Common Crawl index API: Apr-Jun 2026 graph and crawl IDs
The Apr-Jun 2026 graph is cc-main-2026-apr-may-jun, built from three CC-MAIN crawls. See its API examples and compare Common Crawl's newest published graph with crawlgraph's queryable release.
programmatic backlink research: 5 api recipes
crawlgraph's backlink API returns referring domains from named Common Crawl graph snapshots. A free key includes 15 backlink lookups and 0 gap analyses per UTC month; paid core plans include 1,000 backlink calls and 50 gap analyses. The API supports backlink lookup, gap analysis, outreach targets, release metadata, CSV and JSON workflows, and hosted MCP access.
8 domains link to every major fintech app (and they are all press or capital)
we pulled the backlinks of 8 big fintech apps from common crawl. the 8 domains that link to all of them are finance trade press, newsletters, and the VC/startup databases. no integrations, no dev tools. the niche runs on trust and money.
crawlgraph now has a free API tier (15 backlink calls a month, no card)
request a key on the docs page and it lands in your inbox. 15 backlink lookups a month on Common Crawl's open web graph, forever free. connect over hosted MCP or run the local npm server.
only 5 domains link to every major AI agent framework (and the shelf is still being built)
we pulled the backlinks of 8 AI agent frameworks from common crawl. only 5 domains link to all of them, and they are not tech media. the niche's link graph is dev platforms plus a brand-new crop of agent directories you can still get into.
only 2 domains link to every major CRM (and that is the lesson)
we pulled the backlinks of the 8 biggest CRMs from common crawl. only 2 domains link to all of them, both integration hubs. compare that to SEO tools, where 37 did. the shape of a niche's link graph tells you the strategy.
37 shared referring domains in an eight-tool seo sample
the retained common crawl study lists 37 domains recorded for all eight selected seo tools. inspect the 159-row projection, its method limits, and a workflow for qualifying candidates.
watch: steal your competitor's backlinks (free 2-minute walkthrough)
a short walkthrough of crawlgraph's free gap analysis: find every site linking to your competitor but not you, pull the contact email, and send the pitch - without an ahrefs or semrush subscription.
only 6 domains link to every major email marketing tool
we ran the same backlink-overlap study on the 8 biggest email tools. the overlap almost vanished - only 6 domains link to all of them. that collapse is itself the most useful finding.
the 34 domains that link to every major ai writing tool
we pulled the backlinks of the 8 biggest ai writing tools from common crawl. 34 domains link to all of them, and the list is almost entirely ai-tool directories and ai-news media. here is the playbook that falls out of it.
the 27 domains that link to every major website builder
we pulled the highest-authority backlinks of the 8 biggest website builders from common crawl. 9,189 domains link to at least one. only 27 link to all eight, and they reveal a very different playbook than you would guess.
the 35 domains that link to every major project management tool
we pulled the highest-authority backlinks of the 8 biggest project management tools from common crawl. 9,347 domains link to at least one of them. only 35 link to all eight, and that short list is the entire link-building playbook for the niche.
find link building prospects with ai
connect an ai assistant to a live backlink data source over mcp and let it run gap analysis, rank outreach targets, and draft angles - no spreadsheet wrangling.
how to run a backlink gap analysis for free
compare competitor referring-domain lists, remove domains recorded for your site, then qualify the actual linking pages. a practical checklist with preview and export limits.
free backlink gap analysis without ahrefs (2026)
find domains recorded for your competitors but not you, then qualify the actual linking pages. compare a free preview with paid research and export options.
ubersuggest backlink checker vs crawlgraph - which one actually has the data
ubersuggest runs backlinks as one report inside an seo suite, on its own index, capped by plan. crawlgraph does backlinks only: the full common crawl referring-domain list, paid once.
crawlgraph vs majestic - two link-only tools, very different prices
majestic is the deepest pure-backlink index there is, with trust flow and a historic archive. crawlgraph is a quarterly common-crawl snapshot paid once. when each one is the right call.
crawlgraph vs moz - domain authority, without the subscription
moz gave the industry the DA score everyone quotes. crawlgraph gives you the same referring-domain picture from open data, for a one-time price. here's the honest split.
an honest take: when to use ahrefs vs when to use crawlgraph
ahrefs is worth $129/month for continuous link-signal monitoring. crawlgraph is worth paying once for outreach prospecting. here's why both are correct.
google search console backlinks: what it shows
gsc is the only free backlink data source straight from google - but it caps the report at ~1,000 referring domains, only shows data for sites you've verified, and surfaces a filtered subset of what google actually indexed. here's the full walkthrough plus how to get around the limits.
where ahrefs and moz get their backlink data
Ahrefs, Moz, Semrush, and Majestic find backlinks by running their own web crawlers, storing separate indexes, and applying proprietary deduplication and scoring. Their counts disagree because each measures a different slice of the web. Common Crawl is the open alternative: anyone can inspect its archive and hyperlink graph, although its snapshots are less current than commercial live indexes.
bing webmaster tools backlinks (free, no signup)
bing webmaster tools shows backlink data for free - and unlike google search console, it surfaces backlinks for sites you don't own through the similar sites report. here's the full walkthrough, the gsc comparison, and the export workflow.
how long does google take to count a backlink?
"how long for google to count a backlink" is actually three questions: how long to crawl, how long to index, and how long for it to influence rankings. the answers are days, weeks, and months - and each phase has different bottlenecks.
referring domain vs backlink - the difference
a backlink is one link. a referring domain is one site - it can give you ten thousand links and still count as one. the two counts describe different aspects of a link profile; neither alone establishes link quality or ranking impact.
common crawl web graph releases and crawlgraph availability
See Common Crawl's newest published web graphs beside the releases crawlgraph has indexed for backlink queries. The two update on different schedules.
crawlgraph vs semrush - focused vs all-in-one
semrush ships fifty things. crawlgraph ships one. here's why - for a real subset of seos - that's the point.
ahrefs vs crawlgraph - what you actually pay for
a one-time lifetime license vs $129/mo. broken down by feature, by api call, by what the data really shows.
common crawl explained: URL index API and web graph
Common Crawl is a public web archive. Its URL Index API finds captured pages, while its separate web graph maps links between hosts or domains. Neither dataset is a complete or live map of the web. Choose the index for capture research and the graph for backlink analysis, then pin the exact collection or release used.
one email a month: the newest study, plus one thing worth doing with it. unsubscribe in 1 click.
plus one when a new common crawl release lands. that is all.