Backlink Analyzer

This skill should be used when the user asks to "analyze backlinks", "check link profile", "find toxic links", "link building opportunities", "off-page SEO",...

Security Scan

The skill's purpose (backlink analysis) is plausible and mostly coherent, but there are small inconsistencies around declared credentials and unspecified external connectors/network behavior that you should confirm before installing.

Purpose & Capability

The skill is clearly a backlink analysis tool and declaring AHREFS_API_KEY as the primary credential is coherent (Ahrefs is a common backlink source). However metadata shows requires.env: [] while primaryEnv: AHREFS_API_KEY is set — that mismatch is inconsistent and should be clarified. The SKILL.md mentions optional connectors and pulling data from a 'link database' or SEO tools (expected) but does not explicitly name endpoints or connectors.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions stay within backlink-analysis scope: generate profile overviews, quality scoring, toxic-link detection, disavow guidance, competitor comparison, and outreach templates. The skill asks for backlink CSV exports and competitor domains when automatic connectors are not available, which is reasonable. It does not instruct reading unrelated system files or broad environment/state beyond backlink data.

Install Mechanism

This is an instruction-only skill (no install spec, no code files executed). That is a low-risk install profile because nothing is written to disk or pulled at install time.

Credentials

Only AHREFS_API_KEY is indicated as the primary credential (which fits the purpose), but requires.env is empty in metadata — inconsistent bookkeeping. The SKILL.md mentions optional network access to SEO tools but doesn't declare what other credentials (if any) it will require. Confirm exactly which API keys will be requested at runtime and why.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill is user-invocable; it does not request permanent agent-wide privileges. Autonomous invocation is allowed (platform default) but there is no 'always: true' or other elevated persistence.

What to consider before installing

This skill appears to be a legitimate backlink-analysis template that expects Ahrefs integration, but there are a few things to check before installing or providing credentials: - Confirm the AHREFS_API_KEY usage: ask the author where the key will be sent/used and whether the skill will call api.ahrefs.com (or another official endpoint). The metadata lists AHREFS_API_KEY as primaryEnv but does not include it in the requires.env list — ask the maintainer to fix this mismatch. - If you prefer not to share API keys, use the manual workflow: provide backlink CSV exports and competitor lists instead of granting live tool access. - Ask for a clear list of connectors/endpoints and whether any network calls are made to third-party servers beyond known SEO services (Ahrefs, Moz, Majestic, etc.). Avoid giving keys to unknown endpoints or personal servers. - Because the skill includes outreach email templates, be mindful of privacy/compliance: do not use these templates to send unsolicited or spammy emails, and avoid pasting private contact lists into the skill unless you trust it. - Prefer least privilege: create a scoped API key (read-only) for Ahrefs if possible, and rotate/revoke it after use or if you stop using the skill. If the author provides clarification that AHREFS_API_KEY is the only credential used and that all external calls are to official SEO tool APIs, the skill can be considered coherent; otherwise treat the credential/connector ambiguity as a red flag.

SEO & GEO Skills Library · 20 skills for SEO + GEO · Install all: npx skills add aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills

<details> <summary>Browse all 20 skills</summary>

Research · keyword-research · competitor-analysis · serp-analysis · content-gap-analysis

Build · seo-content-writer · geo-content-optimizer · meta-tags-optimizer · schema-markup-generator

Optimize · on-page-seo-auditor · technical-seo-checker · internal-linking-optimizer · content-refresher

Monitor · rank-tracker · backlink-analyzer · performance-reporter · alert-manager

Cross-cutting · content-quality-auditor · domain-authority-auditor · entity-optimizer · memory-management

</details>

Analyzes, monitors, and optimizes backlink profiles. Identifies link quality, discovers opportunities, and tracks competitor link building activities.

When to Use This Skill

• Auditing your current backlink profile
• Identifying toxic or harmful links
• Discovering link building opportunities
• Analyzing competitor backlink strategies
• Monitoring new and lost links
• Evaluating link quality for outreach
• Preparing for link disavow

What This Skill Does

1. Profile Analysis: Comprehensive backlink profile overview
2. Quality Assessment: Evaluates link authority and relevance
3. Toxic Link Detection: Identifies harmful links
4. Competitor Analysis: Compares link profiles across competitors
5. Opportunity Discovery: Finds link building prospects
6. Trend Monitoring: Tracks link acquisition over time
7. Disavow Guidance: Helps create disavow files

How to Use

Analyze Your Profile

Analyze backlink profile for [domain]

Find Opportunities

Find link building opportunities by analyzing [competitor domains]

Detect Issues

Check for toxic backlinks on [domain]

Compare Profiles

Compare backlink profiles: [your domain] vs [competitor domains]

Data Sources

See CONNECTORS.md for tool category placeholders.

With ~~link database + ~~SEO tool connected: Automatically pull comprehensive backlink profiles including referring domains, anchor text distribution, link quality metrics (DA/DR), link velocity, and toxic link detection from ~~link database. Competitor backlink data from ~~SEO tool for gap analysis.

With manual data only: Ask the user to provide:

1. Backlink export CSV (with source domains, anchor text, link type)
2. Referring domains list with authority metrics
3. Competitor domains for comparison
4. Recent link gains/losses if tracking changes
5. Any known toxic or spammy links

Proceed with the full analysis using provided data. Note in the output which metrics are from automated collection vs. user-provided data.

Instructions

When a user requests backlink analysis:

1. Generate Profile Overview -- Key metrics (total backlinks, referring domains, DA/DR, dofollow ratio), link velocity (30d/90d/year), authority distribution chart, profile health score.

2. Analyze Link Quality -- Top quality backlinks table, link type distribution, anchor text analysis (brand/exact/partial/URL/generic), geographic distribution.

3. Identify Toxic Links -- Toxic score, risk indicators by type (spam, PBN, link farms, irrelevant), high-risk links to review, disavow recommendations (domain-level and URL-level).

4. Compare Against Competitors -- Profile comparison table (referring domains, DA/DR, velocity, avg link DA), unique referring domains, link intersection analysis, competitor content attracting most links.

5. Find Link Building Opportunities -- Link intersection prospects, broken link opportunities, unlinked mentions, resource page opportunities, guest post prospects, priority matrix (effort vs impact).

6. Track Link Changes -- New and lost links for last 30 days with DA, type, anchor, dates. Net change and links to recover.

7. Generate Backlink Report -- Executive summary, strengths, concerns, opportunities, competitive position, recommended actions (immediate/short-term/long-term), KPIs to track.

   Reference: See references/analysis-templates.md for complete output templates for all 7 steps above.

CITE Item Mapping

When running domain-authority-auditor after this analysis, the following data feeds directly into CITE scoring:

Backlink Metric	CITE Item	Dimension
Referring domains count	C01 (Referring Domain Volume)	Citation
Authority distribution (DA breakdown)	C02 (Referring Domains Quality)	Citation
Link velocity	C04 (Link Velocity)	Citation
Geographic distribution	C10 (Link Source Diversity)	Citation
Dofollow/Nofollow ratio	T02 (Dofollow Ratio Normality)	Trust
Toxic link analysis	T01 (Link Profile Naturalness), T03 (Link-Traffic Coherence)	Trust
Competitive link intersection	T05 (Profile Uniqueness)	Trust

Validation Checkpoints

Input Validation

• Target domain backlink data is complete and current
• Competitor domains specified for comparison analysis
• Backlink data includes necessary fields (source domain, anchor text, link type)
• Authority metrics available (DA/DR or equivalent)

Output Validation

• Every metric cites its data source and collection date
• Toxic link assessments include risk justification
• Link opportunity recommendations are specific and actionable
• Source of each data point clearly stated (~~link database data, ~~SEO tool data, user-provided, or estimated)

Example

User: "Find link building opportunities by analyzing HubSpot, Salesforce, and Mailchimp"

Output:

## Link Intersection Analysis

### Sites linking to 2+ competitors (not you)

| Domain | DA | HubSpot | Salesforce | Mailchimp | Opportunity |
|--------|-----|---------|------------|-----------|-------------|
| g2.com | 91 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Get listed/reviewed |
| capterra.com | 89 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Submit for review |
| entrepreneur.com | 92 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Pitch guest post |
| techcrunch.com | 94 | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | PR/news pitch |

### Top 5 Immediate Opportunities

1. **G2.com** (DA 91) - All competitors listed
   - Action: Create detailed G2 profile
   - Effort: Low
   - Impact: High authority + referral traffic

2. **Entrepreneur.com** (DA 92) - 2 competitors have links
   - Action: Pitch contributed article
   - Effort: High
   - Impact: High authority + brand exposure

3. **MarketingProfs** (DA 75) - All competitors featured
   - Action: Apply for expert contribution
   - Effort: Medium
   - Impact: Relevant audience + quality link

### Estimated Impact

If you acquire links from top 10 opportunities:
- New referring domains: +10
- Average DA of new links: 82
- Estimated ranking impact: +2-5 positions for competitive keywords

Tips for Success

1. Quality over quantity - One DA 80 link beats ten DA 20 links
2. Monitor regularly - Catch lost links and toxic links early
3. Study competitors - Learn from their link building success
4. Diversify your profile - Mix of link types and anchors
5. Disavow carefully - Only disavow clearly toxic links

Link Quality and Strategy Reference

Reference: See references/link-quality-rubric.md for the complete link quality scoring matrix (6 weighted factors), toxic link identification criteria, link profile health benchmarks, and disavow file guidance.

Reference: See references/outreach-templates.md for email outreach frameworks, subject line formulas, response rate benchmarks, follow-up sequences, and templates for each link building strategy.

Reference Materials

• Link Quality Rubric — Quality scoring matrix with weighted factors and toxic link identification criteria
• Outreach Templates — Email frameworks, subject line formulas, and response rate benchmarks

Related Skills

• domain-authority-auditor — Backlink data feeds directly into CITE C dimension; run after this analysis for full domain scoring
• competitor-analysis — Full competitor analysis
• content-gap-analysis — Create linkable content
• alert-manager — Set up link alerts
• performance-reporter — Include in reports
• entity-optimizer — Branded backlinks strengthen entity signals