Backlinks

Backlinks shows which external pages link to a domain, how that backlink profile is changing and which of your Content Bank pages receive those links.

Overview

Enter any valid domain to request a current backlink report. Wheremore combines headline metrics, historical trends, geographic and link-type charts, and detailed source-link data in one report.

Use Backlinks to:

Measure the size and diversity of a backlink profile
Review new and lost backlinks over time
Find broken, indirect, nofollow or potentially risky links
See which pages attract the most referring domains
Connect linked pages with their Content Bank topics and clusters
Export loaded backlink data for offline review
Generate an AI-assisted backlink assessment

Backlink figures come from a third-party search dataset. They are not your website analytics, server logs or Google Search Console totals.

Access and scope

You must be signed in to use Backlinks.

You can analyse any valid external domain. The domain does not have to be one of your monitored websites or selected competitors.

A backlink report covers its summary, history, detailed backlink data and further detail pages requested while the report remains active. Moving through the report does not create a separate user-facing charge for each request.

The report authorisation lasts for a limited period. Starting a new report, submitting the domain again after it expires or changing the report settings starts another charged report.

Analyse with AI is an optional, separate AI action. Its AI usage is not part of the backlink report charge.

The active workspace does not restrict which external domain you can analyse. It controls:

Whether target URLs can be matched to your Content Bank
Which projects are available when an AI recommendation is sent to the Action Board

Quick start

Enter a domain such as example.com .
Choose the order and backlink status you want to request.
Set the subdomain, indirect-link and internal-backlink options.
Select Submit.
Review the headline metrics and report tabs.
Use Target URL & cluster summary to inspect the pages receiving links.
Expand a target page to see its source backlinks.
Apply filters or export the loaded data if you need a focused review.
Select Analyse with AI when you want a prioritised assessment.

Run a backlink report

Enter Domain

Enter a domain, not a search query.

Accepted examples include:

example.com
www.example.com
https://example.com
https://example.com/a-page/

Wheremore normalises the entry to the domain to be analysed. A page path in the input does not limit the report to that individual page.

Order By

Choose how the backlink service should order its detailed results. Rank (Descending) is useful when you want stronger referring sources near the beginning of the report.

Changing the order affects the new report request. It does not simply re-sort an already completed report in the browser.

Backlinks Status

Choose the backlink status required for the report. Live focuses on backlinks that are currently reported as active.

Status is based on the provider’s latest available backlink data. It is not a real-time crawl of every source page at the instant you open the report.

Include Subdomains

Enable this option to include backlinks associated with the target’s subdomains as part of the requested scope.

Disable it when you need the narrower root-domain scope supported by the service.

Include Indirect Links

Enable this option to include links that reach the target indirectly, such as through an intermediate redirect or another supported indirect path.

Indirect links are identified in the detailed data and can be isolated with the Indirect filter.

Exclude Internal Backlinks

Enable this option when you want the report to focus on links from other domains and exclude links that the provider classifies as internal to the target.

This option relates to the external backlink report. It is separate from Wheremore’s Link Management feature, which audits and manages links within your own website.

Submit

Select Submit to start a new report.

Wheremore checks your available credits before requesting data and applies the report charge only after the initial report succeeds. Keep the page open while the report is loading.

Avoid repeatedly selecting Submit. Each successful new submission is a new report.

Understand the headline metrics

Spam Score: The reported spam-risk score for the analysed target. Lower is generally better, but the score is a screening signal rather than proof that a domain has a penalty.
Total Backlinks: The total number of backlinks in the selected report scope.
Referring Domains: The number of distinct domains linking to the target.
Referring IPs: The number of distinct referring IP addresses represented in the profile.
Broken: Backlinks identified as pointing through or to a broken destination in the returned dataset.

Backlink totals can be much higher than referring-domain totals because one domain can link many times.

Do not judge a backlink profile from one metric alone. Relevance, source quality, anchor wording, placement, diversity and change over time all matter.

Use the report tabs

Trends

The Total Backlinks & Referring Domains chart shows how the overall backlink count and distinct referring-domain count have changed over time.

The New vs Lost Backlinks chart compares backlinks first detected with links no longer detected during each period.

Use these charts to distinguish steady profile growth from short-lived spikes or sustained losses. A rising backlink total without comparable referring-domain growth can mean that a small number of sites are creating many links.

Geography

Backlinks by Location maps the reported locations of referring sources.

Top Level Domains groups sources by endings such as .com , .org or country-code domains.

Geographic and top-level-domain patterns provide context, not an automatic quality judgement. International or unusual domains can be legitimate when they are relevant to your audience or content.

Link Types

This tab contains:

Link Types: The returned formats of the links, such as text anchors or images.
Link Attributes: Follow and nofollow-related attributes represented in the data.
Semantic Locations: Where links appear in page structure, such as main content, article content or an unknown placement.

Editorial links placed naturally in main content often deserve closer attention, but placement alone does not establish value.

Sources

Platform Types groups referring sources into recognised platform categories such as blogs, content-management systems or organisational sites.

Use the chart to understand where links tend to originate and whether the profile is overly dependent on one source type.

Use Target URL & cluster summary

The target summary groups individual backlinks by the page on the analysed domain that receives them. Media-file targets are excluded from this summary.

The header shows:

The number of target URLs in the loaded detail data
How many are mapped or unmapped in the Content Bank, when mapping applies
How many currently meet Wheremore’s high-risk page rule

Each target-page row can show:

Total backlinks
Referring domains
Average spam score
Best referring-domain rank
A low, medium or high risk label
Content Bank cluster, topic, intent and journey stage

Content Bank mapping

If the analysed domain belongs to an accessible website in the active workspace, Wheremore attempts to match each target URL to the Content Bank.

A mapped row can display its cluster, topic, intent and journey stage. An unmatched row is labelled Not in Content Bank and receives an inferred page type where possible.

If the analysed domain is external or does not belong to the active workspace, the report remains available but Content Bank mapping is marked as not applicable.

Changing workspace refreshes the mapping context. It does not discard the external backlink report.

Risk labels

The target-page risk label is a screening rule calculated from the loaded backlink details:

High: Average spam score is at least 61, or the target has at least five broken links.
Medium: Average spam score is at least 31, the target has at least one broken link, or at least 70% of its loaded backlinks are nofollow.
Low: None of the high or medium conditions applies.

These labels do not prove that a link is harmful. A nofollow-heavy profile, for example, can be completely legitimate. Open the row and review its sources before deciding what to do.

Expand a target URL

Open a target-page row to see the source links pointing to it. The expanded table can include:

Source URL
Anchor text
Spam score
Follow status
Referring-domain rank

The initial expansion shows a manageable number of sources. Use the available expansion control where more loaded sources can be shown.

Grouped and Flat views

The default grouped view organises backlinks under their target URLs.

Select Flat view to list individual backlinks without the target-page grouping. This is useful when reviewing or exporting source-level data.

Use Rows to display 10, 25, 50 or 100 rows on each summary page. Browser pagination divides the detail data already loaded for the active report.

Filter backlink details

Filters can be combined:

Spam ≥ 80: Source links with a reported backlink spam score of at least 80.
IP domain: Sources represented as an IP address rather than a normal hostname.
Broken: Links marked as broken.
HTTP source: Sources using unencrypted http:// .
Indirect: Links marked as indirect.
Nofollow: Links without a dofollow state.
Rank-gap ≥ 15: Sources whose domain-level rank exceeds their page-level rank by at least 15 points.

When filters are active, the target summary and its counters describe only the matching loaded links. The Filtered label makes this narrower scope visible.

Filters are investigative shortcuts. They are not automatic instructions to remove or disavow links.

Load and page through detail data

Wheremore requests detailed backlink data in batches. A detail service batch can contain up to 1,000 rows.

The report’s browser controls and subsequent detail requests use the same short-lived report authorisation, so they do not create an additional Backlinks report charge. Only data loaded into the current report can appear in its summary, filters, AI input or exports.

For very large backlink profiles:

Headline totals can be larger than the detail rows currently loaded
Target-page counts and filters reflect loaded detail data
Additional report pages can take longer to retrieve
An export cannot contain rows that have not been loaded

Export backlink data

Export CSV

Select the CSV control to download the currently loaded backlink details. The export contains source, target, anchor, rank, spam, follow, location, platform and related fields where available.

The CSV is based on loaded detail rows, not necessarily the full headline backlink total.

Export disavow

The disavow control creates a text file from the current active filter results. Apply the filters that define the rows you intend to review before using it.

The export:

Does not submit anything to Google
Does not change or remove backlinks
Is not a recommendation that every exported link should be disavowed

Treat it as a review draft. Investigate each source and obtain appropriate SEO guidance before submitting a disavow file. Incorrect disavowal can remove useful ranking signals.

Analyse with AI

Run the backlink report before selecting Analyse with AI.

The AI assessment uses the backlink detail and summary information currently available in the page. To keep a large analysis practical, Wheremore selects a structured sample rather than sending every backlink:

Up to 1,000 potentially toxic links
Up to 200 stronger authority links
A broader stratified sample, with a target maximum of 1,500 links

The report can assess:

Overall profile health and diversity
Toxic or suspicious patterns
Strong referring sources
Anchor-text distribution
Follow status and page placement
Link velocity
IP or network concentration
Broken backlinks
Target pages and Content Bank context
Prioritised next actions

Counts in the AI narrative refer to the links analysed, which can be a sample of the loaded report rather than the provider’s complete headline total.

Chat about the analysis

After a successful analysis, select Chat about this analysis to ask follow-up questions grounded in the prepared backlink evidence.

For example:

Which target pages have the strongest referring-domain diversity?
Which risk signals need manual review first?
Are anchor texts overly concentrated?
Which Content Bank clusters appear under-supported?

The chat explains the analysed data. It does not fetch a new backlink report or automatically alter links.

Add recommendations to the Action Board

Where the AI report presents an eligible recommendation, you can add it to the Action Board.

Choose a project from the active workspace. Wheremore validates that you can access the project and that it belongs to that workspace.

Adding an action stores the recommendation and its supporting backlink evidence. It does not contact the referring site, edit your website or submit a disavow request.

Export the AI analysis

Use the analysis export control to download a text copy of the generated assessment for offline review.

Recommended workflow

Run a live report for the domain and scope you need.
Compare backlink and referring-domain trends.
Review target pages with high referring-domain counts.
Check mapped Content Bank clusters for uneven link support.
Apply one risk filter at a time and inspect the underlying sources.
Confirm suspicious findings manually.
Run AI analysis for prioritisation after enough detail data is loaded.
Add only well-supported actions to an appropriate project.
Export the relevant data when a deeper manual audit is required.

What should I do next?

Backlinks are growing but referring domains are flat: Check whether a few domains account for most of the increase.
A valuable page has few referring domains: Compare it with stronger pages and plan relevant outreach or content promotion.
A target page is unmapped: Add or reconcile the page through the sitemap and Content Bank workflow.
Broken backlinks are reported: Confirm the source and destination manually, then repair or redirect the affected page where appropriate.
Spam or IP-domain filters return results: Investigate relevance, ownership and link placement before taking action.
Many links are nofollow: Review the source mix; nofollow does not automatically mean low value.
The profile has sudden losses: Identify the affected target pages and referring domains before deciding whether recovery work is justified.
You need internal-link recommendations: Use Link Management. Backlinks focuses on links from external sources.

Troubleshooting

Request failed: Enter a valid target domain

Remove spaces and unsupported text.
Try the root domain, such as example.com .
A normal URL is also accepted, but Wheremore analyses its domain rather than only that page.
Confirm that the entry contains a valid hostname and domain suffix.

The report does not load

Confirm you are signed in.
Check that the account has enough credits for a new report.
Confirm the target domain.
Retry after a short interval if the external backlink service is busy.
Avoid sending repeated submissions while one request is still running.

The report says it has expired

The report authorisation is short-lived. Submit the domain again to create a new report. A successful new report uses another report charge.

Headline totals do not match the visible rows

Headline totals describe the provider’s report scope. The target summary, filters and exports use detail rows loaded into the current page and can therefore be smaller.

Content Bank mapping does not appear

Confirm the analysed domain is one of your websites.
Select the workspace containing that website and its project.
Confirm the pages have been discovered through Manage Sitemaps and are present in the Content Bank.
External domains correctly show that Content Bank mapping is not applicable.

A mapped page is shown as unmapped

The URL may differ by protocol, host, trailing slash or stored page state, or it may not yet exist in the Content Bank. Refresh the sitemap and Content Bank data, then rerun or refresh the mapping.

Filters return no links

The selected conditions may not occur together in the currently loaded detail batch. Clear filters and apply them individually.

Disavow export says there are no links

The disavow export uses active filtered results. Apply the intended filters first and confirm that matching detail rows are visible.

Analyse with AI says no backlink data is available

Run and finish a backlink report first. If necessary, load the detail rows you want included before starting the AI analysis.

AI totals differ from the headline report

The AI uses a bounded, structured sample of the loaded detail data. Its counts describe the links analysed, not necessarily every backlink in the headline total.

An Action Board item cannot be created

Confirm that:

A workspace is selected
The destination project belongs to that workspace
You have access to the project
The recommendation came from the current completed analysis

Frequently asked questions

Can I analyse a competitor or another external website?

Yes. Any valid domain can be analysed.

Does the active workspace limit the domain I can enter?

No. Workspace scope is used for Content Bank mapping and Action Board project selection.

Is every report request charged separately?

A successful new report is one charge. Its summary, history, details and authorised detail pages are covered by that report. Starting another report is another charge.

Does changing a chart tab use more credits?

No. It changes how the current report is displayed.

Does changing browser page size use more credits?

No. It changes how loaded rows are displayed. Retrieving detail that has not yet been loaded remains part of the active report authorisation.

Is Analyse with AI included in the report charge?

No. It is a separate optional AI action.

Is Spam Score proof that a backlink is harmful?

No. It is a risk signal that should be assessed with relevance, placement, source quality and other evidence.

Does the disavow export submit links to Google?

No. It only downloads a text file for manual review.

Why is a target page not in the Content Bank?

It may not belong to the active workspace’s website, may not have been discovered from a sitemap or may not yet be matched to a Content Bank record.

Does Backlinks manage internal links?

No. Use Link Management for internal-link inventory, opportunities, density and WordPress synchronisation.