Backlink Checker & Link Monitor — Nofollow & Redirects

Backlink Checker & Link Change Monitor | Aura

Aura Verification · Know whether the link you paid for is still there.

Check whether a delivered backlink is still present. Supply placement URLs and the expected destination; receive timestamped evidence of the link, anchor text, nofollow/sponsored attributes, redirects, canonical URL and noindex signals. Export JSON or CSV for a client report, or let an AI agent call the same checker.

$0.004 per completed page check. Unknown results are not billed. This verifies URLs you already have; it does not discover a domain's backlinks or report search rankings.

Try one page

Start with the placement audit example, or use the change-check example to compare saved evidence. Apify copies the example into your account, where you can replace the sample inputs and control the run budget.

Open Input, keep the prefilled example and select Start. It checks a public IANA reference page for its RFC 6761 link. Then replace the example with your own placement URLs and destination.

{
  "urls": ["https://www.iana.org/domains/reserved"],
  "targetUrl": "https://www.iana.org/go/rfc6761"
}

The example was checked locally on 23 October 2026: the link was present. Pages can change. A completed check returns status: "checked", linkPresent, matching links and an observation time. Export the dataset as CSV or JSON using Apify's dataset controls.

Use it for

• Placement handoff: verify supplied links before sending a campaign report.
• Link retention: repeat a saved check to notice removed links or changed link attributes.
• Partner and affiliate pages: check an exact destination and capture its current anchor text.
• Agent workflows: add verification before an agent marks a placement as checked.

Start with 25 URLs. Each run accepts one expected destination, so group placements by destination. Matching is exact after URL normalization and removal of the link fragment: a different path or trailing slash can be a different link. Leave targetUrl blank to collect up to 20 links per page without testing a particular destination.

From placements to a client report

1. Group your delivered placement URLs by expected destination.
2. Check a small batch and export the results. Review missing links, changed anchors, sponsored attributes and noindex signals before handoff.
3. Keep the evidence digests with your report. Repeat the check later with those digests to compare selected evidence.

A removed link and an unreadable page are different outcomes. A completed source check can report a missing link; a blocked or unsupported page is unknown and needs another verification method. Both appear in the output so you can account for every supplied URL.

Understand the result

Field	Meaning
status	checked for a completed HTTP-source observation; unknown when it cannot establish a result
linkPresent	Whether the exact destination appears; null without a target or for an unsupported rendered page
links	Matching destinations, anchor text and rel attributes, up to 20
noindex	A noindex signal in HTML robots/googlebot metadata; not proof of Google indexing
canonical / finalUrl	The declared canonical URL and the URL reached after redirects
observedAt	UTC time of the observation
digest / changed	Selected evidence fingerprint and comparison with a previous run

linkPresent: false describes the returned HTML. Login, blocked responses or JavaScript-only links can require browser verification. Unknown results include a reason and are not charged.

Repeat checks and changes

Save the returned digest for each sourceUrl. On the next run, supply baseline as an object mapping those source URLs to their previous digests. Keep the same targetUrl. changed: false means the selected evidence is unchanged; changed: true means it differs; changed: null means no baseline was supplied.

The digest compares link, canonical, noindex and final URL evidence, not all page content. Save a one-off check as Aura · Placement audit, or a repeat check as Aura · Link retention, followed by your own project label. Schedule repeats within your own account limits. A schedule does not refresh the baseline automatically; update it from the previous dataset when comparing consecutive runs. No automatic email alerts are included.

Check backlink placements from Clay

Already managing agency placements in Clay? Use Clay's native Run Apify Actor integration with Aura Backlink Checker. Bring your own Clay and Apify accounts; their allowances and charges apply. Aura charges $0.004 per completed page, so 25 completed checks cost $0.10, plus any applicable Clay usage. Unknown pages are unbilled by Aura; that does not promise a refund of Clay actions.

1. Copy the Aura · Backlink placement verification starter, or create a table with that name. The starter copies its columns and setup description in Manual mode but starts with zero rows: add one row and paste the example below. Its public preview includes one IANA input and explicitly synthetic output examples. Keep automatic table/enrichment runs off. Each row represents a batch of 1–25 placement URLs sharing one exact destination.
2. Add Run Apify Actor, connect your own Apify account privately, and select automatron/backlink-checker (Actor ID NY5K2KCzocidqkkaq). Never put an API token in a table cell, input JSON, shared template or URL.
3. Paste this JSON into Input Data for the first batch:

{
  "urls": ["https://www.iana.org/domains/reserved"],
  "targetUrl": "https://www.iana.org/go/rfc6761"
}

4. For your own batches, use Clay's column picker to map an actual URL array to urls and a destination string to targetUrl. Preview the resolved JSON: urls must be an array, not a string containing JSON. Omit baseline on the first check. Turn Auto-update / Auto-run off before saving and choose the save option that does not run rows.
5. Review your accounts' limits before manually running one batch. A 25-page batch bounds this Actor's completed-page event charge at the current price; it does not cap Clay usage or repeated runs. If you need a hard Apify run cap and Clay does not expose it, run the saved task in your own Apify Console with Maximum cost per run = $0.10, then import that existing run into Clay. maxTotalChargeUsd is a run option, not an Actor input field.
6. Open the returned source cell/dataset and expand the page results, or use Clay's Import data from Apify Actor for the completed run. Keep its run/dataset reference. Retrieve an existing result instead of rerunning the Actor to see it again. Map results by sourceUrl, retaining the batch's destination and run reference; never rely on row order.

Use these result rules in your report:

Display	Required evidence	Action
Present	status = checked and linkPresent = true	Review links[].anchor and links[].rel with observedAt.
Missing in HTML	status = checked and linkPresent = false	Review the exact target and whether browser rendering is needed.
Unknown / needs review	status = unknown, missing output, or null/absent linkPresent	Keep reason; do not convert this to a missing link.

Also retain changed, digest, canonical and noindex when returned. Unknown rows may omit these fields. A successful run does not mean every page was readable. These are HTTP-source observations, not search-ranking or indexing guarantees.

For a later check, copy each successful page's digest into baseline, keyed by that same sourceUrl, and keep the exact destination unchanged. Run again only when you intend to purchase a new observation. Baseline rotation and alerts are not automatic; do not replace a useful baseline with an unknown result.

Troubleshooting: If the Actor is not selectable, open it in your own Apify account and follow Clay's connection setup. If input fails, check array types and separate different destinations into different batches. For incomplete results, inspect the original run and its reason before retrying only unresolved pages. Connection or timeout errors are not proof that no run started; reconcile the run in Apify before trying again.

This manual setup follows Clay's Apify integration guide. The credential-free starter's public preview, copying and Manual mode were verified on 25 October 2026. It has no saved Apify action or account connection; buyers complete those steps themselves. Live Clay-to-Apify execution and marketplace acceptance remain unverified. Aura is an independent service; this guide does not imply Clay endorsement.

Connect an AI agent

Use this Apify MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aura-backlink-checker": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automatron/backlink-checker"
    }
  }
}

Authorize with your own Apify account, follow the returned tool schema, and retrieve the run's dataset. Actor ID: NY5K2KCzocidqkkaq. Apify's MCP guide covers compatible clients. Agents can also use Apify prepaid access through x402/MPP; Apify manages those payments.

Price and limits

Completed page checks	Actor charge
25	$0.10
100	$0.40
1,000 across one or more runs	$4.00

Only verified-page is charged. Unknown pages are not billed. Usage pass-through and Standby are disabled, and the Actor uses limited permissions. Your Apify account plan and limits still apply.

Inputs are limited to 1,000 public HTTPS URLs and 60 KB. Each page is limited to 128 KB, three redirects and ten seconds per request. Requests are sequential, with a five-minute check budget and time reserved to save results before the six-minute run timeout. Remaining URLs return unknown with run_deadline_reached, free_preview_limit, or charge_limit_reached; retry only unknown pages in smaller batches. The 1,000-URL input limit does not promise 1,000 completed checks per run. Non-monetized local demonstrations stop after ten pages.

This checker does not bypass access controls, use paid proxies, buy links or guarantee rankings. If charging or output is interrupted, the run stops for reconciliation to prevent duplicate charging.

Frequently asked questions

Does it find every backlink to a domain? No. Supply the placements you already have, such as a delivery sheet from a link-building campaign. Aura checks those pages against one exact destination per run.

Will this certify a backlink or guarantee its SEO value? No. “Aura Verification” means timestamped HTTP-source evidence. It is not a certification, domain-authority score, Google indexing check or ranking guarantee.

Can I use it without a subscription? The Actor charges per completed page. Your own Apify account and its limits still apply. Unknown results are unbilled, including blocked pages and unfinished inputs.

Does it run continuously? Save a task and schedule it in your own Apify account. Each scheduled run uses that account's allowance and maximum charge. Update the baseline between runs when you want a comparison with the previous observation. Alerts and automatic baseline rotation are not included.

Can an AI agent use the same service? Yes. Use the MCP configuration above or Apify's documented prepaid agent access. Keep payment limits in the caller's account and inspect unknown results before making a claim about a placement.

Support and feedback

Aura is maintained by Matthias Mandiau. For support, open an Actor issue with the run ID and a redacted example; keep private client URLs out of public issues.

After using the checker, share an honest review from its Apify Store page. What worked, what did not, and what would make it more useful? All feedback helps improve the checker.