# Backlink Checker - Backlinks, Referring Domains & Anchors (`seemuapps/backlink-checker`) Actor

List backlinks, referring domains and anchor texts for any domain or URL, with domain rank, dofollow status, spam score and first/last seen dates.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/seemuapps/backlink-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Seemu Scraping](https://apify.com/seemuapps) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Backlink Checker - Backlinks, Referring Domains & Anchors

Check the backlinks of any website or page. Get every link pointing to a domain or URL with the linking page, anchor text, dofollow status, domain rank, spam score and first/last seen dates. You can also group the results by referring domain or by anchor text. It's a pay-as-you-go alternative to the Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz backlink checkers, with no subscription.

### What you get

Pick what to return:

**Backlinks**: one row per link with

- **sourceUrl**, **sourceDomain** and **sourceTitle**: the page that links to you
- **targetUrl**: the page it links to
- **anchor**, **dofollow**, **linkType** (anchor, image, redirect, canonical…) and **linkAttributes** (nofollow, sponsored, ugc)
- **domainRank** and **pageRank** (0-100): how strong the linking domain and page are
- **spamScore** (0-100), **sourceCountry**, **sourceLanguage** and **sourcePlatforms**
- **firstSeen**, **lastSeen**, **lostDate**, **isNew**, **isLost** and **isBroken**

**Referring domains**: one row per linking domain with **domainRank**, **backlinks**, **dofollowBacklinks**, **referringPages**, **spamScore**, **sourceCountry**, **firstSeen** and **lostDate**.

**Anchor texts**: one row per anchor with **backlinks**, **dofollowBacklinks**, **referringDomains**, **referringPages**, **firstSeen** and **lostDate**.

Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or Google Sheets from the **Dataset** tab, or use the API.

### Use cases

- **Competitor backlink research**: find the sites linking to your competitors and pitch them too
- **Link building and outreach**: build prospect lists of strong, dofollow linking domains
- **Backlink audits**: spot spammy links, lost links and broken links pointing at your site
- **Anchor text analysis**: check for over-optimised anchors before they cause a penalty
- **Client reporting**: track new and lost backlinks for every client site

### How to use

1. Enter one or more **Domains or URLs**. A domain (`example.com`) includes its subdomains; a full URL with a path (`https://example.com/blog/post`) checks only that page.
2. Pick **What to return**: Backlinks, Referring domains or Anchor texts.
3. Optional filters: **Dofollow links only**, **Minimum linking domain rank** (0-100) and **Link status** (live, lost or both).
4. In Backlinks mode, **One backlink per linking domain** (on by default) keeps only the strongest link from each site. Turn it off to list every link.
5. Set **Max results per target** (default 100, up to 20,000). Results are sorted strongest first.
6. Run the actor. Results appear in the **Dataset** tab.

### Output example

```json
{
  "target": "apify.com",
  "resultType": "backlink",
  "sourceDomain": "crawlee.dev",
  "sourceUrl": "https://crawlee.dev/",
  "sourceTitle": "Crawlee · Build reliable crawlers. Fast.",
  "targetUrl": "https://console.apify.com/actors/…",
  "anchor": "Run on",
  "dofollow": true,
  "linkType": "anchor",
  "domainRank": 56,
  "spamScore": 0,
  "sourceCountry": "US",
  "firstSeen": "2023-12-01T23:45:00.000Z",
  "lastSeen": "2026-10-06T17:24:45.000Z",
  "isLost": false
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event, no subscription:

- **Target lookup**: charged once per domain or URL checked, plus once per extra 1,000 rows.
- **Result**: charged for each backlink, referring domain or anchor row returned.

See the **Pricing** tab for current prices. Failed lookups are not charged.

### Free plan limits

Free Apify plans can check 1 domain or URL with up to 20 rows per run, 3 runs per day, with 30 minutes between runs. Upgrade to any paid Apify plan to remove these limits.

### FAQ

**How big is the backlink index?** The index covers trillions of links and is updated continuously, so new links usually show up within days.

**What is domain rank?** A 0-100 authority score based on the number and strength of a domain's referring domains, similar in spirit to Domain Rating or Domain Authority.

**Need summary metrics for thousands of domains instead?** Use our Bulk Domain Authority Checker, which returns one row of totals per domain.

# Actor input Schema

## `targets` (type: `array`):

Domains (example.com) or full page URLs, one per line (up to 100). A domain includes its subdomains; a URL with a path checks only that page.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Backlinks: individual links pointing to the target, with source page, anchor text and dofollow status. Referring domains: one row per linking domain with link counts. Anchors: the anchor texts used in links to the target, with counts.

## `oneLinkPerDomain` (type: `boolean`):

Backlinks mode: return only the strongest link from each linking domain, so one site linking 5,000 times doesn't fill your results. Turn off to list every link.

## `dofollowOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Ignore nofollow links.

## `minDomainRank` (type: `integer`):

Only include links from domains with a domain rank (0-100) at or above this value. 0 includes everything.

## `linkStatus` (type: `string`):

Live links only, lost links only (removed or no longer found), or both.

## `maxResultsPerTarget` (type: `integer`):

Maximum rows per domain or URL, strongest first. Up to 20,000.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targets": [
    "apify.com"
  ],
  "mode": "backlinks",
  "oneLinkPerDomain": true,
  "dofollowOnly": false,
  "minDomainRank": 0,
  "linkStatus": "live",
  "maxResultsPerTarget": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One link, referring domain or anchor per record: target, resultType, sourceDomain, sourceUrl, sourceTitle, targetUrl, anchor, dofollow, domainRank, pageRank, backlinks, referringPages, spamScore, sourceCountry, firstSeen, lastSeen, lostDate, isLost.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "targets": [
        "apify.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("seemuapps/backlink-checker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "targets": ["apify.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("seemuapps/backlink-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "targets": [
    "apify.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call seemuapps/backlink-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,seemuapps/backlink-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/V8vSubGaHizgUeGGp/builds/Q2mp54NiI4EslR6fP/openapi.json