Backlinks overview
The Backlinks overview is the macro view of who links to your domain and how that profile is changing. It pulls referring domains, total backlinks, the dofollow/nofollow split, an Authority Score derived from the profile, and a new-vs-lost timeseries into one screen — so you can see at a glance whether your link profile is growing, stable, or eroding. Links remain one of the strongest off-site signals search engines and AI surfaces use to decide whether your domain is authoritative enough to trust and cite.
Backlink data comes from VisibilityIQ’s backlink index. You don’t connect anything or supply an API key — the data runs on your project’s included monthly data budget, and you pull it on demand.
What you’ll need
Section titled “What you’ll need”- A project with a confirmed primary domain. Backlinks are scoped to that domain.
- Enough of your monthly data budget left to run a sync. Each sync draws from the project’s included budget.
That’s it. There is no per-site backlinks connector to enable and no customer credentials to manage.
How to use
Section titled “How to use”- Go to Project → Backlinks → Overview.
- On a brand-new project the panel shows an empty state until the first sync completes — there’s no backlink data yet.
- Click Run sync now to pull a fresh profile. The sync fetches referring domains and backlinks for your domain and computes the Authority Score and trend.
- To keep the profile current without clicking each time, turn on recurring auto-sync in Project → Settings. Auto-sync is opt-in per project; leave it off and the overview only refreshes when you run a sync.
How to read the results
Section titled “How to read the results”| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Referring domains | The count of unique domains linking to you. This matters more than raw link count — 500 links from one domain is weaker than links from 500 distinct domains. |
| Total backlinks | Every individual link, including multiple links from the same domain. |
| Dofollow / nofollow | The share of links that pass authority (dofollow) versus those that don’t (nofollow). A healthy profile carries a natural mix, not 100% dofollow. |
| Authority Score | A composite derived from the profile — the breadth, quality, and trust of your referring domains rolled into one number. Read it as a relative signal of off-site strength, not a guarantee of where you’ll rank. |
| New vs lost | A timeseries of referring domains gained and lost over time. Steady net growth is healthy; a sudden drop or spike is worth investigating. |
Treat the Authority Score as a trend line you move over months, not a dial you turn overnight. A rising score with steady new-domain growth is the pattern you want.
Refreshing the data
Section titled “Refreshing the data”The overview reflects the profile as of the last sync. Click Run sync now any time you want current numbers — after an outreach campaign lands, after a migration, or when you suspect links have dropped. If you’ve enabled auto-sync in Project → Settings, the profile refreshes on the project’s schedule and each run draws from your included data budget.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- Toxic links — find spammy referring domains and build a disavow shortlist.
- Link velocity — watch the pace of links gained and lost, and catch unnatural spikes.
- Link gap — find domains linking to your competitors but not to you.