Fetching Backlink Data

The backlinks API provides referring domain profiles powered by VisibilityIQ’s backlink index. It requires the backlinks:read scope.

Single target

curl "https://visibilityiq365.com/api/v1/backlinks/example.com?limit=100" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer vis_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"

Query parameters

Parameter	Default	Max	Description
limit	100	1000	Number of referring domains to return

Response

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "target": "example.com",
    "summary": {
      "referringDomains": 1842,
      "backlinks": 24501,
      "dfsRank": 67
    },
    "authority": {
      "calibrated": true,
      "score": 42,
      "components": {
        "domainDiversity": 1842,
        "dofollowRatio": 0.73,
        "topDomainAuthority": 94
      }
    },
    "referringDomains": [
      {
        "domain": "techcrunch.com",
        "domainAuthority": 94,
        "dofollow": true,
        "backlinks": 3
      }
    ]
  }
}

Authority score

The authority object includes a calibrated Authority Score (0–100) that weighs referring domain diversity, dofollow ratio, and referring domain authority. When calibrated is false, the score is withheld and components are provided for transparency.

Batch request (up to 25 targets)

Use the batch endpoint when you need profiles for multiple domains in a single call. It’s significantly more efficient than calling the single-target endpoint in a loop.

curl -X POST https://visibilityiq365.com/api/v1/backlinks/batch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer vis_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "targets": ["example.com", "competitor.com", "anotherdomain.io"],
    "limitPerTarget": 50
  }'

Response

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "targetCount": 3,
    "results": [
      {
        "target": "example.com",
        "summary": { "referringDomains": 1842, "backlinks": 24501, "dfsRank": 67 },
        "topReferringDomains": [ /* top 50 */ ]
      },
      {
        "target": "competitor.com",
        "summary": { "referringDomains": 3201, "backlinks": 41200, "dfsRank": 71 },
        "topReferringDomains": [ /* top 50 */ ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Deduplication

The batch endpoint automatically deduplicates targets (case-insensitive). If you submit the same domain twice, it’s only fetched once but counts as one credit.

Credit consumption

Endpoint	Credits
GET /v1/backlinks/:target	10 base + 1 per limit
POST /v1/backlinks/batch	10 per unique target

A batch request for 3 targets costs 30 credits. A single-target request with limit=100 costs 110 credits.

Monitor your credit balance under Account → Billing → Data usage.

Use cases

Competitor gap analysis — fetch backlink profiles for all your competitors and compare referring domain counts and authority distributions.

Link reclamation — pull your own referring domains and cross-reference against previous audits to identify lost backlinks.

Prospect scoring — before outreach, score a prospect by their domain authority and dofollow rate to prioritize effort.

Rate limits

See Rate Limits for current limits. The batch endpoint is more rate-limited than the single endpoint — use it strategically when you need multiple profiles.