Home / Check catalog / 6. Schema, Local, Trust, Deep Audit / 6.50 Domain Authority, Backlinks, Off-Page SEO & AI Trust Signals

6.50 Domain Authority, Backlinks, Off-Page SEO & AI Trust Signals

200 checks in Schema, Local, Trust, Deep Audit. AI-assisted Scored in the Deep Audit's AI analysis pass.

Backlink Profile Foundations

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.01	Validate total backlink count (domain-level discovery)	Discovered	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.02	Validate referring domains count	Counted	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.03	Validate domain diversity in backlink profile	Diverse	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.04	Validate backlink velocity (growth rate)	Healthy	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.05	Validate link freshness (recently acquired links)	Fresh	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.06	Detect sudden link spikes	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.07	Detect sudden link drops	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.08	Validate follow vs nofollow distribution	Balanced	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.09	Validate homepage vs deep-link ratio	Balanced	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.10	Detect unnatural link patterns	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Link Quality Assessment

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.11	Validate presence of high-authority backlinks	Present	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.12	Validate topical relevance of linking domains	Relevant	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.13	Validate linking domain authority levels	Strong	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.14	Validate no over-reliance on ultra-low DA links	Balanced	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.15	Validate semantic alignment (contextual relevance)	Aligned	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.16	Validate in-content links over footer/sidebar links	Majority	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.17	Detect scraped/spam replications of links	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.18	Validate editorial links vs user-generated links	Balanced	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.19	Validate long-term link stability	Stable	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.20	Detect orphan backlinks (no context on linking page)	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Toxic Link Risk & Disavow Analysis

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.21	Detect toxic backlinks	None	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.22	Detect links from penalized or banned domains	None	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.23	Detect links from PBNs (Private Blog Networks)	None	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.24	Detect gambling/porn/pharma links	None	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.25	Detect mass directory submission links	None	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.26	Detect irrelevant foreign-language links	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.27	Detect links from spammy auto-generated pages	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.28	Validate disavow file exists if required	Exists	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.29	Validate disavow file structured correctly	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.30	Validate toxic domains removed over time	Improved	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Anchor Text Distribution

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.31	Validate anchor text ratio natural	Natural	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.32	Validate brand anchors majority	Majority	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.33	Validate low exact-match anchor usage	Low	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.34	Validate partial-match anchors relevant	Relevant	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.35	Detect manipulative anchor patterns	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.36	Validate generic anchors (click here) minimal	Minimal	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.37	Validate naked URLs appropriately used	Appropriate	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.38	Validate semantically supportive anchors present	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.39	Validate anchors distributed across diverse pages	Distributed	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.40	Validate anchor text tone matches context	Matching	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Link Geography, Locations & Entity-Level Signals

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.41	Validate backlink geography aligned to business region	Aligned	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.42	Validate backlinks from relevant local entities	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.43	Validate multilingual backlink alignment	Aligned	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.44	Validate backlinks from industry associations	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.45	Validate backlinks from governmental or educational sites	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.46	Validate presence in high-quality directories	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.47	Validate citations consistent with NAP	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.48	Detect mismatched brand names in citations	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.49	Validate key business entities recognized externally	Recognized	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.50	Validate entity connections appear on linking pages	Connected	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Brand Mention Signals (Non-Linked & Semantic)

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.51	Validate presence of non-linked brand mentions	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.52	Validate contextual (in-sentence) brand mentions	Contextual	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.53	Validate brand citations from major publishers	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.54	Validate brand mentioned in relevant communities	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.55	Validate brand mentioned in niche forums	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.56	Detect negative or harmful brand mentions	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.57	Detect irrelevant or unnatural brand mentions	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.58	Validate brand signals repeated across multiple platforms	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.59	Validate structured entity citations exist outside website	Exists	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.60	Detect brand name confusion across sources	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI

External Reputation & Authority Signals

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.61	Validate organization or individual recognized by external authoritative sources	Recognized	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.62	Validate awards, recognitions, or certifications exist	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.63	Validate presence in industry “Top” lists	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.64	Validate citations in research papers, journals, or academic work	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.65	Validate brand credibility on third-party review sites	Credible	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.66	Detect reputational inconsistencies (mismatched info)	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.67	Validate thought leadership presence externally	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.68	Validate social proof widely distributed	Distributed	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.69	Validate positive editorial coverage	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.70	Detect reputation-damaging articles	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Digital PR Signals & Earned Media Structures

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.71	Validate earned media placements exist	Exists	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.72	Validate placements in major, relevant publications	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.73	Validate digital PR efforts generate real authority	Effective	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.74	Validate journalist citations correct	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.75	Validate brand mentioned in syndicated content	Mentioned	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.76	Detect manipulative PR stunts (non‑relevant linkbait)	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.77	Validate PR content consistent with core brand narrative	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.78	Validate press releases factual and properly distributed	Factual	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.79	Detect expired or invalid press release links	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.80	Validate PR-driven backlinks trustworthy	Trustworthy	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Social Signals & AI-Perceived Brand Authority

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.81	Validate brand presence on major social networks	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.82	Validate brand social profiles verified (where applicable)	Verified	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.83	Validate community engagement levels	Engaged	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.84	Validate brand consistency across social networks	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.85	Validate social mentions generally positive	Positive	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.86	Detect fake followers patterns	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.87	Validate social links pointing to the website	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.88	Validate content shares align with topical relevance	Aligned	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.89	Validate brand posts consistent in frequency	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.90	Validate social communities represent true users	Genuine	Medium	Deterministic + AI

AI-Specific Off-Page Trust Signals

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.91	Validate brand entities appear in AI model knowledge sources	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.92	Validate external descriptions match on-site descriptions	Matching	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.93	Validate brand name not confused with others	Unique	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.94	Validate NER signals consistent across platforms	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.95	Detect hallucination-prone entity zones externally	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.96	Validate entity info stable across time	Stable	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.97	Validate brand data consistent in external KGs	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.98	Detect mismatch between KG and backlink context	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.99	Validate off‑page authority consistent with on‑page authority	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.100	Compute partial Off‑Page Authority Score	Finalized	Critical	Deterministic + AI

Advanced Backlink Structure Tests

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.101	Validate backlink topical clusters aligned to core topics	Aligned	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.102	Validate contextual link blocks contain relevant semantic terms	Relevant	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.103	Validate backlinks originate from semantically related articles	Related	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.104	Validate multi-hop backlink chains (2-3 link depth) exist	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.105	Validate backlink “hub” sources (high outgoing link nodes) positive	Positive	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.106	Validate backlink “authority nodes” (incoming links) strong	Strong	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.107	Detect backlinks placed next to irrelevant outbound links	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.108	Validate multi-language version backlinks consistent	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.109	Detect link clusters originating from obvious link farms	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.110	Validate backlinks distributed across diverse content formats	Diverse	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Non-Link Authority Signals (AI-Important)

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.111	Validate brand included in local business listings	Listed	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.112	Validate citations across structured directories	Structured	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.113	Validate brand mentioned in industry‑standard datasets	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.114	Validate brand included in government/official lists	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.115	Validate brand present in recognized commercial databases	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.116	Validate entity referenced in relevant Wikipedia pages	Referenced	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.117	Validate external structured metadata matches on-site details	Matching	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.118	Validate brand included in niche ranking sites	Included	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.119	Detect outdated or contradictory database entries	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.120	Validate brand listed in AI‑indexed local aggregators	Listed	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Entity Trust Clustering & Knowledge Graph Alignment

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.121	Validate entity appears in Google/Bing Knowledge Graph	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.122	Validate entity attributes consistent across all public sources	Consistent	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.123	Validate entity connected to relevant nodes in external KGs	Connected	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.124	Validate social profiles recognized as entity nodes	Recognized	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.125	Validate brand/products/services appear under correct categories	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.126	Detect incorrect KG associations	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.127	Validate entity historical info matches external records	Matching	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.128	Validate KG images and logos correct	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.129	Detect deprecated entity descriptors	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.130	Validate entity occupies stable KG position	Stable	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Brand Prominence & Webwide Resonance

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.131	Validate brand search volume trending upward	Upward	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.132	Validate branded queries present in Search Console	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.133	Validate brand presence across major social mentions	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.134	Validate brand name spelling consistent across platforms	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.135	Detect brand dilution (similar competitor names rising)	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.136	Validate brand appears in AI-generated lists accurately	Accurate	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.137	Validate social mentions match sentiment expectations	Positive	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.138	Detect sentiment inconsistencies across channels	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.139	Validate PR sentiment aligns with brand values	Aligned	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.140	Validate brand resonance in niche communities	Resonant	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Competitive Positioning & Off-Page Gap Analysis

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.141	Validate competitor backlink gap analysis	Complete	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.142	Validate competitor authority level comparison	Compared	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.143	Validate competitor high-value backlink opportunities identified	Identified	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.144	Validate competitor disavow analysis included	Included	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.145	Validate competitor citation consistency mapping	Mapped	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.146	Detect competitor negative SEO indicators	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.147	Validate competitor authority gap quantified	Quantified	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.148	Validate competitor PR footprint assessed	Assessed	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.149	Validate competitor entity alignment comparison	Aligned	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.150	Compute incremental Off‑Page Trust & Entity Authority Score	Finalized	Critical	Deterministic + AI

Negative SEO Defense & Link Attack Protection

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.151	Detect massive toxic link injections	None	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.152	Detect sudden spike in irrelevant foreign domains	None	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.153	Validate spam velocity (rate of bad links) stable	Stable	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.154	Validate domain not targeted by anchor‑spam attacks	Safe	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.155	Detect injections of auto‑generated hacking/casino/pharma links	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.156	Validate domain ownership stable & secure	Secure	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.157	Validate no evidence of sabotage via link bomb attacks	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.158	Validate disavow updates applied to counter attacks	Updated	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.159	Detect repeated attacks over time	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.160	Validate defense patterns consistent with healthy websites	Healthy	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Brand Safety, Sentiment Management & AI Trust Environments

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.161	Validate stable brand sentiment across channels	Stable	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.162	Validate no major reputational crises	None	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.163	Validate no misinformation about brand circulating	None	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.164	Validate sentiment improvements after content/PR updates	Improved	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.165	Validate crisis response content exists if needed	Exists	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.166	Validate brand misrepresentations corrected externally	Corrected	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.167	Detect duplicate negative stories circulating	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.168	Validate review platforms show accurate representation	Accurate	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.169	Validate brand FAQs externally correct	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.170	Validate sentiment alignment between PR, social & forums	Aligned	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Distributed Authority Signals & Digital Footprint Depth

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.171	Validate brand mentioned across multi‑channel ecosystems	Distributed	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.172	Validate brand recognized by influencers/industry figures	Recognized	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.173	Validate brand appears in domain‑specific rankings	Present	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.174	Validate brand appears in business association listings	Present	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.175	Validate brand included in external recommendation lists	Included	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.176	Validate knowledge graph connections growing	Growing	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.177	Validate leaked/archived pages represent brand correctly	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.178	Validate brand footprint not shrinking	Growing	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.179	Validate mainstream media not misrepresenting brand	Accurate	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.180	Validate prominence improved after authority campaigns	Improved	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Final Off-Page SEO, Entity Authority & AI Trust Scoring

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.181	Validate off-page EEAT aligned with on-page EEAT	Aligned	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.182	Validate backlink authority correlates with SERP performance	Correlated	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.183	Validate entity authority scoring stable	Stable	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.184	Validate external citations reinforce topical relevance	Reinforced	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.185	Validate brand reputation contributes positively to authority	Positive	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.186	Validate backlink profile sustainable long-term	Sustainable	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.187	Validate off-page signals consistent with business category	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.188	Detect backwards or declining authority signals	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.189	Validate alignment with AI model trust heuristics	Aligned	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.190	Validate entity relationships correctly represented online	Correct	Medium	Deterministic + AI

Final System Validation

ID	Check	Passes when	Weight	Runs
6.50.191	Validate off‑page data completeness	Complete	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.192	Validate no remaining toxic link clusters	None	Critical	Deterministic + AI
6.50.193	Validate entire authority footprint coherent	Coherent	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.194	Validate brand authority competitive in industry	Competitive	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.195	Validate consistent authority across categories	Consistent	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.196	Detect distant KG nodes misrepresenting entity	None	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.197	Validate digital footprint resilience strong	Strong	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.198	Validate sustained growth signals externally	Sustained	Medium	Deterministic + AI
6.50.199	Validate Off‑Page score stability over re‑scans	Stable	Heavy	Deterministic + AI
6.50.200	Compute final Off‑Page Domain Authority Score	Finalized	Critical	Deterministic + AI

← 6.49 Content Quality, EEAT, AI Readability & Factual Resilience6.51 User Experience Quality, UI/UX Signals & AI-Perceived Usability →

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