30 checks in Off-Site Signals & Reputation. AI-assisted Scored in the Deep Audit's AI analysis pass.
| ID | Check | Passes when |
|---|---|---|
| 9.1.01 | Validate backlinks come from indexed pages | Indexed |
| 9.1.02 | Validate backlink sources are not deindexed or penalized | Clean |
| 9.1.03 | Validate backlink pages have no malware/phishing flags | Safe |
| 9.1.04 | Validate links use crawlable <a href> tags | Crawlable |
| 9.1.05 | Detect toxic or harmful backlink sources | None |
| 9.1.06 | Validate link is not hidden or cloaked | Visible |
| 9.1.07 | Detect backlinks from link farms or automated networks | None |
| 9.1.08 | Validate link placement contextually relevant | Relevant |
| 9.1.09 | Validate backlink page loads properly (no errors) | Healthy |
| 9.1.10 | Validate links not blocked by robots.txt | Allowed |
| ID | Check | Passes when |
|---|---|---|
| 9.1.11 | Validate anchor text accurately describes target page | Accurate |
| 9.1.12 | Detect over-optimized exact-match anchors | Minimal |
| 9.1.13 | Validate branded anchors included in natural distribution | Present |
| 9.1.14 | Validate anchor text variations appear natural | Natural |
| 9.1.15 | Detect generic anchors (“click here”, “website”) | Minimal |
| 9.1.16 | Validate contextual anchors appear within relevant sentences | Contextual |
| 9.1.17 | Validate entity-based anchors reinforce Knowledge Graph | Reinforcing |
| 9.1.18 | Detect misleading or incorrect anchors | None |
| 9.1.19 | Validate anchor text sentiment not negative | Neutral/Positive |
| 9.1.20 | Validate multilingual anchors match page language intent | Matching |
| ID | Check | Passes when |
|---|---|---|
| 9.1.21 | Validate links placed in editorial content, not footers/sidebars | Editorial |
| 9.1.22 | Validate link surrounded by relevant topical keywords | Relevant |
| 9.1.23 | Validate link appears above the fold or in meaningful content | Prominent |
| 9.1.24 | Detect sponsored, affiliate or paid links without rel-tag | None |
| 9.1.25 | Validate internal/external linking balance on source page | Balanced |
| 9.1.26 | Validate link location not within templated repetitive blocks | Unique |
| 9.1.27 | Validate link accompanies meaningful text, not isolated | Accompanied |
| 9.1.28 | Detect links embedded in images with missing alt text | None |
| 9.1.29 | Validate link relevance matches page-level intent | Matched |
| 9.1.30 | Compute Backlink Integrity & Anchor Semantic Quality Score | Finalized |
9.2 Citation Source Validation →
A Deep Audit scores every check here that applies to your page, then an AI pass of up to 150 checks. Included on Pro and Ultra, or $9 for one audit.
See plansMachine-readable: catalog totals and the full catalog as JSON (IDs, section, weight, status).