---
name: looot-backlink-checker
description: Check a domain's backlinks. Use when the user says things like "check the backlinks of example.com", "who links to this page" or "find broken backlinks pointing at my site". Runs through looot, billed per call.
---

# Check a domain's backlinks

Backlink checker API for an agent: it sends a domain, a subdomain or a page URL to a catalog endpoint and reads total backlinks, referring domains and anchor texts back. Several providers sell the call, so the agent tries the cheapest first. You pay per call, and a failed call costs nothing.

This skill needs the looot skill set up first: https://looot.ai/skill.md

## Ask for these inputs

The job takes a domain, a subdomain or a page URL. Example: example.com.

- A domain, a subdomain or a page URL

## Run it

1. Find the endpoint: `looot discover --mode auto --query "backlink checker"`. The endpoints listed below are the known matches.
2. Read the price and the input schema before spending: `looot inspect <endpoint-id>`. Tell the user the price, then run.
3. Run it: `looot run dataforseo-backlinks-summary-live-ai --input '{"target":"example.com"}' --idempotency-key <new-key> --wait`. Reuse the same key only to retry the same request.
4. Read the run's `status` and `error`, not the HTTP status. A run can return `failed` with a normal response.
5. If a run fails with a provider error or times out, try the next endpoint from the list below, cheapest first. If it fails on your input (a 4xx style error), fix the input. Do not retry it on other providers.

## Endpoints

Each endpoint reads the same job from a different provider. They differ in inputs, fields and price. Run `looot inspect` on the ones that take the input you hold, start with the cheapest, and move to the next on a provider error.

- `dataforseo-backlinks-summary-live-ai`: returns total backlinks, spam score, broken backlinks, broken pages and crawled pages for a domain, subdomain or page
- `dataforseo-backlinks-backlinks-live-ai`: lists each backlink, with a default of 100 rows and a cap of 1,000, and a mode that returns one link per referring domain
- `dataforseo-backlinks-referring-domains-live-ai`: lists the referring domains that link to a target, with limit, offset, filters and ordering
- `dataforseo-backlinks-anchors-live-ai`: lists the anchor texts used in links to a site, with backlink data for each anchor

## What comes back

- Total backlinks
- Referring domains
- Anchor texts
- Spam score
- Broken backlinks and pages

## Answer rule

Give total backlinks and referring domains first, then the top anchors. Flag spammy sources instead of counting them as wins.

## Before you start

- Start with the summary. It is the cheapest way to see whether a deeper pull is worth the cost.
- Use one link per domain when you want reach. The backlinks endpoint can return a single link per referring domain, which cuts the noise from sites that link a thousand times.
- Set a limit. The backlinks list defaults to 100 and is capped at 1,000 rows per call, and you page through the rest with an offset.

## Cost rules

- Searching and inspecting are free. Running is billed per call at the price `looot inspect` shows.
- Say the price before the first run, and the total after a batch.
- Never loop a failing call. Stop after two failures and report what failed.

## When not to use this skill

Use `looot-domain-keywords` instead when you want what the site ranks for, not who links to it.

Page for people: https://looot.ai/agent-skills/backlink-checker