Backlink evidence report

See which retained pages link to the site without downloading a giant backlink index. The report keeps source coverage and limits visible, so a missing row never becomes proof that no link exists.

Install and run the report

Install the CLI once, then run seo start to connect your site and Google data. After setup you can run this report yourself or ask your agent to run it.

Runafter install

Install the SEO CLI globally.

npm i -g seo

Run setup after installation.

seo start

Run review referring link evidence through the report catalog.

seo reports run link-evidence --params '{"file":"./links.csv","rowLimit":10000,"limit":100}' --json

What you get from this report

Normalize a bounded set of referring URLs from Bing Webmaster or a local export without downloading a web-scale index.

Best for: You need concrete referring URLs and anchor text where the source provides it.
Needs: Bing Webmaster link data or a local link export
You get: A bounded list of referring URLs, target URLs, source domains, and anchor text where the source provided it.
Use next: Recover broken URLs with search value

What you need before you run it

This report uses bounded Bing Webmaster link rows or normalized rows read from an explicit local export.

Bing Webmaster link data or a local link export

Provides the referring URL, target URL, and optional anchor text observed by the selected source.

Explicit work and output limits

Bounds provider pages, target pages, file rows, retained rows, parallel requests, and returned detail.

What the monitor checks

The monitor compares limited snapshots over time. It keeps failed, deferred and unchecked pages separate so missing evidence does not look like a recovery.

Validates HTTP URLs, normalizes common import fields, deduplicates stable row keys, and preserves invalid and duplicate counts.

Streams CSV and JSONL files and rejects oversized regular JSON before reading it into memory.

Keeps provider pagination, file bytes, row limits, output omissions, warnings, and caveats beside the retained links.

Check what ran before trusting the status

Start with the selected pages, dates and quota use. A page that was not checked has an unknown status, even when the rest of the run looks healthy.

Read first	Why it matters
Result	A bounded list of referring URLs, target URLs, source domains, and anchor text where the source provided it.
More detail	Target-page counts, source provenance, validation counts, limit status, warnings, and narrow interpretation caveats.
Read it with	Read provenance and selection before the link list. Open a referring page to confirm that an important link still exists.

What the result cannot prove

The retained rows are not a complete backlink index and do not measure link quality, authority, value, or ranking impact.

Read provenance and selection before the link list. Open a referring page to confirm that an important link still exists. Trace a target URL when it redirects or no longer serves the expected page.

Use a different report for these jobs

You need a complete web-scale backlink index or a third-party authority score.

You need to find broken internal links or discover links across the current site.

Run a bounded site crawl. It follows current internal links and records broken responses rather than importing external referring-link evidence.

Sitemap health check and technical site crawl

You need a complete backlink index, authority score, or link value estimate.

Use a specialist provider and keep its coverage and scoring method explicit. This report does not invent metrics that Bing or the imported file did not supply.

Needs more evidence

Use the report with an agent or in code

The command above is enough for most work. These options let an agent, script or application run the same report with explicit input and structured output.

Use the report catalog when an agent, script or CI job needs predictable JSON instead of the normal terminal output. Check the current input first, then run the report with the validated parameters.

Check the current input before the agent or script runs the report.

seo reports describe link-evidence --json

Once the input is valid, run the report through the report catalog.

seo reports run link-evidence --params '{"file":"./links.csv","rowLimit":10000,"limit":100}' --json

An MCP agent follows the same two-step flow. It inspects the current schema, fills the required fields and only then runs the report.

Ask the MCP server for the current report input.

{
  "id": "link-evidence"
}

Run the report after the agent has checked and filled the input.

{
  "id": "link-evidence",
  "params": {
    "file": "./links.csv",
    "rowLimit": 10000,
    "limit": 100
  }
}

Install the package in a Node 22 project when your application needs to run the report directly. The result includes the same evidence, warnings and limits returned through the CLI and MCP server.

Add the SEO package to your project.

npm install seo

Run the report from your TypeScript application.

import { executeReport } from 'seo/mcp'

const result = await executeReport(
  'link-evidence',
  {
  "file": "./links.csv",
  "rowLimit": 10000,
  "limit": 100
},
)

console.log(result)

What to do next

Open a selected referring page and confirm the link is still present before making a decision. Use a fresh export or Bing report later when you need to check whether the observed set changed.

01Verify a selected referring URL directly.
02Trace a target URL when it redirects or no longer serves the expected page.

Find URLs that still earn returned clicks or impressions but now fail, block access, or redirect poorly.

Broken link recovery report

Follow every hop from one URL to its final page and catch loops, long chains, broken destinations, or conflicting index signals.

Redirect trace

Check sitemap URL health first, then run a full technical crawl only when page-level evidence is needed.