every backlink topic, in reading order.
everything on crawlgraph about backlinks, grouped by the question you are trying to answer rather than by date. each topic is a hub with a short introduction and its own reading order. new to this? start with backlinks explained. otherwise, go straight to the topic that matches your question.
backlinks explained
what backlinks are and how search engines weigh them, plus every concept behind a backlink report: referring domains, anchor text, nofollow, and authority.
- what is a backlink graph - nodes, edges, and where authority scores come from
- referring domain vs backlink - the difference
- what is link building - the honest, short version
8 postscompetitor backlink analysis
find the sites linking to your competitors and not to you: what a link gap is, how to run one for free, and how to turn the list into outreach.
- what is a link gap - the set difference behind competitor link research
- how to run a backlink gap analysis for free
- free backlink gap analysis without ahrefs (2026)
6 postswhere backlink data comes from
why no two backlink tools agree: the crawlers behind the paid indexes, the free data in search console and bing, and the open common crawl web graph.
- where ahrefs and moz get their backlink data
- how often do backlink tools crawl? why your new link is not showing up yet
- moz's crawler explained: dotbot, rogerbot, and the crawled flag
8 postsseo tool comparisons
head-to-head comparisons with the big backlink tools, list prices included, and where each one genuinely beats us.
- an honest take: when to use ahrefs vs when to use crawlgraph
- ahrefs vs crawlgraph - what you actually pay for
- the cheapest ahrefs alternative in 2026
9 postsbacklink studies
original studies on the open graph: which domains link to every major tool in a category, and what that says about where links come from.
- 3 domains link to every major landing page builder
- 13 domains link to every major social media scheduler
- 12 domains link to every major help desk
13 postsseo for ai search
what ai answers changed about search and what they did not: whether seo still works, what makes a page citable, and how to read your own traffic.
- is seo dead? what the link graph actually shows
- answer engine optimization: what actually makes a page citable
- how to find keyword cannibalization in search console (with a real diagnosis)
3 postsbacklink api
backlink data in code: a free api tier with 15 lookups a month, an mcp server for ai assistants, and the raw common crawl graph to process yourself.
- crawlgraph now has a free API tier (15 backlink calls a month, no card)
- programmatic backlink research: 5 api recipes
- query the common crawl web graph yourself - backlinks from a 16 gb edge list
3 posts