Quality, not just quantity.
A short list of strong domains can beat a long list of weak ones. The authority score helps you tell them apart.
- Authority 0 to 100
- New and lost each release
- Same scale for competitors
Referring domains and authority at a glance
Know which sites link to you and how strong they are, see which are new or lost, and find the domains linking to competitors but not to you.
TL;DR
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What are referring domains?
Referring domains are the distinct websites that link to yours. BigRank lists them with an authority score from 0 to 100, normalized from the rank in Common Crawl's open domain-level web graph.
- Where does authority come from?
- From precomputed harmonic centrality and PageRank rankings in the Common Crawl web graph, normalized to 0 to 100.
- Is it available for any domain?
- Yes. Domain-level data exists for any domain without waiting for a page-level run.
- What else is listed per domain?
- First and last seen, whether it is new or lost, how many links it sends, its dofollow share and a spam-risk level.
- What is Backlink Gap?
- The domains that link to at least one competitor but not to you.
What the domain report includes
Authority comes from Common Crawl's domain-level web graph, whose harmonic centrality and PageRank rankings are normalized to 0 to 100. The graph covers any domain, so your profile and a competitor's are measured on the same scale.
Domain link graph
Common Crawl publishes domain-level and host-level web graphs, which we load to show referring domains for any site.
- Ready before page-level backlinks
- Works for any competitor domain
- No paid data vendor
Authority score
A 0 to 100 score derived from each domain's rank in the graph.
- Harmonic centrality and PageRank
- Same scale for every domain
- Not a Google metric
Links per domain
See how many links each domain sends to you.
- Count beside authority score
- High counts can mean sitewide links
- Spam-risk level beside each domain
Dofollow share
Check what portion of a domain's links pass authority, from page-level backlinks.
- Dofollow versus nofollow
- Percentage for each domain
- Read next to the authority score
First and last seen
Track how long a domain has linked to you and whether it still does.
- Lost domains in the monthly diff
- Newly linking domains
- Long-standing sources at a glance
Backlink gap
Find the domains linking to one or more competitors but not to you, as a set difference on the domain graph.
- Uses your project's competitors
- Source for outreach prospects
- Up to 100 competitors on Ultra
Find link opportunities.
Backlink Gap shows the domains that already link to your competitors, which makes them natural targets for outreach.
- Set difference on the domain graph
- Uses competitors from your project
- Pairs with Lost Links
Track the relationship over time.
First and last seen dates, plus lost links from the monthly comparison, show which domains stuck around and which dropped off.
- First and last seen
- Broken links by domain
- Monthly snapshots
SEO MCP
Ask your AI assistant about Referring Domains.
Ask your assistant how many referring domains link to you, how many are new this month, or how many you lost.
From list to outreach
Domain data is best for deciding where outreach time goes: start with the strongest sources you already have, then go after the strong domains your competitors earned.
Open referring domains
Sort by authority score or by when a domain first linked.
Review the best sources
See which strong domains link to you and which page they link to.
Run Backlink Gap
Find domains that link to competitors but not to you.
Plan outreach
Prioritize the domains most likely to link to you.
When teams review domains
Look at referring domains when the question is which sites vouch for you rather than which pages link: choosing outreach targets, reviewing weak sources, comparing with competitors or reporting growth.
Link building targets
Pick the highest-authority domains from the gap list.
Profile cleanup
Find low-authority domains to review for disavowing.
Competitive research
Compare how many domains link to you and to each competitor.
Reporting
Show growth in linking domains over time.
Which level of your link profile needs attention?
Judge linking sites in Referring Domains, drop down to single links in Backlink Checker when one domain needs a closer look, and move the domains you don't trust into Disavow Management.
Referring Domains
Find out which sites vouch for you and how much weight each one carries, then spot the strong domains that link to competitors instead.
Backlink Checker
When a domain looks promising: open the individual links it sends, with the words it uses and the page each link lands on.
Disavow Management
When a domain looks harmful: put it on the list Google should ignore, note why, and have it ready for the next export.
Keep going
Grow and protect your link profile
Domain data is the strategic view. Read the individual links behind a domain, set aside the risky ones, and show clients how their linking domains grow.
Referring Domains FAQ
Answers about monthly runs, plan availability, adding competitors, what the authority score means, broken links by domain and data for competitor domains.
Do I need to wait for a monthly run?
Not for domain-level data, which is available immediately. Page-level data arrives with the next monthly run.
Which plans include it?
Max and Ultra include backlinks. Pro does not.
How is a competitor added?
Add competitor domains to your project, up to your plan's limit.
Is the authority score the same as Google's ranking?
No. It is our own 0 to 100 score derived from open web graph data and isn't a Google metric.
What are broken links by domain?
The links from a domain that point at pages on your site returning a 4xx or 5xx status. Redirect those pages to reclaim the links.
Can I see referring domains for a competitor?
Yes. Domain-level data exists for any domain, including the competitors in your project.
SEO that fits your budget
Plans start at $19/month with a 7-day free trial. Every plan includes the site audit, Search Console insights and white-label reports.