I built a free backlink intelligence skill for AI agents (no Ahrefs subscription needed)

Description and use

A free "backlink‑radar" skill lets AI agents query backlink data from open sources and perform SEO audits without paid tools.

Problem

SEO guides recommend checking competitors’ backlinks, but tools like Ahrefs or Semrush require paid subscriptions, blocking access for side projects and early‑stage sites.

Outcome

The skill enables AI agents to query backlink data from free sources, perform on‑page SEO audits, and optionally access a paid placement directory, eliminating the need for costly subscriptions.

Workflow

• 1. Drop the backlink‑radar folder into the agent’s skills directory or paste SKILL.md into a system prompt.
• 2. Ask the agent queries such as "Who links to stripe.com? Give me referring domains." or "Link‑gap analysis: my site vs two competitors."
• 3. The skill retrieves data from Common Crawl, Google Search Console, and Open PageRank, and returns observed links with limitations noted.
• 4. Optionally, query the Backlink Hub MCP server for paid placement opportunities via the provided JSON configuration.

Evidence

Backlink data shouldn't cost $99/month.

Source

Common Crawl — the largest public web crawl, with a free web‑graph dataset

Source

Drop the folder into your agent's skills directory (or paste SKILL.md into a system prompt), and ask: "Who links to stripe.com? Give me referring domains."

Source

It also ships a 19-check on-page SEO + GEO audit (title/meta/canonical/schema, plus AI-engine readiness: robots.txt AI-bot stance, llms.txt, SSR content) — zero API keys required.

Source

Free sources give you observed links, not a complete index. Common Crawl lags weeks to months.

Source