Check if your backlinks come from spammy sources. See spam scores for every linking domain, sorted from highest risk to lowest.
A spam score is a metric that estimates how likely a backlink is to come from a spammy or manipulative source. It is calculated based on signals like the linking domain's quality, content patterns, outbound link ratio, and historical behaviour. Scores typically range from 0 (very clean) to 100 (highly likely spam).
However, spam scores from any single data source should never be taken at face value. A legitimate news site might have a moderate spam score due to user-generated content, while a purpose-built spam site might fly under the radar with a low score. That is why our full audit tool uses four independent layers of analysis rather than relying on spam scores alone.
As a general guide: scores below 10 are usually fine, 10-29 deserve a closer look, 30-59 are concerning and should be reviewed, and 60+ are almost always problematic. But context matters — a high-authority domain with a moderate spam score is very different from a low-authority domain on a risky TLD with the same score.
Our toxic backlink checker goes beyond spam scores to give you a definitive Toxic, Suspicious, or Non-Toxic classification for every link.
The most common patterns we detect include links from auto-generated directories, private blog networks (PBNs) with thin content, foreign-language sites with no topical relevance, sites on risky TLDs like .xyz, .tk, and .buzz, comment spam with over-optimised anchor text, and links from sites that exist solely to sell links. Our pattern detection engine catches 50+ distinct spam fingerprints.
A spam score estimates how likely a backlink is from a spammy source. Scores range from 0 (clean) to 100 (very spammy). Links with high spam scores are more likely to harm your rankings.
Above 30 is concerning. Above 60 is very high risk. But spam score alone does not tell the full story — Disavow uses multiple signals including domain authority, TLD risk, and content patterns.
Spammy backlinks signal to Google that your site may be involved in manipulative link building. Severe cases trigger manual actions (penalties). Even without a penalty, a high proportion of spammy links dilutes the authority from legitimate links.
Common indicators: very low domain authority, risky TLD (.xyz, .tk), SEO manipulation keywords in URL, part of a PBN, excessive outbound links, or over-optimised exact-match anchor text.