SEO SpyGlass is a backlink research and auditing application for Windows, macOS and Linux. It examines the websites and pages linking to a domain, checks the condition of those links, and compares backlink profiles to identify sources linking to competitors. Its projects bring link discovery, page-level checks and link-quality measurements into a single workspace.
How SEO SpyGlass collects and verifies backlinks
A project can cover an entire domain, include its subdomains, or focus on one exact page URL. SEO SpyGlass collects links from its backlink index and can combine them with Google Search Console, Google Analytics and CSV data. You can also add known backlink URLs manually, allowing newly obtained links to enter the audit without waiting for their discovery in an index.
The results connect individual backlinks to their referring domains and destination pages. Anchor text, link type, follow attributes and HTTP status information provide different ways to examine the profile. A concentration of links around one destination page, for example, can be investigated separately from the site’s overall backlink total.
Discovery and verification are separate operations. Updating Backlink Page Info makes SEO SpyGlass visit the linking pages to check whether a backlink is still present, along with its anchor and dofollow or nofollow status. The Links Back column displays those checks, so an old database entry can be distinguished from a link found on the page during the latest scan.
Link quality
SEO SpyGlass uses InLink Rank to estimate a page’s authority from the number and weight of its incoming links. Domain InLink Rank applies the measurement to the referring domain. Both use a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100. A separate Link Value measurement combines the linking page’s InLink Rank with its external-link count, producing a relative estimate for the individual backlink.
Penalty Risk examines a different set of concerns. Its calculation considers factors such as linking-domain age, incoming and outgoing links, authority measurements, repeated anchor text and links concentrated on shared IP addresses or network blocks. You can update this metric for selected links and open the information tooltip to see which factors contributed to a result.
Disavow files
The disavow tools turn selected records into a file for submission to Google’s separate disavow service. You can select an individual linking page or its whole domain and attach a comment explaining the entry.
An existing disavow file can be imported before extending the list. Keeping earlier entries matters because a new submission replaces the previous file. Creating the list in SEO SpyGlass prepares the submission; it does not remove links from other websites.
Link intersection
Domain Comparison places your site alongside competing sites, while Link Intersection shows how their referring domains overlap. Its Projects column identifies which sites receive links from each domain, alongside information such as authority, backlink counts and domain IP addresses.
The filters answer different research questions. All Domains shows sources linking to any compared site. Intersecting Domains isolates sources shared by at least two sites. Prospective Domains finds sources linking to competitors but absent from the main project’s backlink profile.
Link history
Historical Data retrieves gained and lost backlinks and referring domains for a past period. The search can target a domain, its subdomains or an exact page, with further controls for link type, text versus image links, and links from a particular referring domain.
This allows a change in backlink totals to be examined through the links behind it. The same historical research can be applied to competitors, including periods when their referring-domain counts rose or fell.
Bulk analysis
Bulk Analysis accepts a pasted list of domains or page URLs, one per line. It returns comparable statistics such as referring-domain counts, InLink Rank, IP diversity and link types without requiring a separate detailed audit for each entry. The Free edition checks up to five URLs per batch; paid editions support up to 200.
Reports and scheduled tasks
Report templates combine widgets containing selected backlink data. Widgets can use different date ranges and data selections, while general settings control elements such as report language and tag filtering. Enterprise supports company branding and delivery as PDF or HTML files, email attachments, shareable links or FTP uploads.
Scheduled tasks in the paid editions can repeat backlink checks and other updates. Enterprise adds scheduled report delivery and data exports, allowing recurring analysis to produce client reports or data for work outside SEO SpyGlass.
SEO SpyGlass editions
| Edition | Backlinks | Sites compared | Other differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Up to 1,100 | 2 | Cannot save projects or schedule tasks |
| Professional | Unlimited discovery | 6 | Project saving and scheduled checks; printed reports carry watermarks |
| Enterprise | Unlimited discovery | 11 | Adds report saving, emailing and scheduling, plus CSV, SQL and HTML exports |
Unlimited discovery does not mean every result fits into one project workspace. A project file holds up to 250,000 backlinks; paid users can export the full lists from a source when more links are found.
