Link Value Simulator

Most link decisions are made on authority alone. Enter the source you are considering and this tool scores the placement on three inputs, each printed with its own number: the source domain’s own authority, its spam score, and — the input no link database can give you — whether the AI engines we monitor actually cite that source in their answers.

Why citation evidence changes the decision

A link from a strong domain still does nothing for AI visibility if the engines never quote that domain. We observe engine answers daily and record which sources they cite; a source that appears in those answers is the same class of source the engines reach for when they assemble a recommendation. That is a different question from "does this domain have authority", and it is the one that decides whether a placement moves you into AI answers.

Where the numbers come from

Authority (domain rank, 0–1000) and the spam score come live from the DataForSEO backlinks database. Citation evidence comes from our own observation index — what the engines we query cited, on which questions, and when. An absent record is reported as "no citation observed yet": it means we have not seen it, never that engines never cite it. The index fills from every brand-monitor run; each cited domain keeps its engine counts and the questions it appeared in.

The verdict, and what to do with it

Authority contributes up to 45 points, cleanliness up to 35, and citation evidence 20 — and a source in the toxic spam band is capped at "pass" no matter how strong the domain, because a flag travels with the link. The tool also lists sources we have observed the engines cite, so a pass still leaves you with somewhere better to go.