--- name: dataforseo-backlink-gap-for-striking-pages description: "Monthly: your pages at positions 8 to 15, the competitors above them, and the referring domains that link to two or more of those competitors but not to you. Use when the user asks for this, or when it runs on a schedule." --- # Link prospects for pages close to page one: DataForSEO Backlinks and Search Console Monthly: your pages at positions 8 to 15, the competitors above them, and the referring domains that link to two or more of those competitors but not to you. A page at position 11 often needs links more than words, and a generic backlink gap report is too wide to act on: thousands of domains that link to a competitor for reasons unrelated to the page you want to move. The useful list is much shorter: sites that link to the competitors that beat you on those exact queries. Once a month the agent finds your pages at positions 8 to 15 in Search Console, checks who outranks them on their main query with the DataForSEO SERP API, and then asks the Backlinks API which domains link to two or more of those competitors but not to you. SEO leads get a ranked shortlist of sites worth an email, each tied to the page to pitch. ## Two ways to get the data Use the API or MCP route when you have an MCP server, a CLI or an API token for the app. Otherwise, if you can drive a browser the user is signed in to (Claude in Chrome, a Playwright or Chrome DevTools MCP server), use the browser route. Say which one you used. ## Route A: API or MCP server ### What you need - Read access to the Search Console property, and your own domain so it can be excluded. - DataForSEO API login and password, or the DataForSEO MCP server, with Backlinks API access (DataForSEO asks for a $100 monthly commitment that stays on your balance). A run is 8 Standard-queue SERPs and 3 Backlinks requests, well under a dollar; test on `https://sandbox.dataforseo.com/v3/` first. If something is missing, say what and stop; do not invent numbers. ### Steps 1. **Find pages close to page one** (Google Search Console): Call `searchanalytics.query` for the last 28 full days with `dimensions: ["page"]` and keep pages with an average position from 8.0 to 15.0 and at least 200 impressions, up to 8 pages. For each, run `dimensions: ["page", "query"]` filtered to that page and take its query with the most impressions. 2. **See who outranks each page** (DataForSEO): Send one `POST /v3/serp/google/organic/task_post` with one task per query (8 tasks, `depth: 10`, your `location_code` and `language_code`) and read the results with `task_get/advanced/`. Keep organic `domain` values ranked above you, lowercase with `www.` stripped. 3. **Pick the competitors that matter**: Keep domains that outrank you on 2 or more of the 8 queries, drop your own domain and sites nobody can win links from (wikipedia.org, youtube.com, reddit.com, amazon.com), and take the top 3 by number of queries. If you set competitor domains, keep only those that appear here, so the list stays tied to these pages. 4. **Run the link intersection per pair** (DataForSEO): The Backlinks API returns domains that link to every target, so call `POST /v3/backlinks/domain_intersection/live` once per pair of competitors (3 calls for 3) with `targets: {"1": "rival.com", "2": "ledgerly.io"}`, `exclude_targets: ["example.com"]`, `backlinks_status_type: "live"`, `order_by: ["1.rank,desc"]` and `limit: 100`. 5. **Merge, rank and ask**: Merge the pairs on the referring domain (lowercase, no `www.`), count how many competitors each links to, drop entries with a high `backlinks_spam_score`, and rank by `rank`. Tie each prospect to the page whose query those competitors outrank you on, and post the top 5 as an ask. ## Route B: the browser ### What you need - Signed in to Google with access to the Search Console property, and to the DataForSEO dashboard with Backlinks API access and a funded balance. If something is missing, say what and stop; do not invent numbers. ### Steps Start at https://search.google.com/search-console/performance/search-analytics. The user is signed in already; never type passwords or codes, and ask if a sign-in page appears. 1. **Find pages at positions 8 to 15**: Pick the property, set Date to `Last 28 days`, turn on Average position and open the Pages tab. Filter the table to position greater than `7.9` and less than `15.1` and impressions over `199`, take up to 8 pages, and click each to read its top query on the Queries tab. 2. **See who outranks each page**: Open `https://app.dataforseo.com/`, API Playground, SERP API > Google > Organic > Live Advanced, with your location, language and depth `10`. Run each query once and note the domains above you. Keep the 3 that beat you on the most queries, leaving out wikipedia.org, youtube.com, reddit.com and amazon.com. 3. **Run the link intersection per pair**: In the Playground choose Backlinks > Domain Intersection. For each pair of the 3 competitors, enter the pair as targets, your domain under exclude targets, order by rank, limit `100`, and click Request. 4. **Merge and shortlist**: Combine the three results, keep referring domains that appear for 2 or more competitors, skip obvious spam, and sort by rank. Report the top 5 with the competitors each links to and the page of yours to pitch. Note: Playground requests cost the same as the API and the SERPs run at Live prices. The Backlinks part needs DataForSEO's Backlinks access, which is a separate monthly commitment; without it, the request returns an access error rather than data. ## The report - **Pages close to page one**: how many sit at positions 8 to 15, with their main query. - **Competitors** that outrank them on two or more of those queries. - **Link prospects**: referring domains linking to two or more of those competitors and not to you, with rank and which competitors they link to. - **The shortlist**: the 5 to contact, each with the page to pitch. - The ask: whether to draft the outreach. ## Post it to Briefkin When `BRIEFKIN_TOKEN` is set, or `~/.config/briefkin/env` exists (the installer from https://briefkin.dev/docs writes it), also send the result to the user's Briefkin board as one card. Keep the `item_key` the same on every run so the card updates in place, use a new `event_id` per run, and put today's real numbers in place of the example ones. If the request fails, say so once and carry on. ```bash [ -n "${BRIEFKIN_TOKEN:-}" ] || . ~/.config/briefkin/env curl -sS -X POST "${BRIEFKIN_URL:-https://briefkin.dev}/v1/events" \ -H "authorization: Bearer $BRIEFKIN_TOKEN" \ -H "content-type: application/json" \ -d @- <<'JSON' { "v": 1, "event_id": "dataforseo-backlink-gap-for-striking-pages/", "item_key": "dataforseo-backlink-gap-for-striking-pages", "project": "example.com", "source": "Link prospects for pages close to page one: DataForSEO Backlinks and Search Console skill", "kind": "action", "title": "23 sites link to the rivals above your near-page-one pages, not to you", "summary": "**8 of your pages** sit at positions 8 to 15. **23 domains** link to two or more of the competitors that outrank them, but not to you; these **5** are worth an email.", "action": { "request": "Should I draft outreach emails for these 5?", "options": [ "Draft all 5", "Draft the top 2", "Show all 23", "Skip this month" ] }, "widget": [ { "type": "Table", "props": { "columns": [ "Referring domain", "Rank", "Links to", "Pitch" ], "align": [ "left", "right", "left", "left" ], "rows": [ [ "smallbizdaily.com", 612, "rival.com, ledgerly.io, billflow.co", "/invoice-software" ], [ "freelancerhub.org", 588, "rival.com, ledgerly.io", "/templates/pdf" ], [ "accountingtoday-blog.com", 540, "ledgerly.io, billflow.co", "/features/recurring" ], [ "startupstack.io", 497, "rival.com, billflow.co", "/invoice-software" ], [ "solopreneurguide.net", 455, "rival.com, ledgerly.io", "/blog/payment-terms" ] ] } }, { "type": "Callout", "props": { "text": "smallbizdaily.com links to all three rivals. Pitch /invoice-software, which sits at 11.2 for \"invoice software\".", "tone": "info" } } ] } JSON ``` Widgets come from the Briefkin catalog (https://briefkin.dev/v1/catalog). Without a token, just give the user the report. ## Run it on a schedule Suggested: 1st of the month at 9:00 (`0 9 1 * *`). From cron, with the agent signed in on that machine: ```bash 0 9 1 * * claude -p "Run the dataforseo-backlink-gap-for-striking-pages skill" # Codex: codex exec, Gemini CLI: gemini -p, Copilot CLI: copilot -p, OpenCode: opencode run ``` Or use the agent's own scheduler (Claude Code routines, Codex automations, Claude or ChatGPT scheduled tasks): https://briefkin.dev/skills/dataforseo-backlink-gap-for-striking-pages#schedule Source: https://briefkin.dev/skills/dataforseo-backlink-gap-for-striking-pages