Reference
Backlink & AEO/GEOGlossary
Learn the terminology of backlink monitoring, AEO, and GEO. From anchor text to toxic backlinks, we've got you covered.
A
Anchor Text
The clickable text in a hyperlink. Anchor text helps answer engines understand what the linked page is about. Relevant, descriptive anchor text can improve your link's value for AEO/GEO citations.
B
Backlink
A hyperlink from one website to another. Also called an 'inbound link' or 'incoming link'. Backlinks are critical because answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity view them as votes of confidence. The more quality backlinks a page has, the more authoritative it appears — and the more likely it is to be cited in AI-generated answers.
Backlink Monitoring
The process of tracking the status, health, and changes of backlinks pointing to your website. Monitoring includes checking if backlinks are still active, if anchor text has changed, and if link attributes (like nofollow) have been modified. Essential for protecting your link building investment and AEO/GEO visibility.
Broken Link
A hyperlink that no longer works, typically returning a 404 (Not Found) error. Broken links can occur when pages are deleted, URLs change, or websites go offline. Having many broken links can negatively impact your authority and AEO/GEO visibility.
D
Disavow
A process of telling Google to ignore certain backlinks when assessing your site. Used to distance your site from spammy or toxic backlinks that could harm your authority. Done through Google Search Console's Disavow Tool.
Dofollow
A link that passes link equity (PageRank) from the source page to the target page. By default, all links are dofollow unless specified otherwise. Contrast with 'nofollow' links which signal not to pass authority.
Domain Rating (DR)
A metric developed by Ahrefs that shows the strength of a website's backlink profile. Scored from 0 to 100, calculated based on the quantity and quality of external backlinks. Similar to Domain Authority but uses different calculation methods.
E
External Link
A hyperlink that points from your website to a different domain. Also called an 'outbound link'. External links to authoritative sources can improve your content's credibility, but too many can dilute your page's authority.
G
Guest Posting
The practice of writing and publishing content on another website or blog. A common link building strategy where the guest post includes a backlink to the author's website. Quality guest posting focuses on providing value to the host site's audience.
I
Inbound Link
A synonym for backlink. A hyperlink from an external website pointing to your website. Inbound links from authoritative sites signal that your content is valuable and trustworthy, boosting your AEO/GEO visibility.
Internal Link
A hyperlink that connects one page of a website to another page on the same website. Internal links help users navigate your site and help answer engines understand your site structure and content hierarchy.
L
Link Building
The process of acquiring new backlinks from other websites to improve authority and AEO/GEO visibility. Strategies include guest posting, broken link building, content marketing, outreach, and digital PR. One of the most important activities for building authority.
Link Equity
Also called 'link juice'. The authority value that a link passes from one page to another. Factors affecting link equity include the authority of the linking page, relevance of content, dofollow/nofollow status, and anchor text.
Link Farm
A group of websites that all hyperlink to each other or to a specific target site to artificially inflate that site's link profile. Link farms are a black-hat technique and can result in search engine penalties.
Link Profile
The complete collection of backlinks pointing to a website. A healthy link profile is diverse, with links from various relevant domains, natural anchor text distribution, and minimal toxic or spammy links.
Link Rot
The gradual decay of hyperlinks over time as linked pages are moved, deleted, or websites go offline. Link rot causes backlinks to become broken or 404 errors. Regular backlink monitoring helps detect link rot early.
N
Negative Link Attack
The practice of using black-hat techniques to harm a competitor's authority and visibility. Can include building spammy backlinks to a competitor, hacking their site, or creating fake negative reviews. Backlink monitoring helps detect these attacks early.
Nofollow
A link attribute (rel='nofollow') that signals not to pass link equity to the linked page. Commonly used for paid links, user-generated content, and untrusted sources. Introduced by Google in 2005 to combat link spam.
O
Outreach
The process of contacting website owners, bloggers, or journalists to build relationships and acquire backlinks. Effective outreach is personalized, provides value, and targets relevant sites in your niche.
P
PageRank
Google's original algorithm for measuring the importance of webpages based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to them. Named after Google co-founder Larry Page. While no longer publicly visible, link-based authority signals remain critical for AEO/GEO.
R
Referring Domain
A unique domain that contains at least one backlink to your website. Having backlinks from many referring domains is generally more valuable than many links from a single domain. A key metric for evaluating link profile diversity.
Rel Attribute
HTML attributes that define the relationship between linked pages. Common values include: nofollow (don't pass link equity), sponsored (paid links), ugc (user-generated content), and noopener (security). Multiple rel values can be combined.
S
Sponsored Link
A link with the rel='sponsored' attribute, indicating it was created as part of an advertisement or paid placement. Introduced by Google in 2019 as a more specific alternative to nofollow for paid links.
T
Toxic Backlinks
Backlinks from low-quality, spammy, or penalized websites that can harm your authority and AEO/GEO visibility. Signs of toxic links include: links from link farms, irrelevant sites, foreign language spam sites, or sites with thin/duplicate content.
U
UGC Link
A link with the rel='ugc' attribute, indicating it was created by users rather than site owners. Commonly used for links in comments, forum posts, and other user-generated content. Introduced by Google in 2019.