Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. Google counts them as a recommendation. AI assistants often cite the same directories, portals and media. The “Backlinks” page shows where you stand and which domains you are missing.

Backlinks are part of the Pro and Enterprise plans. On the Starter plan the page says “Backlinks are part of the Pro plan.”. An admin changes the plan, see Manage Subscription and Billing.

How to open the page #

Open “Search visibility describes how present and findable a website is in the organic search results. It is not the same as traffic, but reflects theoretical findability.Open glossary entry →” in the menu and the “Backlinks” tab. At the top you see how many referring domains your website has and the date of the data. If it says “The first backlink scan has not run yet.”, there is no data yet.

Referring domains #

The first card compares you with your competitors. Your domain is at the top with the “you” chip. Your competitors follow, sorted by referring domains.

  • Referring domains How many different websites link to you. This number matters more than the number of links.
  • Backlinks How many links in total.
  • Change How many referring domains were added or lost since the last scan.

An example: it-partner.ch has far fewer referring domains than leitwerk-it.ch. Then the second card is worth a look.

The second card lists domains that link to at least one of your competitors, but not to you. RankScan first filters out spam, large platforms such as Google or social networks, and your competitors' sites. The list shows the 50 most important ones.

  • links to Which competitors the domain links to.
  • Type For example “Directory”, “Comparison portal”, “Industry”, “Press & Media” or “Association”.
  • also cited by AI AI assistants also use this domain as a source. A listing there helps twice.
  • The nofollow attribute is a hint to search engines not to follow a link as an endorsement. On internal links it should be used selectively and not as a default.Open glossary entry → The domain only links with nofollow. Google counts such links less.

How to proceed #

  1. Start with domains that carry the “also cited by AI” chip.
  2. Then take domains that link to several competitors. A listing there is clearly common.
  3. For each domain, check how to get listed: create a profile, become a member, write an expert article or contact the editors.
  4. Follow the number of referring domains in the first card. New links appear with the next backlink scan.

Missing sources in AI assistants #

A related list is under “AI Visibility describes whether and how visible a brand, website or person is in AI-generated answers. It measures mention, position, description and source linking across multiple platforms and prompts.Open glossary entry →” → “Sources” → “Missing sources”. It shows pages that AI assistants cite and that do not mention your brand. This list is available on all plans. Use Sources in AI Answers shows how to use it.

“Backlinks” tab with the “Referring domains” card and the “Missing backlinks” card with the “also cited by AI” chip
“Backlinks” tab with the “Referring domains” card and the “Missing backlinks” card with the “also cited by AI” chip

Tip #

An industry directory that links to two competitors and is cited by AI often takes an hour to complete. Such listings bring more than an elaborate guest article.

Next step #

You choose which competitors RankScan compares, see Add and Compare Competitors.