Ahrefs Skill — Deep Backlink Analysis for Local Link Building

LocalSEOData’s backlink_gap and backlink_summary endpoints provide a useful competitive backlink overview — enough to see who has more links and where the obvious gaps are. But when the task requires full backlink profile depth — every referring domain with quality scores, anchor text distribution patterns, links gained and lost over time, link type categorization — you need a dedicated backlink tool.

The ahrefs-tool skill connects Claude to Ahrefs’ backlink database. When the local-link-building strategy skill needs detailed backlink intelligence for campaign planning, competitive analysis, or link reclamation, dispatch routes to Ahrefs.

What This Skill Does

The ahrefs-tool skill enables Claude to pull complete backlink profiles from Ahrefs: every referring domain with domain rating, anchor text used, link type (dofollow/nofollow), first seen and last seen dates, and the specific linking page. It also supports link gap analysis, lost link identification, and anchor text pattern analysis.

Prompt: "Pull the full backlink profile for the top 3 competitors
in the local pack for 'physical therapist Denver'.
Categorize links by type and identify our gap."

Skills fired: dispatch → local-link-building + ahrefs-tool
Data pulled: Backlink profiles for 3 competitors, link gap analysis

Output:
Competitive Backlink Analysis — Denver Physical Therapy

Competitor A: Denver PT Specialists (DR 34, 89 referring domains)
  Local press: Denver Post (DR 91), 5280 Magazine (DR 68)
  Chambers: Denver Metro Chamber (DR 52)
  Sponsors: Denver Marathon (DR 45), Cherry Creek Athletic Club (DR 38)
  Directories: Healthgrades (DR 84), Zocdoc (DR 78)

Competitor B: Peak Performance PT (DR 28, 67 referring domains)
  Local press: Westword (DR 72)
  Chambers: Aurora Chamber (DR 41)
  Professional: Colorado PT Association (DR 44)

Your site (DR 22, 34 referring domains):
  Missing from all competitors: Denver Metro Chamber, Healthgrades
  Missing from 2 of 3: 5280 Magazine, Colorado PT Association

Priority link targets (by impact and feasibility):
  1. Denver Metro Chamber — all competitors have this, membership-based
  2. Colorado PT Association — professional membership, high relevance
  3. Healthgrades — free profile, high DR

When Dispatch Routes Here vs LocalSEOData

Dispatch routes to ahrefs-tool when:

  • The prompt requests detailed backlink profiles, referring domain lists, or anchor text analysis
  • The prompt mentions link building campaign planning
  • The local-link-building strategy skill needs prospect data beyond what backlink_gap provides
  • The prompt asks about lost links or link reclamation
  • The prompt mentions Ahrefs by name

For standard competitive audits where “Competitor A has 150 referring domains, you have 80” is sufficient context, localseodata-tool’s backlink_gap and backlink_summary endpoints handle it. Ahrefs activates when the conversation moves from “we have a link gap” to “here is how we close it.”

The highest-value Ahrefs workflow for local SEO: systematic identification of link prospects based on competitor analysis.

Competitor Intersection Method

Find domains that link to multiple competitors. These are proven linkers in your market — they have already demonstrated willingness to link to businesses in your category and location.

Prompt: "Use Ahrefs to find referring domains that link to at least 2 of our
top 3 plumbing competitors in Phoenix but don't link to us."

Skills fired: dispatch → local-link-building + ahrefs-tool

Output:
LINK PROSPECT LIST: Phoenix Plumber Market

Domains linking to 3/3 competitors (must-have links):
  1. phoenixchamber.com — DR 52 — Chamber of Commerce member page
     Action: Apply for chamber membership
  2. bbb.org — DR 89 — BBB accreditation
     Action: Apply for BBB accreditation
  3. yelp.com — DR 94 — Business listing (claimed profile)
     Action: Claim and optimize Yelp listing
  4. phoenixbusinessjournal.com — DR 58 — Business directory
     Action: Submit business listing

Domains linking to 2/3 competitors (strong opportunities):
  1. azcentral.com — DR 78 — Local press coverage
     Action: Pitch "best plumbers" or home services story
  2. scottsdaleaz.gov — DR 67 — City business resources
     Action: Apply for inclusion in city contractor list
  3. phoenixnewtimes.com — DR 71 — Feature article
     Action: Press outreach with newsworthy angle
  4. phoenixlittleleague.org — DR 31 — Sponsor page
     Action: Sponsor upcoming season ($500-1000)

OUTREACH PRIORITY:
Tier 1 — Direct action (memberships, accreditations): 4 prospects
Tier 2 — Outreach required (press, community): 4 prospects
Tier 3 — Longer-term relationship building: 12 prospects

Estimated timeline: Tier 1 links acquirable within 30 days.
Tier 2 requires 30-60 days of outreach. Tier 3 is ongoing.

The competitor intersection method produces higher-probability prospects than generic link building because every domain on the list has already linked to a business like yours.

One of Ahrefs’ strongest capabilities for local SEO is tracking links that disappeared. Links drop for many reasons: the linking page gets restructured, a membership expires, a directory changes its format, a press mention gets archived. Many of these are recoverable with a single email.

Prompt: "Find lost backlinks for smithlaw.com from the last 6 months
using Ahrefs. Which are worth reclaiming?"

Skills fired: dispatch → local-link-building + ahrefs-tool

Output:
Lost Backlinks — smithlaw.com (Last 6 Months)
Total links lost: 19

Worth reclaiming (5):
  1. Chicago Tribune mention (DR 91) — lost 45 days ago
     Reason: Page restructure on their end
     Action: Email editor, provide updated URL
     Effort: Medium (outreach required)

  2. IL State Bar directory (DR 67) — lost 30 days ago
     Reason: Membership lapsed
     Action: Renew membership
     Effort: Low (payment + confirmation)

  3. Chicago Business Journal (DR 58) — lost 60 days ago
     Reason: Article archived
     Action: Request restoration or pitch new mention
     Effort: Medium (outreach required)

  4. chicobar.org (DR 44) — lost 90 days ago
     Reason: Directory listing expired
     Action: Renew listing
     Effort: Low (resubmission)

  5. Northwestern Law alumni page (DR 72) — lost 120 days ago
     Reason: Page updated, link removed
     Action: Contact alumni office, request re-inclusion
     Effort: Medium

Not worth pursuing (14):
  - 8 links from sites that no longer exist
  - 4 links from low-DR directories of minimal value
  - 2 links from spam sites already disavowed

RECOVERY PLAN:
Immediate (this week): Renew bar directory and membership (items 2, 4)
30-day outreach: Tribune, Business Journal, Northwestern (items 1, 3, 5)
Total recoverable: 5 referring domains, 3 with DR 50+

Link reclamation is often the highest-ROI link building activity. You already earned these links once. Getting them back typically requires a single outreach email rather than the full pitch process of earning a new link.

Anchor Text Analysis

Anchor text patterns reveal how the web describes a business. A healthy local backlink profile shows a natural mix of brand mentions, location terms, service terms, and generic anchors. An unhealthy profile shows keyword-stuffed anchor text that signals manipulation.

The ahrefs-tool skill surfaces anchor text distribution so the local-link-building strategy skill can assess profile health and guide future link building toward anchor text that strengthens local relevance without triggering manipulation signals.

Prompt: "Analyze our anchor text distribution vs our top competitor.
Are there patterns we should adjust?"

Skills fired: dispatch → local-link-building + ahrefs-tool

Output:
ANCHOR TEXT COMPARISON

                    | Your Site       | Top Competitor
--------------------|-----------------|--------------------
Brand name          | 52%             | 45%
Local keywords      | 8%              | 23%
Service keywords    | 12%             | 14%
Generic             | 24%             | 18%
URL/naked link      | 4%              | 0%

ANALYSIS:
Your profile has low local keyword anchor percentage (8% vs 23%).
Competitor has more anchors including "Phoenix plumber," "plumber in
Phoenix," and city+service combinations.

This does not mean you should stuff local keywords into anchor text.
It means your link building should naturally include location context.
When listed in directories, ensure the listing text mentions your city.
When earning press mentions, the natural context should include location.

TARGET DISTRIBUTION:
- Brand: 40-50% (healthy, maintain)
- Local keywords: 15-25% (increase through natural local link building)
- Service keywords: 10-15% (maintain)
- Generic: 15-20% (will naturally decrease as intentional links increase)

The local-link-building strategy skill is the primary consumer of ahrefs-tool data. The workflow follows a clear pattern:

  1. local-link-building identifies the need — “This business needs more referring domains with local relevance”
  2. ahrefs-tool provides the intelligence — Competitor link profiles, gap analysis, lost links, anchor text data
  3. local-link-building builds the strategy — Prioritized prospect list, outreach approach, timeline, effort estimates
  4. ahrefs-tool validates progress — Re-pull profiles to confirm new links are appearing, monitor link health over time

Without ahrefs-tool, the local-link-building skill works from LocalSEOData’s backlink_gap data — enough to know a gap exists and identify some prospects. With ahrefs-tool, the skill has the full competitive picture and can build detailed, actionable campaigns with specific domains, contact approaches, and effort estimates.

Use localseodata-tool (backlink_gap, backlink_summary) when:

  • Running a standard local SEO audit and need competitive context
  • Identifying that a backlink gap exists
  • Comparing link counts across competitors for reporting
  • Initial competitive assessment where link details are not yet needed

Use ahrefs-tool when:

  • Building a link acquisition campaign and need specific prospect domains
  • Analyzing anchor text distribution for optimization opportunities
  • Finding lost links for reclamation outreach
  • Understanding link types competitors have built (press, directories, sponsorships)
  • Running competitive link gap to find domains linking to competitors but not to you
  • Diagnosing a ranking drop that may be link-related

LocalSEOData gives you the “what” — this competitor has 3x your links. Ahrefs gives you the “where” and “how” — these are the specific domains, these are the link types, here is your actionable gap list. The progression is natural: identify the problem with LocalSEOData, then build the solution with Ahrefs.

Connecting Ahrefs to LocalSEOSkills

  1. Ahrefs subscription with API access (separate from standard plans, available at ahrefs.com/api)
  2. API token from Ahrefs account settings
  3. In Claude Code, add the MCP server:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ahrefs": {
      "url": "https://api.ahrefs.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}
  1. Restart Claude Code
  2. Verify connection:
Pull an Ahrefs backlink summary for [your domain].

API row consumption: Ahrefs API charges per row of data returned. A full referring domain export for a domain with 200 referring domains consumes approximately 200 rows. Plan API usage accordingly for large competitive analyses across multiple domains.

Get Started

Pull the backlink profile for [competitor domain] and categorize all
referring domains by type: press, directories, chambers, sponsors,
professional associations, and other. Then show me the gaps vs my site.

This fires local-link-building with ahrefs-tool, producing a categorized competitor link analysis with a prioritized prospect list. From there, you have a campaign plan — not just a data point about the gap, but the specific domains, link types, and actions needed to close it.

Learn More

To learn what this skill can do for your local SEO workflow, see the skill overview.