Tagged “attribution”
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You Cannot Attribute a Competitor's Gain to Their Links
You can see a competitor's new links and their rankings rise. Linking the two requires data you don't have about them — here's what's missing.
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When Google Merges Two URLs, Your Link Data Doesn't
If a search engine picks one canonical for two URLs, it consolidates their signals. Your link tool still reports them separately — hence the mismatch.
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What Does AI-Native Search Do to the Definition of a Link?
Being cited inside an AI-generated answer isn't the same event a backlink metric was built to count. Here's what does and doesn't carry over.
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What 'Index Coverage' Means Across Different Data-Vendor Categories
The word 'coverage' shows up in a backlink tool, a rank tracker, and a search engine's own dashboard — and means a different guarantee each time.
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How to Tell Whether a Link Did Anything
You can't isolate one link in a live search index. Here's what you can honestly claim, and how to build a case that survives scrutiny.
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Building a Link Report You Can Defend
A defensible link report labels its source, states its denominator, separates observation from inference, and survives someone opening another tool.
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Why Link Correlation Studies Prove Less Than They Claim
Correlation studies on link data share the same four flaws. Knowing them lets you read the study for what it's worth instead of the headline.
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What a Link Gap Analysis Can and Can't Tell You
An intersect report lists domains linking to competitors but not to you. That's a set operation, not a finding. Here's what it supports.
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How Many Backlinks Do You Need to Rank?
There is no number, and anyone quoting one is guessing. Here's the bounded estimate the data does support, and how to present it honestly.