<b>SOP 27: The Backlink Poison Check</b>

<b>SOP 27: The Backlink Poison Check</b>

You inherit the link profile, including the toxic parts. Screen it before close.

— Pull the full referring-domains list (Ahrefs/Semrush export).
— Anchor text: PASS = mostly brand/URL/natural. FAIL = exact-match money anchors dominate (past link buying).
— Velocity: PASS = steady growth. FAIL = a sudden spike of hundreds of links — a paid blast or negative SEO.
— Source quality: spot-check 30 top links. PASS = real, relevant sites. FAIL = PBNs, foreign spam, hacked pages.
— Existing disavow file: ask for it. Its size tells you how much cleanup already happened.

PASS = clean enough to grow on. FAIL = price in a recovery period, or walk if a penalty is already live.

Save this — run it every deal.