Backlink Data API Documentation

The VebAPI Backlink Data API allows developers, SEO platforms, agencies, marketers, and website owners to retrieve backlink data for a domain, subdomain, or exact webpage URL.

Use this API to analyse live backlinks, recently discovered backlinks, lost backlinks, referring domains, dofollow links, redirect links, anchor text, backlink quality metrics, and other useful SEO data.

API Endpoint

GET https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live

The endpoint accepts query parameters and returns backlink information in JSON format.

Authentication

Every request must include your VebAPI API key in the X-API-KEY request header.

X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the API key available in your VebAPI account.

Required Headers

Request Parameters

Backlink Status Types

Billing and Credit Usage

Backlink API usage is billed according to the requested limit.

The API charges 10 credits for every 100 requested backlink results. Credit usage is rounded up to the next group of 100.

For example, a request with limit=250 is billed as three groups of 100 and therefore costs 30 credits.

Credit charges are based on the requested limit, even when fewer backlink records are available for the target.

Basic cURL Request

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Request With All Parameters

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&limit=100&offset=0&backlinks_status_type=live&include_subdomains=true&exclude_internal_backlinks=true&include_indirect_links=true" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Example JSON Response

{
    "engine": "Vebapi v8",
    "node": "master",
    "provider": "vebapi.com",
    "request": {
        "target": "vebapi.com",
        "mode": "as_is",
        "backlinks_status_type": "live",
        "limit": 100,
        "offset": 0,
        "include_subdomains": true,
        "exclude_internal_backlinks": true,
        "include_indirect_links": true
    },
    "counts": {
        "backlinks": {
            "total": 203,
            "returned": 100,
            "doFollow": 90,
            "fromHomePage": 0,
            "toHomePage": 78,
            "text": 97,
            "image": 0,
            "redirect": 3,
            "new": 23,
            "lost": 0,
            "broken": 0
        },
        "domains": {
            "total": 15,
            "doFollow": 7,
            "fromHomePage": 0,
            "toHomePage": 11
        }
    },
    "backlinks": [
        {
            "url_from": "https://www.producthunt.com/r/A7HDPGWNVC7ZQ5?utm_campaign=producthunt-api&utm_medium=api-v2&utm_source=Application%3A+PH+Deck+%28ID%3A+112811%29",
            "url_to": "https://vebapi.com/",
            "domain_from": "www.producthunt.com",
            "domain_to": "vebapi.com",
            "title": "",
            "anchor": "",
            "alt": "",
            "nofollow": false,
            "image": false,
            "image_source": "",
            "link_type": "redirect",
            "inlink_rank": 23,
            "domain_inlink_rank": 89,
            "spam_score": 0,
            "country": "US",
            "tld_from": "com",
            "is_new": false,
            "is_lost": false,
            "is_broken": false,
            "links_count": 1,
            "first_seen": "2025-09-17",
            "last_visited": "2025-10-18"
        }
    ]
}

Top-Level Response Fields

Request Object Fields

Backlink Count Fields

The counts.backlinks object contains aggregated information about the backlinks matching the request.

Referring Domain Count Fields

The counts.domains object contains aggregated data about referring domains.

Backlink Record Fields

Each object inside the backlinks array represents an individual backlink.

Pagination

Use the limit and offset parameters to retrieve backlinks across multiple requests.

First Page

GET https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&limit=100&offset=0

Second Page

GET https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&limit=100&offset=100

Third Page

GET https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&limit=100&offset=200

Continue increasing the offset until the returned backlink array is empty or until the requested records cover the value shown in counts.backlinks.total.

Retrieve New Backlinks

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&backlinks_status_type=new&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Retrieve Lost Backlinks

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&backlinks_status_type=lost&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Retrieve All Backlink Statuses

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&backlinks_status_type=all&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Retrieve Backlinks for an Exact URL

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=https%3A%2F%2Fvebapi.com%2Fbacklink-api&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

When sending an exact URL as the target, URL-encode the value before adding it to the query string.

Retrieve External Backlinks Only

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&exclude_internal_backlinks=true&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Exclude Subdomain Backlinks

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&include_subdomains=false&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Exclude Redirect and Indirect Links

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&include_indirect_links=false&limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

JavaScript Example

const params = new URLSearchParams({
    target: "vebapi.com",
    limit: "100",
    offset: "0",
    backlinks_status_type: "live",
    include_subdomains: "true",
    exclude_internal_backlinks: "true",
    include_indirect_links: "true"
});

const response = await fetch(
    `https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?${params.toString()}`,
    {
        method: "GET",
        headers: {
            "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY",
            "Content-Type": "application/json"
        }
    }
);

if (!response.ok) {
    const errorData = await response.json();
    throw new Error(
        errorData.message || `Request failed with status ${response.status}`
    );
}

const data = await response.json();

console.log("Total backlinks:", data.counts.backlinks.total);
console.log("Returned backlinks:", data.counts.backlinks.returned);
console.log("Backlinks:", data.backlinks);

PHP Example

<?php

$apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY';

$query = http_build_query([
    'target' => 'vebapi.com',
    'limit' => 100,
    'offset' => 0,
    'backlinks_status_type' => 'live',
    'include_subdomains' => 'true',
    'exclude_internal_backlinks' => 'true',
    'include_indirect_links' => 'true'
]);

$url = 'https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'X-API-KEY: ' . $apiKey,
        'Content-Type: application/json'
    ]
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$statusCode = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);

if (curl_errno($curl)) {
    throw new RuntimeException(curl_error($curl));
}

curl_close($curl);

$data = json_decode($response, true);

if ($statusCode < 200 || $statusCode >= 300) {
    $message = $data['message'] ?? 'The API request failed.';
    throw new RuntimeException($message);
}

echo 'Total backlinks: ' . $data['counts']['backlinks']['total'];
echo PHP_EOL;
echo 'Returned backlinks: ' . $data['counts']['backlinks']['returned'];

Laravel Example

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;

$response = Http::withHeaders([
    'X-API-KEY' => 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
])->get('https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live', [
    'target' => 'vebapi.com',
    'limit' => 100,
    'offset' => 0,
    'backlinks_status_type' => 'live',
    'include_subdomains' => true,
    'exclude_internal_backlinks' => true,
    'include_indirect_links' => true,
]);

if ($response->failed()) {
    throw new RuntimeException(
        $response->json('message', 'The backlink API request failed.')
    );
}

$data = $response->json();

$totalBacklinks = $data['counts']['backlinks']['total'];
$returnedBacklinks = $data['counts']['backlinks']['returned'];
$backlinks = $data['backlinks'];

Python Example

import requests

url = "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live"

headers = {
    "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

params = {
    "target": "vebapi.com",
    "limit": 100,
    "offset": 0,
    "backlinks_status_type": "live",
    "include_subdomains": "true",
    "exclude_internal_backlinks": "true",
    "include_indirect_links": "true"
}

response = requests.get(
    url,
    headers=headers,
    params=params,
    timeout=60
)

response.raise_for_status()

data = response.json()

print("Total backlinks:", data["counts"]["backlinks"]["total"])
print("Returned backlinks:", data["counts"]["backlinks"]["returned"])

for backlink in data["backlinks"]:
    print(backlink["url_from"], "->", backlink["url_to"])

Node.js Example

const params = new URLSearchParams({
    target: "vebapi.com",
    limit: "100",
    offset: "0",
    backlinks_status_type: "live",
    include_subdomains: "true",
    exclude_internal_backlinks: "true",
    include_indirect_links: "true"
});

async function getBacklinks() {
    const response = await fetch(
        `https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?${params}`,
        {
            headers: {
                "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY",
                "Content-Type": "application/json"
            }
        }
    );

    const data = await response.json();

    if (!response.ok) {
        throw new Error(
            data.message || `Request failed with status ${response.status}`
        );
    }

    return data;
}

getBacklinks()
    .then((data) => {
        console.log(data.counts);
        console.log(data.backlinks);
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        console.error(error.message);
    });

Error Responses

The API uses standard HTTP response codes to indicate whether a request was successful.

Missing Target Error

When the required target parameter is missing, the API returns HTTP status code 422.

Example Invalid Request

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?limit=100" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Example Error Response

{
    "message": "The target field is required.",
    "errors": {
        "target": [
            "The target field is required."
        ]
    }
}

Invalid Limit Error

The limit parameter must be an integer between 1 and 1000.

Example Invalid Request

curl -X GET "https://vebapi.com/api/backlinks/live?target=vebapi.com&limit=1500" \
-H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"

Example Error Response

{
    "message": "The limit must not be greater than 1000.",
    "errors": {
        "limit": [
            "The limit must not be greater than 1000."
        ]
    }
}

Important Notes

• Backlink data depends on the most recently available crawl and indexing information.
• A backlink may be marked as live even when the referring page has changed after its most recent recorded visit.
• The first_seen value indicates when the backlink was first discovered by the backlink engine, not necessarily when it was originally created.
• The last_visited value indicates the latest recorded visit to the backlink source.
• Empty values such as title, anchor, alt, or image_source mean that the information was unavailable or not applicable.
• Redirect links may not contain conventional anchor text because they reach the target through an HTTP redirect or another indirect path.
• Boolean query parameters should be sent as true or false.
• Exact URLs should be URL-encoded before being included in the request query string.
• The number of records returned may be lower than the requested limit when fewer matching backlinks are available.

Common Use Cases

• Build a backlink checker tool.
• Monitor newly discovered backlinks.
• Identify recently lost backlinks.
• Analyse referring domains.
• Measure dofollow and nofollow backlink distribution.
• Extract backlink anchor text.
• Find image and redirect backlinks.
• Monitor backlink growth over time.
• Build SEO reporting dashboards.
• Compare competitor backlink profiles.
• Detect potentially low-quality or spam-related links.
• Integrate backlink intelligence into an SEO SaaS platform.

Recommended Integration Practices

• Store your API key securely and never expose it in public client-side code.
• Send API requests from your backend server whenever possible.
• Use pagination for targets with large backlink profiles.
• Cache backlink responses when real-time rechecking is unnecessary.
• Handle HTTP status codes and API validation errors in your application.
• Set an appropriate HTTP timeout for backlink requests.
• Avoid retrying failed requests immediately without a delay, particularly after receiving HTTP status code 429 or 503.
• Monitor credit usage when requesting high limits or processing many domains.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I retrieve backlinks for a specific webpage?

Yes. Pass the complete webpage URL in the target parameter. The URL should be URL-encoded when included in the query string.

Can I retrieve backlinks for subdomains?

Yes. You can provide a subdomain such as blog.vebapi.com as the target. You can also use include_subdomains=true when analysing a root domain.

How do I retrieve only external backlinks?

Set exclude_internal_backlinks=true. This removes links originating from the target domain and its subdomains.

How do I retrieve lost backlinks?

Set backlinks_status_type=lost.

How do I retrieve newly discovered backlinks?

Set backlinks_status_type=new.

How can I detect dofollow backlinks?

A backlink is considered dofollow when its nofollow field is false.

How can I detect image backlinks?

Check whether the image field is true. The related image URL may be available in image_source.

How can I detect redirect backlinks?

Redirect backlinks normally contain link_type: redirect. Make sure include_indirect_links is set to true.

Why is the returned count lower than the requested limit?

The target may have fewer backlinks matching the selected filters than the requested limit. The actual number returned is available in counts.backlinks.returned.

Does the API return every backlink in a single request?

The maximum request limit is 1000. Use limit and offset pagination when the target has more matching backlinks.

How many credits does a request use?

The API charges 10 credits for every 100 requested backlink results, rounded up to the next group of 100. For example, limit=250 costs 30 credits.