A link isn't good because it's big. It's good because of what it does.
Two domains can carry the same authority number and be worth completely different things. Link Impact Score weighs six signals per domain, including Citation Potential, SEORCE's estimate of how likely that domain is to be referenced by AI systems, so you know which links are actually working.
The moments this actually gets used.
A client questions the DA number
- Twelve new links, high average authority, and the client still asks what it actually did for them.
A big list, no ranking
- Fifty prospects with similar authority. No way to tell which ten are worth the outreach effort first.
"Are we set up to get cited?"
- Leadership wants to know if the link programme helps with AI answers, not just search rank.
Tell links apart by what they actually contribute, not just where a domain sits on one authority scale.
Scores every linking domain from 0 to 100 across six signals, including its Citation Potential, and surfaces the domains where both ranking trust and AI-citation potential line up.
What actually goes into the score.
No single number decides LIS. Each domain is weighed across all six before a score is produced.
Bars shown at full width because each signal is scored per domain, not ranked against the others here. Actual weighting is applied per project.
LIS × Citation Potential. The priority zone.
Plot every linking domain on two axes: link quality on one, AI-citation likelihood on the other. The top-right quadrant is where a link lifts ranking trust and improves your odds of being the source an AI engine quotes, at the same time.
↑ HIGH CITATION POTENTIAL
Illustrative placement, not a live plot. On a real project this renders every linking domain, sized by link count.
Score a domain. See what's behind the number.
Illustrative demo data below, not a live lookup. This is the shape of what a real score breakdown returns.
Not a summary. The full breakdown.
Per domain
- Overall LIS, 0 to 100
- Citation Potential, scored separately
- Domains grouped: excellent, good, average, poor
Across the profile
- Average LIS across every linking domain
- Count of LIS 90+ domains
- Count of low-impact (LIS 1–30) domains
Where to act
- Domains in the priority zone, ranked
- First-link rate, to catch over-reliance on repeat domains
- Full breakdown exportable
Quality is one lens. Here's the rest.
What is Link Impact Score?
Link Impact Score (LIS) is SEORCE's proprietary, quality-weighted score from 0 to 100 for every domain linking to a site. It's calculated across six signals: domain authority, total link count, follow ratio, first-link rate, spam exposure, and Citation Potential, SEORCE's estimate of how likely that domain is to be referenced by AI systems. LIS is paired with Citation Potential on a priority-zone map to show which links carry both ranking trust and AI-citation value.
Key facts
- LIS is scored from 0 to 100, per linking domain
- Six inputs: domain authority, link count, follow ratio, first-link rate, spam exposure, Citation Potential
- Citation Potential is an estimate, not a guarantee of a specific citation outcome
- The priority zone is where high LIS and high Citation Potential overlap
- Domains are grouped into bands: excellent, good, average, poor
- Full domain-level breakdown is sortable and exportable
Last reviewed 20 September 2026 by the SEORCE team.
Frequently asked about Link Impact Score.
A proprietary, quality-weighted score from 0 to 100 for each domain linking to you, calculated across six signals rather than a single authority number.
Domain authority, total link count, follow ratio, first-link rate (whether the domain is a novel source rather than a repeat linker), spam exposure, and Citation Potential.
An estimate of how likely a linking domain is to be referenced directly inside an AI-generated answer, based on the domain's own characteristics. It's an estimate, not a guarantee that any specific link will result in a citation.
No. Domain authority is one of the six inputs. LIS also weighs link count, follow ratio, first-link rate, spam exposure and Citation Potential, so two domains with similar authority can carry very different LIS.
The set of domains scoring high on both LIS and Citation Potential. These are the links worth prioritising in outreach, since they carry both ranking trust and a stronger chance of AI-citation value.
Yes, through the backlink checker. Full breakdown across a domain's entire linking profile is available once it's added as a tracked project.
See which links are actually working. Not just how many you have.
Get the LIS and Citation Potential breakdown for every domain linking to you.