Anchor Text Analysis: 7 Best Link Audit Services for Evaluation

Backlinks are important for SEO, but what really matters is how those links point to your site. The clickable text (anchor text) tells search engines what your content is about—and using the wrong words can actually hurt your rankings.

Stuffing links with exact-match keywords (“buy cheap shoes”) looks spammy, while a natural mix of brand names, generic phrases, and some keywords keeps your profile safe and effective.

We tested and ranked seven top link audit services that specialize in anchor text analysis. Whether you’re fixing bad links or just optimizing your strategy, these tools and experts will help you do it right.

What Is Anchor Text Analysis?

Anchor text analysis is all about examining the visible, clickable words in links that point to your website. Think of it like checking the labels people use when they recommend your business. A healthy mix typically includes:

Your brand name (“Nike”);
Natural phrases (“read more” or “visit site”);
Partial keywords (“great running shoes”);
Exact keywords (“buy blue running shoes”).

Google and other search engines pay close attention to these link labels. If too many links use the same exact commercial phrases (like “cheap sneakers”), it can raise red flags and potentially hurt your rankings. A good anchor text audit helps spot these issues before they become problems, showing you where to adjust your linking strategy.

Why Anchor Text Matters in Link Audits

Avoids Penalties — Over-optimized anchor text ratios can lead to manual actions or algorithmic downgrades.
Improves Relevance — Natural anchor diversity helps search engines understand contextual relationships.
Enhances Competitiveness — Comparing anchor profiles with rivals reveals gaps in link equity.
Guides Future Link-Building — Audits highlight which anchor types to prioritize or avoid in outreach.

Top-tier link audit services don’t just flag toxic links—they analyze anchor distribution against industry benchmarks and competitor strategies, ensuring a natural, penalty-resistant profile.

Top 7 Link Audit Services for Anchor Text Analysis

Picking a good link audit service isn’t just about running reports—it’s about getting real insights. The best ones don’t just spit out data; they actually analyze your anchor text patterns, compare them to competitors, and show you where you’re at risk (or where you could improve).

These seven services do it right—each with their own approach to fixing and optimizing your backlinks.

1. 3XE Digital

https://3xedigital.com/link-audit-service

3XE Digital helps businesses clean up their backlink profiles and remove harmful links that might be dragging down their search rankings. They take a thorough approach — scanning all your backlinks, analyzing your anchor text, comparing you to competitors, and weeding out toxic links.

They’ll also give you practical advice for building better links that actually help your SEO. What sets them apart is their human touch — real experts explain what they find and help you make smart decisions to protect and improve your rankings.

What Their Audit Covers:

Deep Backlink Scan — Checks all links across multiple databases.
Link Quality Assessment — Evaluates each link for authority, relevance, and trustworthiness, flagging risky or spammy links.
Anchor Text Analysis — Examines anchor distribution (branded, exact-match, long-tail) compared to competitors, identifying over-optimization or gaps for a natural, penalty-resistant profile.
Competitive Link Gap Analysis — Highlights high-quality backlinks competitors have but the client lacks, guiding targeted outreach.
Toxic Link Removal — Manual outreach to webmasters and disavow file preparation for unsolvable toxic links.
Custom Link-Building Strategy — Data-driven recommendations for acquiring authoritative, relevant links to boost rankings.

3XE Digital makes everything clear — you won’t just get a confusing spreadsheet. They’ll walk you through what’s working, what’s not, and exactly what to do next. If you want a complete, professional look at your backlinks with real solutions, they’re a great option.

2. seomarket

https://seomarket.ua/en/services/backlink-audit-of-the-website

SEOMarket provides professional backlink audits that thoroughly examine all links pointing to your site. They specialize in finding toxic backlinks that could be hurting your rankings, while also analyzing your anchor text and spotting opportunities to improve your link profile. Their service helps protect your site from Google penalties while identifying ways to strengthen your backlink strategy.

What Their Audit Covers:

Complete Backlink Check — Finds every link to your site and weeds out the bad ones, creating a Disavow file when needed.
Spam Link Cleanup — Identifies and helps remove low-quality links based on trustworthiness and relevance.
Anchor Text Review — Makes sure your link text looks natural and balanced.
Competitor Comparison — Shows which valuable links your competitors have that you’re missing.
Practical SEO Advice — Gives realistic recommendations for building quality links within your budget.

SEOMarket’s structured approach ensures websites maintain a clean, authoritative backlink profile while strategically improving their link equity—making them a solid choice for businesses seeking penalty prevention and competitor-informed SEO enhancements.

3. Digitalike

https://digitalike.de/en/services/link-audit/

Digitalike helps businesses improve their search rankings through professional link audits and SEO services. Their team doesn’t just run automated reports — they actually analyze your backlinks to find what’s working and what might be hurting your rankings.

They combine proven SEO methods with modern technology to give you clear, data-driven recommendations. Their audits check for problematic links, review your anchor text balance, and show you exactly how to improve your backlink profile.

The focus is on practical solutions that deliver lasting results. Whether you need to clean up toxic links or build a stronger linking strategy, Digitalike provides the expertise to help your site rank better and stay competitive.

What Their Audit Covers:

Complete Backlink Review — They trace where your links come from and check their quality.
Toxic Link Cleanup — Finds and helps remove harmful links that could trigger penalties.
Smart SEO Strategy — Looks at your links in context with your rankings and competitors.
Clear Next Steps — Tells you exactly which links to keep, ditch, or disavow.
Ongoing Support — Their experts walk you through the findings and what to do.

Digitalike’s human-led, strategy-focused approach makes them a strong choice for businesses seeking a detailed, penalty-proof backlink audit that aligns with broader SEO objectives.

4. Five Media

https://five.media/seo-optimization-services/backlinks-audit

Five Media is a full-service digital marketing agency with roots in traditional advertising dating back to 2002. Transitioning into digital marketing, the agency has developed specialized expertise in SEO and backlink analysis, offering comprehensive link audit services to improve search rankings and protect against penalties.

Their approach combines detailed technical analysis with strategic insights, ensuring clients receive not just data but actionable recommendations for sustainable link profile growth.

What Their Audit Covers:

Complete Link Collection — Uses Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Majestic to analyze all backlinks.
Link Quality Check — Rates links as good or toxic using authority and trust metrics.
Competitor Comparison — Finds gaps between your links and competitors’.
Dofollow Balance — Maintains a healthy 80/20 dofollow/nofollow ratio.
Anchor Text Review — Keeps commercial anchors at 60% max for natural profile.
Growth Monitoring — Spots unnatural link spikes that look suspicious.
Donor Page Review — Checks if linking sites are relevant and authoritative.
Budget Planning — Estimates costs for strategic link-building.

Five Media’s holistic, penalty-aware approach makes them a strong choice for businesses seeking to clean up toxic links, diversify anchor texts, and align their backlink strategy with competitor performance.

5. SearchCombat

https://www.searchcombat.com/backlink-audit-and-cleanup/

SearchCombat helps businesses analyze and improve their backlink profiles through expert audits that go beyond automated tools. Their team manually reviews each link to identify toxic ones harming your SEO while ensuring your anchor text appears natural to search engines. They provide actionable recommendations for removing bad links and building a stronger, penalty-proof profile.

The service combines comprehensive data analysis with practical guidance, helping businesses clean up existing issues while developing sustainable linking strategies. SearchCombat is ideal for companies wanting to protect their rankings, recover from penalties, or build long-term domain authority through quality backlinks.

What Their Audit Covers:

Complete Link Profile Check — Pulls data from multiple sources to see every link to your site.
Link Quality Grading — Checks how trustworthy and relevant each backlink is.
Anchor Text Review — Makes sure your link text looks natural to search engines.
Competitor Comparison — Shows which good links your rivals have that you’re missing.
Spam Link Cleanup — Finds and helps remove toxic backlinks.
Link Growth Tracking — Spots any unnatural spikes that might look suspicious.
Budget Planning — Gives realistic estimates for improving your link profile.

SearchCombat’s detailed, penalty-proof approach makes it a strong choice for businesses seeking to clean up toxic backlinks, optimize anchor text distribution, and build a sustainable link profile for long-term SEO success.

6. RankPast

https://rankpast.com/services/backlinks/

RankPast helps local businesses improve their search rankings through smart backlink analysis. They use AI tools combined with real marketing expertise to examine your links and compare them to competitors. Their detailed audits show exactly where you stand and how to strengthen your backlink profile.

The reports give clear, practical recommendations to fix problem links and build valuable new ones. This isn’t just data — it’s actionable advice to help you rank higher than competitors in local search results. Whether you’re trying to recover from a penalty or just want better visibility, RankPast’s approach helps businesses make informed decisions about their SEO strategy.

What Their Audit Covers:

Full backlink checkup — Counts all your links and checks where they’re coming from.
Competitor comparison — Shows what links your rivals have that you’re missing.
Anchor text review — Makes sure your link text looks natural to Google.
Toxic link finder — Spots bad links that could hurt your rankings.
Missed opportunities — Finds good links you should try to get.
Smart analysis — Uses AI plus human expertise for better insights.
Local business focus — Special attention for companies serving specific areas.

RankPast’s competitor-focused backlink audits give organizations clear, actionable tactics for increasing link equity, diversifying anchor text, and gaining a competitive advantage in search rankings.

7. OutreachMama

https://www.outreachmama.com/services/backlink-audit-analysis/

OutreachMama isn’t your typical SEO agency. They’ve built real connections with top publishers and media sites, combining SEO know-how with PR and content marketing to actually move the needle on your rankings and revenue. What makes them different? They don’t just build links — they start with a strategic audit to make sure every link counts.

What Their Audit Covers:

Page & Keyword Focus — They pinpoint exactly which pages and keywords will give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Competitor Intel — They study what’s working for your top competitors so you can do it better.
Custom Tools — Their own tech digs deeper than generic SEO software.
Anchor Text Review — They make sure your links look natural to avoid penalties.
Tailored Plan — You get a clear roadmap for building links that actually help your business.

OutreachMama is perfect for businesses tired of wasting money on random link-building. Their data-driven approach means you’ll know exactly where to focus your efforts to outrank competitors. Whether you’re recovering from a penalty or trying to dominate your niche, they’ve got the links and expertise to make it happen.

Conclusion

Anchor text analysis matters because it helps keep your backlinks looking natural to search engines. The best audits don’t just count your links — they show how your anchor text compares to competitors and industry standards, then give specific recommendations for improvement.

When done right, this analysis turns your backlink profile from a potential problem into a ranking advantage. It’s one of the most practical ways to maintain your search visibility while avoiding penalties. Any business serious about SEO should make anchor text review a regular part of their strategy.