L1 · Registry
Have we seen this domain?
Cross-checks every domain against a cumulative registry — already vetted, outreached, rejected, or live. If it's been rejected in the last 180 days, we don't re-vet. Saves your Ahrefs units.
Inflation Detector · L3 vetting layerMVP · waitlist open
Catch the guest-post farms your DR-and-traffic check is missing.
Stop buying links from guest-post farms.
The publisher vetting workspace for link-building agencies — flags fake traffic, brand-network manipulation, and tells you what to buy instead.
Fault log · why current vetting fails04 findings
Same lists. Same numbers. Different sellers. None of it real.
Vendor lists circulate the same 100-200 domains across every freelancer and marketplace — repeated cycles, same blind spots.
DR + traffic on Ahrefs has been gamed for two years now. Bot-padded brand keywords. Cross-network ranking schemes. Garbage-string keyword profiles.
Standard vetting catches none of it. By row 30 your eyes glaze over and that's when the farm slips through.
The link goes live. The client notices. Trust erodes.
Case file · domain flaggedDR 60 · 80K traffic · INFLATED
What your DR-and-traffic check actually shows
Three real screenshots from a domain we flagged. DR 60. 80,000 'organic traffic'. Here's what's actually happening.
Pipeline · 4 layersL3 = the moat
How VettedPublishers works
Four layers. The third is the one nobody else ships.
L2 · Standard
DR, traffic, niche, homepage signals
The vetting most tools stop at — domain rating, traffic estimates, topical match, and homepage farm signals like sponsored-tag floods. Necessary, but not sufficient.
L3 · Inflation Detector
The layer your DR-and-traffic check is missing
Garbage-keyword density. Brand-token cross-network ranking. Bot-padded brand-traffic share. Catches the 2025-2026 metrics-inflation playbook that standard DR + traffic checks all let through.
L4 · Visual
Does this look like a real publisher?
Homepage screenshot. Recent posts strip. About-page snapshot. The final human gut check — because some farms only fail the eyeball test, not the metrics test.
Spec sheet · feature matrix5 vendors compared
What you're using now vs. what you'd be using
| Feature | Standard vetting tools | Marketplaces | Agency tier systems | Manual / DIY | VettedPublishers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR / Domain Authority | |||||
| Traffic estimate | |||||
| Niche / topical match | — | ||||
| Sponsored-tag flood detection | — | — | — | ||
| Garbage-keyword density check | — | — | — | — | |
| Brand-network ranking detection | — | — | — | — | |
| Bot-padded brand-traffic detection | — | — | — | — | |
| Multi-tenant farm watchlist | — | — | — | — | |
| Cumulative rejected pool | — | — | — | manual |
Comparison data verified against current category practices. We update this quarterly.
Build pipeline · 3 stagesMVP → workspace
Today the wedge. Tomorrow the workspace.
- Stage · Wedge
Guest-post vetting
What MVP ships: paste a vendor list, run all four layers, get verdicts back. The Inflation Detector and Network Watchlist are the moat from day one.
- Stage · v1.5
Link-insertion + broken-link sniper vetting
Same engine, two more workflows. Vet the publishers you're proposing link-insertions to. Vet the broken-link substitution targets before the outreach.
- Stage · v2
End-to-end campaign command center
Vetted prospects flow into outreach. Outreach drives placements. Placements feed back into the registry. The full link-building loop, run from one workspace.
Colophon · who built thisOperator-built
Built by people who actually run the campaigns.
VettedPublishers is the productized layer of the SOPs we run on real client engagements. Every detection rule was found by getting burned first — and codified into a vetting pipeline that has caught domains other tools were passing for months. The Inflation Detector emerged after a Tier-A-approved publisher passed a year of DR-and-traffic checks before its keyword profile gave it away.
We are LinkLogician — an off-page SEO operations consultancy. The vetting engine powering this product is the same engine running on agency client work today. If it doesn't catch farms in our daily operations, it doesn't ship to customers.
Form · waitlist intake60-day validation gate
Be the first to access it
Drop your email and the agencies you're vetting for will start looking different.
Q&A · sophisticated buyers6 questions
Questions sophisticated buyers ask
How is this different from existing vetting tools?
Existing vetting tools surface DR + traffic + seller prices — what the metrics tools have always done. We add the layer below: garbage-keyword density, brand-network ranking detection, and bot-padded brand-traffic share. The patterns standard tools pass that we catch are documented in the proof section above.
Will it integrate with Ahrefs?
Yes — bring your own Ahrefs API key. We never aggregate or resell your data. v1.5 evaluates a native crawler/index for the specific signals we need, but Ahrefs is the day-one source of truth.
When does it launch?
60-day waitlist validation runs through July 2026. Founding-member access opens at Day-30 if signups land hard. Public launch targets Q4 2026 for waitlisters first, public Q1 2027.
Is there a free tier?
Yes — a 10-domain monthly demo at v1, so you can run a sample list through L3 before committing. The Inflation Detector is bundled into every paid tier; we don't paywall the moat.
What happens to my email?
Stored on Netlify's form submissions and our admin notification inbox. Used to email you about VettedPublishers (validation outcome, founding-member access if applicable, launch updates). Never sold, never shared. Full data export and deletion at any time — see our privacy page.
What does it cost?
Pricing is tiered: Solo (~$29-49/mo, 100 domains/mo), Team (~$99-199/mo, 500 domains, 3 seats — the wedge for agencies), Pro (~$299-499/mo, 2K domains, API access). Locked at public launch; founding members get permanent discount.