# Link profile / nofollow

_Source: https://seomatrix.ai/tools/link-profile/_

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## What it does

A link profile is the breakdown of every hyperlink on a page — how many point to your own site (internal) versus other domains (external), and what rel attribute each carries: nofollow, sponsored, or ugc. It matters because internal links route crawl budget and ranking signals to your key pages, while external dofollow links quietly pass authority off your site; getting the mix and the rel tags right controls what search crawlers and AI answer engines treat as your endorsement.

## What it checks

- **Internal vs external ratio** — The split between links pointing to your own domain and those pointing elsewhere; a healthy page keeps enough internal links to guide crawlers to related content instead of dumping equity offsite.
- **rel="nofollow"** — An attribute that tells search engines not to pass ranking credit through a link, used on untrusted or non-editorial destinations you don't want to endorse.
- **rel="sponsored"** — The tag Google recommends for paid or affiliate links; paid links must be qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" to disclose commercial relationships and avoid link-scheme penalties.
- **rel="ugc"** — Marks user-generated content links such as comments and forum posts, signaling that you didn't vouch for them editorially.
- **External dofollow links** — External links with no rel restriction that pass full authority to another domain — the classic 'link leak' worth auditing on money pages.
- **Total link count** — The raw number of links on the page; an overloaded page dilutes the weight each link carries and can read as spammy.

## How to use it

1. Paste your page URL and run the check to get the internal/external counts and the rel breakdown.
2. Review the flagged external dofollow links and any paid or user-submitted links missing a sponsored or ugc tag.
3. Fix the links by adding the correct rel attribute — nofollow, sponsored, or ugc — and add internal links where the page leaks equity offsite.

## FAQ

### What is a link leak?

A link leak is an external dofollow link that passes your page's ranking authority to another domain without any rel restriction. Auditing them lets you decide which outbound links to keep open and which to mark nofollow.

### What's the difference between nofollow, sponsored, and ugc?

All three stop a link from passing full ranking credit, but they signal why: nofollow means 'not editorially endorsed', sponsored means 'paid or affiliate', and ugc means 'user-generated'. Google recommends the specific tag over a generic nofollow.

### How many external links is too many?

There's no fixed limit, but a page stuffed with external dofollow links dilutes internal linking and can look manipulative. Keep external links purposeful and reserve dofollow for sources you genuinely endorse.

### Do nofollow links affect SEO or AI citations?

Nofollow links don't pass ranking authority, but they're still crawled and can shape how search and AI engines understand a page's context and the sources it references. Marking paid and user links correctly keeps your profile clean and trustworthy.