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Quick answer: The Neil Patel backlink checker sits inside Ubersuggest and shows a sample of any domain’s backlinks, referring domains, anchor text and its own Domain Authority score. It is fine for a quick, free look at a competitor’s strongest links, but its free limits and smaller index make it unsuitable for full audits or disavow decisions.
If you have ever searched for a free way to see who links to a competitor, you have probably landed on the Neil Patel backlink checker. It is free to start, it gives you a tidy overview in seconds, and for a Singapore SME owner with no SEO budget yet, it looks like exactly what you need. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it quietly leads you to the wrong conclusion.
This review covers what the tool is, what its backlinks report shows today, a step-by-step way to research a competitor that ranks above you on a Singapore results page, how to read its “Domain Authority” number, what to do with the links you find, and the limits and ethical line that matter. For context on where link work fits alongside everything else, our SEO services overview lays out the wider picture.
To be clear from the start: Singapore SEO Agency has no affiliation with Neil Patel, NP Digital or Ubersuggest. Our conclusion is simple. Use it for a quick competitor scan and to spot obvious opportunities, and do not use it for a full audit or to decide which links to disavow.
The tool people call the Neil Patel backlink checker is the backlinks report inside Ubersuggest, the SEO platform run by Neil Patel’s company. You can reach it from the free tools menu on neilpatel.com, and the page itself now describes it as checking your backlinks “for free using Ubersuggest”. Whichever door you walk through, the data comes from the same Ubersuggest product.
There are three ways to use it, and the difference matters:
What about the data source? Ubersuggest builds its link data from its own crawling and data partners, and it does not publish the size of its index in a way you can compare directly with the large specialist link tools. In our experience, the practical reality is that its index tends to find fewer links than the dedicated backlink platforms, especially for small sites with a modest number of links. That is not a scandal. Every link tool sees only part of the web, and every one of them disagrees with the others. It does mean you should treat what you see as a sample, not the full picture.
Before you trust any tool, it helps to know exactly what it puts on screen. At the time of writing, the backlinks report shows the following for any domain you enter.
The overview. At the top you get the site’s Domain Authority (Ubersuggest’s own score, explained below), the total number of backlinks, the number of referring domains, and how many links are marked NoFollow. A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours. A referring domain is a unique website that links to you, so ten links from one directory count as ten backlinks but one referring domain. NoFollow is a label a site can put on a link to tell search engines not to pass credit through it.
Trends over time. A chart tracks backlinks and referring domains over time, so you can see spikes and drops. The report also flags new and lost links, which is useful for noticing when a competitor gets a burst of press coverage or loses a sponsorship page.
The backlinks list. This is the most useful part for an SME. It lists individual linking pages, the page on the target site they point to, the anchor text (the clickable words of the link), whether the link is Follow or NoFollow, and authority scores for the linking domain and page. The tool also shows a spam-style score for linking sites, which helps you spot low-quality sources.
Anchor text and referring domain views. Separate views group links by anchor text and by referring domain. These help you see patterns, for example whether a competitor’s links mostly use their brand name, which is natural, or exact sales phrases, which can be a warning sign.
Remember that the free report trims all of this. You see the top of the list, not the whole list, which is exactly why it works for spotting a competitor’s strongest links and fails as a complete inventory. When owners ask whether their own link profile “looks fine”, we recommend starting with what Google itself reports before reaching for any third-party view.
The best use of the Neil Patel backlink checker is focused competitor research. Here is a routine that fits inside a free daily allowance.
Step 1: Pick one search that matters to your business. Choose a search a real customer would type, such as “aircon servicing Jurong West” or “corporate lawyer Singapore”. Search it on Google from Singapore, ideally in a private browser window so your own history does not skew the results.
Step 2: Note the businesses ranking above you. Ignore directories, marketplaces and large media sites for now. You want the two or three businesses most like yours that rank in the top results. These are your real competitors for that search.
Step 3: Run each competitor’s domain through the tool. Enter the domain, not a single page. Note the Domain Authority, referring domains and the trend line. Then open the backlinks list.
Step 4: Sort the list by the linking domain’s authority. Look at the top entries. You are looking for links a real Singapore business could also earn: a trade association member listing, a supplier’s partner page, a feature in a local publication, a community or charity event page.
Step 5: Write each one into a simple spreadsheet. Columns for the linking site, what type of site it is, why the competitor got the link, and whether you could plausibly get a similar one. Skip anything that looks paid, irrelevant or spammy.
Step 6: Repeat for the next competitor, then look for overlap. A linking site that appears for two or three competitors is usually the strongest signal in the whole exercise. If every competitor is listed by the same industry association and you are not, that is your first job.
Step 7: Check your own site in Google Search Console. Search Console (Google’s free tool for site owners) has a Links report showing who links to you, as Google sees it. It only works for sites you own, but it is the right place to confirm what you already have before chasing what you lack.
This whole routine fits comfortably in a free allowance if you stay disciplined about how many domains you check. If your competitors are mostly businesses with a physical shopfront and Google Business Profile, our local SEO service page explains how links fit alongside reviews and map rankings.
The number that catches every owner’s eye is Domain Authority. Here is the most important thing to know about it: in Ubersuggest, Domain Authority is Ubersuggest’s own score, calculated from its own link data. It is not Moz Domain Authority, even though the name is the same, and it is not Ahrefs Domain Rating or Semrush Authority Score. Each tool builds its score differently from a different index, so a site can score noticeably higher in one tool than another.
It is also not a Google metric. Google does not use any third-party authority score to rank pages. These scores are estimates of how strong a site’s link profile looks to that particular tool. They are useful as a rough comparison, and nothing more.
How should you use it, then?
In our experience, owners who stop staring at the authority number and start reading the actual list of linking sites make far better decisions. The list tells you what to do next. The number only tells you how far behind you might be. If you want an independent read of where you stand, our SEO consulting and audit page explains what a structured review covers.
Your spreadsheet of competitor links is only useful if it turns into action. Most links a Singapore SME can realistically earn fall into a handful of categories, and the competitor list usually shows you which ones matter in your industry.
Local and industry directories. Look for directories that are genuinely used in your trade, not generic link farms. A business listing on a respected industry or trade portal is a normal, legitimate link that customers may actually use. If several competitors are listed and you are not, submit your details, keeping your business name, address and phone number exactly consistent with your Google Business Profile.
Associations and chambers. Membership bodies such as the Singapore Business Federation, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, trade associations and professional bodies often publish member directories with links. If membership makes sense for your business anyway, the link is a welcome side benefit. Do not join a body purely for a link.
Suppliers, partners and brands you stock. Many suppliers have “where to buy”, “authorised dealer” or “partners” pages. If you already buy from them or carry their products, ask to be listed. This is one of the simplest, most overlooked sources of relevant links for small businesses.
Local media and community. If a competitor was featured in a local publication, ask what made that story newsworthy. A new outlet, a community project, a useful survey of customers, or an expert comment on a local issue can all earn coverage. Pitch an angle, not a link request.
Event, sponsorship and education pages. School partnerships, charity runs, community events and industry talks often credit participants with a link. Only pursue these where the involvement is real.
When we audited competitor link lists with owners, the most valuable finds are almost always boring: a supplier page, an association listing, a trade portal. Those links are relevant, durable and easy to explain if anyone ever asks why they exist. If you run a small team and need help prioritising this work, our small business SEO page explains how that support is usually scoped.
A competitor link list will often contain things you should not copy. Not every link that helps a competitor today is safe to replicate, and some of them may already be a liability for that competitor.
Watch for these patterns in the backlinks list:
Google’s spam policies treat buying or selling links that pass ranking credit as link spam, along with excessive link exchanges and automated link creation. Sites that rely on these can be demoted, or the links can simply be ignored so the money is wasted. Copying a competitor’s spam is the worst of both worlds: you take on the risk without knowing whether those links ever helped them.
There is also a reputational side. In a market as small as Singapore, your industry peers, suppliers and customers talk. A business that pays for low-quality guest posts on unrelated sites is not building anything that holds up to scrutiny.
The rule we follow is simple. If you would be uncomfortable explaining a link to a customer, do not chase it. For businesses whose sites also have crawling, indexing or speed problems, fixing those foundations through technical SEO work is usually a better use of time than any questionable link.
The issue is not that the tool is poor. It is that a sampled view from a smaller index is the wrong input for decisions that need completeness.
Two limits matter most. First, the free caps. A limited free sample and a small daily search allowance are fine for checking two or three competitors, but they will not support a proper audit of your own profile, where you need every linking domain. Second, the index size: a tool that sees fewer links will miss some of your good links and some of your bad ones.
Disavowing means telling Google, through a file uploaded in Search Console, to ignore specific links to your site. Google itself says most sites do not need to use it, and that it is meant for cases where you have a significant number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links pointing to your site, especially if they have caused or are likely to cause a manual action. Disavowing based on a partial sample from any single third-party tool risks removing credit from good links while missing the bad ones.
| Task | Is the Neil Patel backlink checker enough? | What to use instead or alongside |
|---|---|---|
| Quick look at a competitor’s strongest links | Yes, the free sample usually shows the top linking sites | Nothing extra needed for a first pass |
| Spotting directories, associations and supplier pages competitors use | Mostly yes, especially when you check several competitors | Manual Google searches for your industry’s associations and portals |
| Seeing who links to your own site | Partly, it shows a sample | Google Search Console’s Links report, which reflects Google’s own data |
| Full audit of your link profile | No, the sample and index are too limited | A paid plan on a large specialist link tool, combined with Search Console data |
| Deciding which links to disavow | No | Search Console data plus a large paid index, reviewed by someone experienced; usually no disavow at all |
| Monitoring new and lost links over months | Only on a paid plan | Search Console checks plus one consistent paid tool |
| Comparing authority across tools | No, its score is its own metric | Compare scores within one tool only |
If you are weighing whether a paid tool subscription or outside help makes more sense for your business, our pricing page shows how SEO support is packaged so you can compare the options.
Our education SEO case study documents a 5-month engagement with a Math and Science enrichment centre with 2 locations, in Tampines and Bishan, Singapore. The centre had seven years of operation and a strong word-of-mouth base. It is relevant here because the page reports a Domain Authority change, and it is a good test of how to read such a number honestly.
The starting position (Month 0). The site had 310 monthly organic visitors, 4 keywords ranking on page 1 (brand only), a single “Programmes” page with 0 subject and level landing pages, 0 location-specific pages, 8 combined Google Business Profile reviews, 2 monthly trial sign-ups from organic search, and a Domain Authority of 8. The page does not say which tool produced that score.
What the programme did. The page sets out four phases: subject and level page architecture (Months 1-2), location-specific pages and local SEO for both branches (Months 1-3), parent-intent content (Months 2-4), and schema, reviews and results content (Months 2-5). The page does not describe a link-building phase, so we will not credit any result to links.
The ending position at Month 5. Monthly organic visitors rose from 310 to 924 (+198%). Page 1 keywords went from 4 to 29 (+625%). The site gained 10 subject and level pages and 2 location pages. Reviews grew from 8 to 47 (+488%). Monthly trial sign-ups from organic rose from 2 to 22 (+1,000%), and the centre reached the top 3 for 4 enrichment search terms. Domain Authority went from 8 to 17 (+9). These results came from the whole programme across all four phases, not from any single tactic or metric.
The lesson for anyone reading an authority score in a backlink tool is this: the number that changed the business was trial sign-ups, and the work that produced it was pages built for parents. Tuition and enrichment owners can see how that scope is set out on our education SEO page.
Field notes: In our education SEO case study, a Math and Science enrichment centre with 2 locations in Tampines and Bishan, Domain Authority moved from 8 to 17 over the 5-month engagement, but the page describes no link-building work at all. The phases were subject and level pages, location pages and local SEO, parent-intent content, and schema, reviews and results content. Over the same period, monthly organic visitors went from 310 to 924 and monthly trial sign-ups from organic went from 2 to 22. Read an authority score as a side effect of the whole programme, never as the target.
The Neil Patel backlink checker is a reasonable free starting point. It lives inside Ubersuggest, shows a sample of any domain’s strongest links, and uses its own Domain Authority score, which you should only compare within the same tool. For a Singapore SME, that is enough to scan two or three competitors, spot the associations, suppliers, directories and media they appear in, and build a short list of links you could genuinely earn.
It is not enough for a full audit of your own profile, and it should never be the basis for a disavow file. Its free limits and smaller index mean it will miss links, good and bad. Use Search Console for your own site, a larger paid index when completeness matters, and judgement above all. If you want to understand how we approach link reviews, our about page explains how we work with Singapore businesses.
It is the backlinks report inside Ubersuggest, the SEO platform run by Neil Patel’s company. You enter a domain and it shows that site’s Domain Authority score, total backlinks, referring domains, NoFollow links, anchor text, a list of linking pages and trends over time, including new and lost links. The free version shows a limited sample, and a paid Ubersuggest plan unlocks much more data.
You can run a free report, but it shows a limited sample of the available data. A free Ubersuggest account comes with a small daily search allowance, which third-party reviews have reported as three searches per day, though limits change. Paid plans raise the daily limit and unlock more backlinks, historical data and filters. Check the Ubersuggest site for the current limits and prices.
Not for a basic look. You can enter a domain on the neilpatel.com backlinks page and see a free sample report. Signing in to Ubersuggest gives you access to the wider platform and its daily allowance, and a paid plan is needed for the fuller backlink data. If you plan to check several competitors in one sitting, it is worth signing in first.
No. Ubersuggest calculates its own Domain Authority score from its own link data. It shares a name with the Moz metric but is a different calculation, so the same site can score differently in each. Ahrefs Domain Rating and Semrush Authority Score are different again. Only compare scores taken from the same tool, ideally on the same day.
No. Domain Authority and similar scores are created by third-party SEO tools to estimate the strength of a site’s links. Google does not use them. They are useful as a rough comparison between your site and the sites ranking above you in one tool, but raising the score is not a goal in itself and will not directly change your rankings.
It is accurate about what it finds, but it does not find everything. No link tool sees the whole web, and Ubersuggest’s index generally finds fewer links than the largest specialist link tools, particularly for small sites. The free report also shows only a sample. That makes it fine for spotting a competitor’s strongest links and unreliable as a complete inventory.
We would not. Google says most sites do not need to use the disavow tool, and it is intended for sites with a significant number of spammy or artificial links, especially where a manual action is involved. Making that decision from a partial sample risks disavowing good links and missing bad ones. Start with Search Console’s Links report and get an experienced review first.
Look for links a real Singapore business could also earn: industry directories, trade associations and chambers, supplier or “where to buy” pages, local media features, and community or event pages. Note which linking sites appear for several competitors, because those are usually the strongest opportunities. Skip anything that looks paid, irrelevant or spammy, even if it seems to be helping a competitor.
Only the legitimate ones. Google’s spam policies treat buying or selling links that pass ranking credit, excessive link exchanges and automated link creation as link spam. If a competitor’s links come from link-selling blogs, private blog networks or spam directories, copying them adds risk without any guarantee of benefit. A useful test is whether you would be comfortable explaining the link to a customer.
Combine Google Search Console’s Links report, which reflects Google’s own view of links to your site, with a paid plan on a large specialist link tool that has a bigger index and full export options. For most SMEs, an audit once or twice a year is enough unless you see a sudden drop in rankings or receive a manual action notice in Search Console.
If you have run a few competitors through a backlink checker and are not sure which opportunities are worth chasing, or whether your own links need any attention, we are happy to help. Get in touch through our contact page and we will talk through what you found and what to prioritise first.
Natalie leads SEO strategy at Singapore SEO Agency, helping local and regional businesses build organic search programmes that drive qualified leads. She specialises in technical SEO and content-led authority building for Singapore SMEs.
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