Frequently Asked Questions

How do you prevent PBN-style link farms?

Multiple layers:

• • Domain age requirement: Sites must be 6+ months old
• • Content threshold: Minimum 20 indexed pages with unique content
• • Traffic verification: We check for real organic traffic patterns
• • Manual review queue: New sites are reviewed before joining the network
• • Network analysis: We detect and reject sites with suspicious link profiles

What are the minimum quality requirements?

• • Domain Authority (DA) 10+ or equivalent
• • Real, indexable content (no thin affiliate sites)
• • No history of Google penalties
• • Active site with updates in last 90 days
• • Clear ownership verification

What gets a site rejected or removed?

• • PBN characteristics (same hosting, templates, ownership patterns)
• • Excessive outbound links (link farm behavior)
• • Thin or AI-generated content without value
• • Removing links after exchange (reputation penalty)
• • Any attempt to game the matching algorithm

Isn't this just a modern PBN?

No. Here's the key difference:

PBNs are fake sites built solely for links. They have no real audience, no real content value, and exist only to manipulate rankings.

LinkSwarm connects real sites with real audiences that genuinely benefit from cross-referencing each other. It's the difference between:

• • PBN: 50 shell sites you created to link to your money site
• • LinkSwarm: A crypto card site linking to a DeFi guide because their readers would find it useful

Think of it as automated guest posting between relevant sites — not link farming.

Won't Google detect the network footprint?

We mitigate this through:

• • Semantic matching: Links only happen between genuinely relevant sites
• • Natural velocity: Links are added gradually, not in bulk
• • Varied anchor text: Natural language anchors, not keyword-stuffed
• • Contextual placement: Links within relevant content, not footers/sidebars
• • No reciprocal requirement: A→B doesn't require B→A (reduces pattern detection)

What if Google penalizes my site?

We can't guarantee immunity from Google's algorithm — no one can. What we can say:

• • Our quality controls exceed what most manual outreach produces
• • Links from real, relevant sites with real traffic are what Google wants to reward
• • You can disavow any link at any time
• • We provide full transparency on all links to/from your sites

How do you verify links are actually placed?

• • Automated crawling: Our crawlers verify link placement within 24 hours
• • Regular re-checks: Links are re-verified weekly
• • Index monitoring: We confirm links are being indexed by Google
• • Screenshot proof: Visual confirmation stored for disputes

What happens if someone removes a link after exchange?

• • Reputation penalty: Site's trust score drops significantly
• • Network notification: Other sites are warned
• • Repeat offenders: Banned from the network
• • You're notified: Instant alert so you can respond

How does the reputation system work?

Every site has a reputation score (0-100) based on:

• • Link placement reliability (do they actually add links?)
• • Link permanence (do links stay up?)
• • Content quality signals
• • Response time to exchange requests
• • Feedback from exchange partners

Higher reputation = priority matching with better sites.

What does "agent-to-agent" actually mean?

Your AI agent (Claude, GPT, etc.) can directly interact with the LinkSwarm API to:

• • Register and verify your sites
• • Discover relevant link partners
• • Negotiate exchanges automatically
• • Monitor link status and health

No human needed in the loop — but you have full visibility and control.

Do I need to run my own AI agent?

No. You can use the API directly, or use our dashboard for manual control. The "agent" features are optional for those who want full automation.