domain-authority-auditor

# Domain Authority Auditor

> Based on [CITE Domain Rating](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/cite-domain-rating). Full benchmark reference: [references/cite-domain-rating.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/cite-domain-rating.md)

> **[SEO & GEO Skills Library](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills)** · 20 skills for SEO + GEO · [ClawHub](https://clawhub.ai/u/aaron-he-zhu) · [skills.sh](https://skills.sh/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills)
> **System Mode**: This cross-cutting skill is part of the protocol layer and follows the shared [Skill Contract](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/skill-contract.md) and [State Model](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/state-model.md).


This skill evaluates domain authority across 40 standardized criteria organized in 4 dimensions. It produces a comprehensive audit report with per-item scoring, dimension and weighted scores by domain type, veto item checks, and a prioritized action plan.

**Sister skill**: [content-quality-auditor](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/cross-cutting/content-quality-auditor/SKILL.md) evaluates content at the page level (80 items). This skill evaluates the domain behind the content (40 items). Together they provide a complete 120-item assessment.

> **Namespace note**: CITE uses C01-C10 for Citation items; CORE-EEAT uses C01-C10 for Contextual Clarity items. In combined 120-item assessments, prefix with the framework name (e.g., CITE-C01 vs CORE-C01) to avoid confusion.

**System role**: Citation Trust Gate. It decides whether a domain is credible enough to support ranking, citation, and brand authority work.

## When This Must Trigger

Use this when domain credibility or citation trustworthiness is in question — even if the user doesn't use audit terminology:

- User asks "how trustworthy is my site" or "is my domain credible"
- When backlink-analyzer finds toxic link ratio above 15%, its handoff summary recommends this gate check
- Evaluating domain authority before a GEO campaign
- Benchmarking your domain against competitors
- Assessing whether a domain is trustworthy as a citation source
- Running periodic domain health checks or after link building campaigns
- Identifying manipulation red flags (PBNs, link farms, penalty history)
- Cross-referencing with content-quality-auditor for full 120-item assessment

## What This Skill Does

1. **Full 40-Item Audit**: Scores every CITE check item as Pass/Partial/Fail
2. **Dimension Scoring**: Calculates scores for all 4 dimensions (0-100 each)
3. **Weighted Totals**: Applies domain-type-specific weights for CITE Score
4. **Veto Detection**: Flags critical manipulation signals (T03, T05, T09)
5. **Priority Ranking**: Identifies Top 5 improvements sorted by impact
6. **Action Plan**: Generates specific, actionable improvement steps
7. **Cross-Reference**: Optionally pairs with CORE-EEAT for combined diagnosis

## Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts. Finish with a citation-trust verdict and a handoff summary using the repository format in [Skill Contract](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/skill-contract.md).

### Audit Your Domain

```
Audit domain authority for [domain]
Run a CITE domain audit on [domain] as a [domain type]
```

### Audit with Domain Type

```
CITE audit for example.com as an e-commerce site
Score this SaaS domain against the 40-item benchmark: [domain]
```

### Comparative Audit

```
Compare domain authority: [your domain] vs [competitor 1] vs [competitor 2]
```

### Combined Assessment

```
Run full 120-item assessment on [domain]: CITE domain audit + CORE-EEAT content audit on [sample pages]
```

## Skill Contract

**Gate verdict**: **TRUSTED** (no veto items, scores above threshold) / **CAUTIOUS** (issues found but no veto) / **UNTRUSTED** (veto item T03, T05, or T09 failed). Always state the verdict prominently at the top of the report.

**Expected output**: a CITE audit report, a citation-trust verdict, and a short handoff summary ready for `memory/audits/domain/`.

- **Reads**: the target domain, supporting authority signals, comparison domains, and prior decisions from [CLAUDE.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/CLAUDE.md) and the shared [State Model](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/state-model.md) when available.
- **Writes**: a user-facing authority report plus a reusable summary that can be stored under `memory/audits/domain/`.
- **Promotes**: veto items and domain risks to `memory/hot-cache.md` (auto-saved). Authority context to `memory/audits/domain/`. Results feed into entity-optimizer as authority input for brand's canonical profile.
- **Next handoff**: use the `Next Best Skill` below once the trust picture is clear.

## Data Sources

> See [CONNECTORS.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/CONNECTORS.md) for tool category placeholders.

> **Note:** All integrations are optional. This skill works without any API keys — users provide data manually when no tools are connected.

**With ~~link database + ~~SEO tool + ~~AI monitor + ~~knowledge graph + ~~brand monitor connected:**
Automatically pull backlink profiles and link quality metrics from ~~link database, domain authority scores and keyword rankings from ~~SEO tool, AI citation data from ~~AI monitor, entity presence from ~~knowledge graph, and brand mention data from ~~brand monitor.

**With manual data only:**
Ask the user to provide:
1. Domain to evaluate
2. Domain type (if not auto-detectable): Content Publisher, Product & Service, E-commerce, Community & UGC, Tool & Utility, or Authority & Institutional
3. Backlink data: referring domains count, domain authority, top linking domains
4. Traffic estimates (from any SEO tool or SimilarWeb)
5. Competitor domains for comparison (optional)

Proceed with the full 40-item audit using provided data. Note in the output which items could not be fully evaluated due to missing access (e.g., AI citation data, knowledge graph queries, WHOIS history).

## Instructions

When a user requests a domain authority audit:

### Step 1: Preparation

```markdown
### Audit Setup

**Domain**: [domain]
**Domain Type**: [auto-detected or user-specified]
**Dimension Weights**: [from domain-type weight table below]

#### Domain-Type Weight Table

> Canonical source: `references/cite-domain-rating.md`. This inline copy is for convenience.

| Dim | Default | Content Publisher | Product & Service | E-commerce | Community & UGC | Tool & Utility | Authority & Institutional |
|-----|:-------:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
| C | 35% | **40%** | 25% | 20% | 35% | 25% | **45%** |
| I | 20% | 15% | **30%** | 20% | 10% | **30%** | 20% |
| T | 25% | 20% | 25% | **35%** | 25% | 25% | 20% |
| E | 20% | 25% | 20% | 25% | **30%** | 20% | 15% |

#### Veto Check (Emergency Brake)

| Veto Item | Status | Action |
|-----------|--------|--------|
| T03: Link-Traffic Coherence | ✅ Pass / ⚠️ VETO | [If VETO: "Audit backlink profile; disavow toxic links"] |
| T05: Backlink Profile Uniqueness | ✅ Pass / ⚠️ VETO | [If VETO: "Flag as manipulation network; investigate link sources"] |
| T09: Penalty & Deindex History | ✅ Pass / ⚠️ VETO | [If VETO: "Address penalty first; all other optimization is futile"] |
```

If any veto item triggers, flag it prominently at the top of the report. CITE Score is capped at 39 (Poor) regardless of other scores.

### Step 2: C + I Audit (20 items)

Evaluate each item against the criteria in [references/cite-domain-rating.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/cite-domain-rating.md).

Score each item:
- **Pass** = 10 points (fully meets criteria)
- **Partial** = 5 points (partially meets criteria)
- **Fail** = 0 points (does not meet criteria)

```markdown
### C — Citation

| ID | Check Item | Score | Notes |
|----|-----------|-------|-------|
| C01 | Referring Domains Volume | Pass/Partial/Fail | [specific observation] |
| C02 | Referring Domains Quality | Pass/Partial/Fail | [specific observation] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| C10 | Link Source Diversity | Pass/Partial/Fail | [specific observation] |

**C Score**: [X]/100

### I — Identity

| ID | Check Item | Score | Notes |
|----|-----------|-------|-------|
| I01 | Knowledge Graph Presence | Pass/Partial/Fail | [specific observation] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

**I Score**: [X]/100
```

### Step 3: T + E Audit (20 items)

Same format for Trust and Eminence dimensions.

```markdown
### T — Trust

| ID | Check Item | Score | Notes |
|----|-----------|-------|-------|
| T01 | Link Profile Naturalness | Pass/Partial/Fail | [specific observation] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

**T Score**: [X]/100

### E — Eminence

| ID | Check Item | Score | Notes |
|----|-----------|-------|-------|
| E01 | Organic Search Visibility | Pass/Partial/Fail | [specific observation] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

**E Score**: [X]/100
```

**Note**: Some items require specialized data (C05-C08 AI citation data, I01 knowledge graph queries, T04-T05 IP/profile analysis). Score what is observable; mark unverifiable items as "N/A — requires [data source]" and exclude from dimension average.

### Step 4: Scoring & Report

Calculate scores and generate the final report:

```markdown
## CITE Domain Authority Report

### Overview

- **Domain**: [domain]
- **Domain Type**: [type]
- **Audit Date**: [date]
- **CITE Score**: [score]/100 ([rating])
- **Veto Status**: ✅ No triggers / ⚠️ [item] triggered — Score capped at 39

### Dimension Scores

| Dimension | Score | Rating | Weight | Weighted |
|-----------|-------|--------|--------|----------|
| C — Citation | [X]/100 | [rating] | [X]% | [X] |
| I — Identity | [X]/100 | [rating] | [X]% | [X] |
| T — Trust | [X]/100 | [rating] | [X]% | [X] |
| E — Eminence | [X]/100 | [rating] | [X]% | [X] |
| **CITE Score** | | | | **[X]/100** |

**Score Calculation**: CITE Score = C × [w_C] + I × [w_I] + T × [w_T] + E × [w_E]

**Rating Scale**: 90-100 Excellent | 75-89 Good | 60-74 Medium | 40-59 Low | 0-39 Poor

### Per-Item Scores

| ID | Check Item | Score | Notes |
|----|-----------|-------|-------|
| C01 | Referring Domains Volume | [Pass/Partial/Fail] | [observation] |
| C02 | Referring Domains Quality | [Pass/Partial/Fail] | [observation] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| E10 | Industry Share of Voice | [Pass/Partial/Fail] | [observation] |

### Top 5 Priority Improvements

Sorted by: weight × points lost (highest impact first)

1. **[ID] [Name]** — [specific modification suggestion]
   - Current: [Fail/Partial] | Potential gain: [X] weighted points
   - Action: [concrete step]
2. **[ID] [Name]** — [specific modification suggestion]
   - Current: [Fail/Partial] | Potential gain: [X] weighted points
   - Action: [concrete step]
3–5. [Same format]

### Action Plan

#### Quick Wins (< 1 week)
- [ ] [Action 1]
- [ ] [Action 2]
#### Medium Effort (1-4 weeks)
- [ ] [Action 3]
- [ ] [Action 4]
#### Strategic (1-3 months)
- [ ] [Action 5]
- [ ] [Action 6]

### Cross-Reference with CORE-EEAT

For a complete assessment, pair this CITE audit with a CORE-EEAT content audit:

| Assessment | Score | Rating |
|-----------|-------|--------|
| CITE (Domain) | [X]/100 | [rating] |
| CORE-EEAT (Content) | [Run content-quality-auditor on sample pages] | — |

**Diagnosis Matrix**:
- High CITE + High CORE-EEAT → Maintain and expand
- High CITE + Low CORE-EEAT → Prioritize content quality
- Low CITE + High CORE-EEAT → Build domain authority
- Low CITE + Low CORE-EEAT → Start with content, then domain

### Recommended Next Steps

- For domain authority building: focus on top 5 priorities above
- For content improvement: use `content-quality-auditor` on key pages
- For backlink strategy: use `backlink-analyzer` for detailed link analysis
- For competitor benchmarking: use `competitor-analysis` with CITE scores
- For tracking progress: run `/seo:report` with CITE score trends
```

### Save Results

After delivering findings to the user, ask:

> "Save these results for future sessions?"

If yes, write a dated summary to the appropriate `memory/` path using filename `YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md` containing:
- One-line verdict or headline finding
- Top 3-5 actionable items
- Open loops or blockers
- Source data references

If any veto-level issue was found (CORE-EEAT T04, C01, R10 or CITE T03, T05, T09), also append a one-liner to `memory/hot-cache.md` without asking.

## Validation Checkpoints

### Input Validation
- [ ] Domain identified and accessible
- [ ] Domain type confirmed (auto-detected or user-specified)
- [ ] Backlink data available (at minimum: referring domains count, DA/DR)
- [ ] If comparative audit, competitor domains also specified

### Output Validation
- [ ] All 40 items scored (or marked N/A with reason)
- [ ] All 4 dimension scores calculated correctly
- [ ] Weighted CITE Score matches domain-type weight configuration
- [ ] All 3 veto items checked first and flagged if triggered
- [ ] Top 5 improvements sorted by weighted impact, not arbitrary
- [ ] Every recommendation is specific and actionable (not generic advice)
- [ ] Action plan includes concrete steps with effort estimates

## Example

See [references/example-report.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/cross-cutting/domain-authority-auditor/references/example-report.md) for a complete CITE audit of cloudhosting.com showing veto check, dimension scores, top 5 improvements, action plan, and cross-reference with CORE-EEAT.

## Tips for Success

1. **Start with veto items** — T03, T05, T09 can invalidate the entire score
2. **Identify domain type first** — Different types have very different weight profiles
3. **AI citation items (C05-C08) matter most for GEO** — Test by querying AI engines with niche-relevant questions
4. **Some items need specialized tools** — Knowledge graph queries, AI citation monitoring, and IP diversity analysis may require manual research if tools aren't connected
5. **Pair with CORE-EEAT for full picture** — Domain authority without content quality (or vice versa) tells only half the story

## Reference Materials

- [CITE Domain Rating](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/cite-domain-rating.md) — Full 40-item benchmark with dimension definitions, scoring criteria, domain-type weight tables, and veto items
- [references/example-report.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/cross-cutting/domain-authority-auditor/references/example-report.md) — Complete CITE audit example with scored dimensions, top 5 improvements, action plan, and CORE-EEAT cross-reference

## Next Best Skill

- **Primary**: [backlink-analyzer](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/monitor/backlink-analyzer/SKILL.md) — turn trust or citation issues into link-level investigation.