Ahrefs API

Access SEO data including backlink profiles, domain ratings, organic keywords, and site metrics with the Ahrefs API v3.

Official docs: https://docs.ahrefs.com

When to Use

Check domain or URL rating
Analyze backlink profiles and referring domains
Research organic keywords and rankings
Get site traffic estimates
Monitor competitor SEO metrics

Core APIs

Get Domain Rating

Get the domain rating for a target. Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain (e.g., ahrefs.com):

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/domain-rating?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '{domain_rating, ahrefs_rank}'

Docs: https://docs.ahrefs.com/reference/domain-rating

Get Backlinks Overview

Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/backlinks-stats?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01&mode=subdomains" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '{live, all_time, live_refdomains, all_time_refdomains}'

Get Backlinks

Get individual backlinks for a target. Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/all-backlinks?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01&mode=subdomains&limit=10&select=url_from,url_to,ahrefs_rank,domain_rating_source,anchor,first_seen,last_seen" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '.backlinks[] | {url_from, url_to, anchor, domain_rating_source}'

Docs: https://docs.ahrefs.com/reference/all-backlinks

Get Referring Domains

Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/refdomains?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01&mode=subdomains&limit=10&select=domain,domain_rating,backlinks,first_seen,last_seen" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '.refdomains[] | {domain, domain_rating, backlinks}'

Get Organic Keywords

Get keywords a domain ranks for organically. Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/organic-keywords?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01&country=us&mode=subdomains&limit=10&select=keyword,position,volume,url,traffic" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '.keywords[] | {keyword, position, volume, traffic, url}'

Docs: https://docs.ahrefs.com/reference/organic-keywords

Get Organic Traffic Overview

Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/metrics?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01&mode=subdomains" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '{organic_traffic, organic_keywords, organic_cost, paid_traffic, paid_keywords}'

Get URL Rating

Get URL rating for a specific page. Replace <target-url> with the full URL:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/url-rating?target=<target-url>&date=2026-03-01" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '{url_rating, ahrefs_rank}'

Get Top Pages

Get top pages by organic traffic. Replace <target-domain> with the actual domain:

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/site-explorer/top-pages?target=<target-domain>&date=2026-03-01&country=us&mode=subdomains&limit=10&select=url,traffic,keywords,top_keyword,position" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '.pages[] | {url, traffic, keywords, top_keyword, position}'

Keywords Explorer - Volume

Get search volume for specific keywords. Replace <keyword> in the request:

Write to /tmp/ahrefs_request.json:

{
  "keywords": ["seo tools", "backlink checker"],
  "country": "us"
}

curl -s -X POST "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/keywords-explorer/volume?select=keyword,volume,difficulty,cpc,global_volume" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/ahrefs_request.json | jq '.keywords[] | {keyword, volume, difficulty, cpc}'

Get Limits (Check API Usage)

curl -s "https://api.ahrefs.com/v3/subscription-info" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv AHREFS_TOKEN)" | jq '{rows_limit, rows_left, subscription}'

Guidelines

Date parameter: Most endpoints require a date parameter in YYYY-MM-DD format; use recent dates for current data
Mode: Use subdomains to include all subdomains, domain for exact domain, prefix for URL prefix, exact for exact URL
Country codes: Use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes (us, gb, de, etc.) for country-specific data
Select parameter: Specify fields to return with select to reduce response size
Rate limits: API usage is metered by rows returned; check /v3/subscription-info for remaining quota
Limits: Use limit and offset for pagination (max 1000 per request)