SEOquake is a free browser extension that puts SEO metrics directly onto any page you visit and onto Google’s results pages. It is made by Semrush, and the core of it works without an account.
This walks through what each part of it actually shows, using live readings taken from the current version, and flags the one display quirk that makes new users misread their own data.
Who makes it, and where the website went
Worth clearing up first, because it confuses people searching for it. seoquake.com no longer exists as a site. It redirects to backlinko.com/tools/seo-checker.
That is not an abandonment. Semrush owns Backlinko, whose footer reads “Backlinko is a Trademark of Semrush Inc”, and the Chrome Web Store lists the extension’s developer as Semrush Inc. The Backlinko page you land on describes itself as powered by Semrush data and SEOquake reporting.
So SEOquake, Backlinko and Semrush are three faces of one company, and the marketing site was folded into the others. The extension itself is actively maintained: version 4.3.0, last updated 15 October 2026, with a listed one million users.
This matters practically. The numbers SEOquake shows come from Semrush’s index, so they will agree with Semrush and disagree with Ahrefs or Moz, which is normal and explained in our guide to what a backlink actually is.
The SEObar: what the strip across the top means
Install it and a thin bar appears at the top of every page. These are the parameters it shows, with the extension’s own labels.
- Rank is Semrush Rank, the domain’s position in Semrush’s ranking of all domains. Lower is stronger.
- Traffic is SE Traffic, Semrush’s estimate of monthly organic search traffic.
- L is Backlinks.
- LD is Subdomain Backlinks, not linking domains. This catches people out constantly, because LD looks like it should mean link domains.
- PIN is the Pinterest pin count.
- whois and source open the domain registration record and the page source.
To the right sit five report buttons: Page Info, Audit, Keyword Density, External Links and Internal Links. The last two display their counts in the bar itself, so you can read them without opening anything.
Here is a real reading from one of our own pages: Rank 14.6M, Traffic n/a, L 0, LD 2.12K, PIN 0, External Links 115, Internal Links 213.
That single line is useful on its own. 115 external links against 213 internal ones on one article is worth a second look, and spotting it took no clicks.
The results page overlay
This is the feature most people install it for. Run a Google search and SEOquake adds metrics underneath every result.
A small panel appears at the left with a checkbox to switch the overlay off, plus Parameters, Export CSV and a Locale selector. Results are numbered, which saves counting to find out whether something is at position 7 or 9.
Under each result you get two rows. The lower row shows Rank, Traffic, L and LD for that URL, plus an Analyze link into Semrush.
Taking the first result on a search for seo forecasting as an example, SEOquake reported Rank 7.43K, Traffic 298K, L 49 and LD 475K. That tells you in one glance that you are looking at a strong domain, which is the kind of judgement that should happen before you commit to a keyword rather than after. Our guide to reading a SERP covers what else to look for.
It also annotates the sources behind an AI Overview, with an “Analyze sources” control at the top of the block. Given how much of the page AI Overviews now take, being able to see the strength of the sites being cited is genuinely new information.
The zeros that are not zeros
This is the part worth knowing before you draw any conclusions, and no amount of reading about the tool will tell you.
The upper row under each search result shows AS: 0, Visits: 0, Pages/Visit: 0, Avg. Visit: 0, Bounce rate: 0. Every result, every time, all zeros.
Those are not measurements. Directly beneath them the extension says: “Get Authority Score, visits and engagement data with a free Semrush account – Connect”. The zeros are placeholders for data that is gated behind connecting an account, which is free.
Read literally, that row says every site on the page has an Authority Score of nothing and receives no visits. Connect a free account and the row fills in. Until you do, ignore it entirely and use the lower row, which works without signing in.
What it is good at
- Judging a results page in seconds. Before writing anything, seeing the Rank and Traffic of everything ranking tells you whether you are in the right fight.
- Quick competitive reads while browsing. Land on any site and the bar is already populated.
- Counting links on a page without opening a crawler, straight from the bar.
- Exporting a results page to CSV for a keyword you are researching properly.
- It is genuinely free. The main metrics work with no account at all.
What it is not for
SEOquake reads one page or one results page at a time. It does not crawl a site, so for a full technical audit across hundreds of URLs you want a crawler instead, and our Screaming Frog alternatives guide covers those.
It also does not track rankings over time. It is a snapshot of right now, from your location, so for monitoring you need something that records history, which our SEO tracking tools roundup covers.
And every number in it is a Semrush estimate. Treat them as directional. A domain with Rank 7.43K is clearly stronger than one at 14.6M, and the precise figures are modelled rather than measured.
Settings worth changing straight away
The default bar shows parameters most people never use, and a cluttered bar is a bar you stop reading.
Open the SEObar settings from the icon at the right of the bar and turn off anything you will not act on. For most SEO work the Pinterest pin count is the first to go.
On the results page, set the Locale to the market you actually care about, because metrics for a US audience will mislead you if your readers are elsewhere. And if the bar gets in the way while you are reading, minimise it rather than disabling the extension, because it restores with one click.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEOquake free?
Yes. The core metrics, including Semrush Rank, traffic estimates, backlink counts and the results page overlay, work without an account. Connecting a free Semrush account unlocks the extra row of Authority Score and engagement data, which otherwise displays as zeros.
Why does SEOquake show Authority Score as 0 for every site?
Because that row is gated rather than measured. The extension displays AS, Visits, Pages/Visit, Avg. Visit and Bounce rate as zeros until you connect a free Semrush account, and it prints a Connect prompt directly underneath them. Those zeros are placeholders, not findings, so use the lower row of metrics until you connect.
What do L and LD mean in SEOquake?
L is Backlinks and LD is Subdomain Backlinks. LD is widely misread as linking domains because the abbreviation looks like it should mean that, which leads people to think they have far more distinct referring sites than they do. If you need referring domains, that is a different metric and you will need a dedicated backlink tool for it.
Is SEOquake owned by Semrush or Backlinko?
Semrush, and Backlinko is also Semrush. The Chrome Web Store lists the developer as Semrush Inc, and Backlinko’s footer states that Backlinko is a trademark of Semrush Inc. The old seoquake.com address now redirects to Backlinko’s SEO Checker, which describes itself as powered by Semrush data and SEOquake reporting.
Is SEOquake still being updated?
Yes. Despite the marketing site disappearing, the extension is actively maintained, listed at version 4.3.0 with a last update of 15 October 2026 and around one million users. The disappearance of seoquake.com reflects Semrush consolidating its own properties rather than the product being retired.
Can SEOquake replace a full SEO tool?
No, and it is not meant to. It reads a single page or a single results page at a time, so it cannot crawl a site for a technical audit or track rankings over time. Think of it as a fast way to read a page or a SERP while you are already looking at it, alongside a crawler and a rank tracker rather than instead of them.