Majestic's metric measuring link quality by evaluating how close a site is to trusted seed sites in the link graph.
Trust Flow is a proprietary metric developed by Majestic that measures the quality of backlinks pointing to a website by analyzing how close those links are to a curated set of trusted seed sites in the web's link graph. The metric operates on a scale of 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate stronger trust signals flowing through the link network to reach a particular domain or page.
Unlike raw link quantity metrics, Trust Flow evaluates the trustworthiness and authority of linking domains by tracing pathways back to manually vetted, high-quality seed sites. This approach provides a more nuanced assessment of link quality than simple link counting, making it valuable for understanding the overall health and authority potential of a backlink profile.
Why It Matters for AI SEO
As AI systems become more sophisticated at detecting manipulative link schemes and low-quality content networks, Trust Flow offers insights that align with how modern search algorithms evaluate link authority. Google's algorithms increasingly prioritize link quality over quantity, and Trust Flow's methodology of tracking trust signals through link networks mirrors this evolution. AI-powered SEO tools now incorporate Trust Flow data to help practitioners identify high-quality link prospects and audit existing backlink profiles for potential issues. When combined with other authority metrics, Trust Flow helps create a more complete picture of a site's link equity and potential ranking power, which is crucial for developing effective AI-driven link building strategies.
How It Works
Trust Flow calculates scores by mapping the shortest path from any given page back to trusted seed sites through the link graph. The metric considers both the number of hops required to reach trusted sources and the quality of sites along that path. A page that receives links from sites closely connected to trusted domains will score higher than one requiring many intermediary links to reach authoritative sources. Majestic's algorithm starts with a curated set of seed sites across various topics and industries, then flows trust outward through the link network. Each additional hop in the chain diminishes the trust value, similar to how PageRank distributes authority. The final Trust Flow score represents the maximum trust that can flow to a page through its best-connected linking domains.
Common Mistakes or Misconceptions
Many SEO practitioners mistakenly treat Trust Flow as a direct ranking factor rather than understanding it as one indicator of link quality among many. Trust Flow should be evaluated alongside Citation Flow (which measures raw link power) to get the complete picture – sites with high Citation Flow but low Trust Flow often indicate potential spam or manipulative linking patterns. Additionally, Trust Flow scores are relative within topic categories, so comparing scores across completely different industries can be misleading without proper context.