One franchisee, one penalty
A franchisee hired low-quality SEO help, a wave of bad links pointed at the brand and Google penalized the shared domain.
Toxic backlinks identified, removed and documented, and Google manual actions for unnatural links lifted. We handle the audit, the outreach, the disavow file and every message to Google.
Request a backlink analysis
Tell us about your site and any traffic drop or Search Console warning. Qualified sites get a free backlink profile analysis.
When Google detects a pattern of unnatural, artificial or manipulative links pointing to a site, a reviewer can issue a manual action that suppresses rankings until the problem is fixed. No warning, but rankings or traffic dropped? Harmful links can still be the cause.
Sign in to Search Console, the tool formerly called Google Webmaster Tools, with an account that has access to your property.
Go to Security & Manual Actions, then Manual actions. A clean report reads “No issues detected.”
This is the link penalty. Google may also list “Unnatural links from your site” when your own pages sell or exchange links, which is fixed by removing those links or adding nofollow.
Algorithm updates, technical problems and harmful links can all cause drops without a manual action. Our backlink check rules links in or out quickly. Contact us for an analysis.
Google expects a good-faith cleanup before it lifts a manual action. That means real removal requests, documentation and a clear explanation, not a blanket disavow. We do all of it for you.
Link detox works best as part of a complete SEO program, so rankings rebuild after the cleanup.
We export your links from Search Console and third-party link indexes, then review them domain by domain to separate legitimate references from links built to manipulate rankings.
We contact the owner of each site hosting a harmful link and ask for removal or a nofollow attribute. Every request, follow-up and reply is logged for Google.
After outreach, we re-crawl the profile to confirm which links came down and pinpoint the ones that remain.
Links that cannot be removed go into a disavow file in Google’s required format: a UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII .txt file, one URL or domain per line, up to 100,000 lines and 2MB.
We write and submit the request, with documentation of links removed and an explanation of any we could not remove.
We monitor Search Console messages, respond to follow-ups and keep you updated until the manual action is revoked.
Link detox is about precision. Good links carry your authority, so cutting too deep hurts as much as leaving spam in place. Google’s own guidance warns that blindly adding every backlink to a disavow file is not a good-faith effort.
After the cleanup, backlink profile enhancement strengthens what remains.
| Link type | Our call |
|---|---|
| Editorial links from relevant, trusted sites | Keep |
| Paid links passing PageRank | Remove, or ask for rel="sponsored" |
| Link network and link farm pages | Remove, then disavow the domain |
| Spammy comments and forum profiles | Remove, then disavow |
| Hacked or scraper sites that ignore outreach | Disavow |
| Low-value but natural mentions | Usually keep |
Hover, tap or tab to a card to see the answer.
Old link schemes, cheap SEO vendors, link exchanges, paid links and occasionally negative SEO attacks from competitors.
Links used to drive rankings heavily, so many sites bought them. Algorithm changes and manual reviews then hit those sites hard.
Earn links ethically from relevant sites, monitor the profile regularly and avoid link schemes, exchanges and buying or selling links.
Yes. Franchise locations share one domain reputation. One franchisee’s do-it-yourself link building triggered a penalty for a national brand.
Google says reviews usually take several days or weeks, and link-related requests can take longer than usual.
Indirectly. AI answers lean on trusted sources, so a brand weighed down by a toxic profile is less likely to be cited.
Figures come from the client’s own verified review, as published in the case study.
A franchisee hired low-quality SEO help, a wave of bad links pointed at the brand and Google penalized the shared domain.
SEO Inc. audited every link, emailed the webmaster of each of the 30,000 linking sites and documented the effort for Google.
The site was reinstated, reached page 1 or 2 for 1,000+ non-branded keywords and more than doubled traffic in 12 months.
National carpet cleaning franchise: started with SEO Inc. at 400 locations and has grown to 1,200. Its CEO called SEO Inc. one of only two vendors that would earn five out of five. Read the case study.
What site owners ask before starting a link detox.
Backlink removal is the process of finding harmful links pointing to your site and getting them taken down or disavowed. SEO Inc.’s process covers backlink research, webmaster outreach, a second-pass analysis, a disavow file, a reconsideration request and all communication with Google.
Sign in to Google Search Console, open Security & Manual Actions, then Manual actions. A penalty for links appears as “Unnatural links to your site,” which Google issues when it detects a pattern of unnatural, artificial, deceptive or manipulative links.
No. Google’s manual actions guidance states that blindly adding all backlinks to the disavow file is not considered a good-faith effort, and that organic links should not be disavowed. Remove what you can first and disavow only what remains.
Google says most sites do not need it. Disavow when you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links pointing to your site and those links have caused, or will likely cause, a manual action.
A plain .txt file encoded in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII, with one URL or domain per line and “domain:” before whole domains. Google limits the file to 100,000 lines and 2MB, and it can take a few weeks to be processed.
Google says most reviews take several days or weeks and that link-related requests may take longer than usual. You receive an email when the request is received and another when the review is complete. Do not resubmit while a request is pending.
Yes. For a national carpet cleaning franchise penalized after a franchisee’s link building, SEO Inc. emailed the webmasters of all 30,000 linking sites and documented every request, and Google reinstated the site.
Recovery depends on the strength of the links that remain and on ongoing SEO. After its penalty was lifted, the same franchise reached page 1 or 2 for more than 1,000 non-branded keywords and more than doubled website traffic in 12 months.
Talk to an SEO Inc. analyst about your links, your rankings and any warnings in Search Console. Call 877.736.0006 or use the form.
SEO Inc Strategy Review
Let’s talk about better results.
If you're ready to grow your business, we’re ready to be your partner.
Helping businesses grow through search since 1997.
By submitting, you agree that SEO Inc may contact you about your request. Privacy Policy
We use cookies to measure site traffic. You can accept or decline.