Majestic Review: Trust Flow & Citation Flow Metrics

What Is Majestic?

Majestic is a backlink analysis tool known for its Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF) metrics. Unlike Ahrefs' Domain Rating (which measures pure link quantity/quality), TF/CF evaluates both link authority and topical trust. This makes Majestic particularly valuable for niche-specific expired domain research.

Primary use case: Validating topical relevance and detecting link cliques in PBN networks.

2026 Pricing

Understanding Trust Flow & Citation Flow

Trust Flow (TF)

Trust Flow measures the quality of backlinks on a scale of 0–100. It's calculated based on proximity to "trusted seed sites" (manually curated list of authoritative domains like .edu, .gov, major news sites).

• High TF (40+): Domain has links from highly trusted sources
• Medium TF (20–39): Domain has moderate trust signals
• Low TF (<20): Domain has weak or questionable backlink profile

Citation Flow (CF)

Citation Flow measures the quantity of backlinks on a scale of 0–100, similar to Ahrefs' Domain Rating. However, CF doesn't account for link quality — it's purely a volume metric.

TF/CF Ratio: The Key Metric

The TF:CF ratio is the most important indicator of domain health. Ideally, TF and CF should be close to 1:1.

• TF > CF (e.g., TF 30, CF 20): Excellent — domain has high-quality links without spam
• TF ≈ CF (e.g., TF 25, CF 28): Good — balanced backlink profile
• CF >> TF (e.g., TF 10, CF 50): Red flag — domain has massive spam backlinks inflating CF

Topical Trust Flow Categories

What Are Topical Trust Flow (TTF) Categories?

Majestic categorizes every domain into topical categories based on the content and anchor text of its backlinks. This is unique to Majestic — neither Ahrefs nor SEMrush offers this level of topical analysis.

Why TTF Matters for Expired Domains

• Niche relevance: A domain with "Health" TTF is ideal for health/wellness PBNs or redirects
• Avoiding mismatches: Don't redirect a "Business/Finance" domain to a "Pets" money site — topical mismatch hurts SEO
• PBN footprint detection: If all your PBN domains have "Computers/Internet" TTF, Google may detect the network

Top TTF Categories for Expired Domains

• Computers/Internet: Tech, SaaS, digital marketing
• Health: Medical, fitness, wellness
• Business: Finance, consulting, B2B
• Shopping: E-commerce, product reviews
• News: General news, journalism
• Arts: Creative industries, design, photography

How to Use TTF in Your Workflow

1. Check TTF category in Majestic Site Explorer
2. Match TTF to your niche (e.g., "Health" domain for health blog)
3. Avoid domains with "Adult", "Gambling", or "Pornography" TTF (unless that's your niche)
4. For PBNs, diversify TTF categories to avoid footprints

Bulk Backlink Checker Usage

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Export Domain List

From ExpiredDomains.net or DomCop, export a CSV with 50–200 domains.

2. Navigate to Bulk Backlink Checker

Go to Majestic → Bulk Backlink Checker → Upload CSV.

3. Analyze Results

Majestic returns a table with:

• Trust Flow (TF): Quality score (0–100)
• Citation Flow (CF): Quantity score (0–100)
• TF/CF Ratio: Indicator of spam vs. quality
• Topical Trust Flow: Primary niche category
• Referring Domains: Number of unique backlink sources

4. Filter for Quality Domains

• TF 20+: Minimum threshold for trust
• TF/CF ratio > 0.5: Ensures CF isn't inflated by spam
• Referring domains 10+: Proves backlink diversity

5. Export Cleaned List

Export the top 20–30 domains for manual vetting with Ahrefs or SpamZilla.

Clique Detection

What Is a Clique?

A clique is a network of domains that all link to each other in a closed loop. This is a hallmark of PBN networks and is a red flag for Google. Majestic's Clique Hunter tool detects these patterns.

Why Clique Detection Matters

• Avoid buying PBN domains: If a domain is part of a clique, it's likely been used in a PBN and may be penalized
• Audit your own PBN: Ensure your PBN domains aren't accidentally linking to each other (common mistake)
• Competitive research: Identify competitors' PBN networks

How to Use Clique Hunter

1. Navigate to Majestic → Clique Hunter
2. Enter the expired domain you're considering
3. Majestic shows all domains linking to the target and to each other
4. If you see a tight network (10+ domains all linking to each other), it's likely a PBN — avoid

When TF/CF Outperforms DR

Topical Relevance Validation

Ahrefs DR doesn't account for niche relevance. A domain with DR 40 could have backlinks from random sites across 20 different niches. Majestic's TTF tells you the primary niche, making it more useful for:

• 301 redirects: Ensure topical alignment with your money site
• Niche PBNs: Build networks with consistent topical categories
• Local SEO: TTF can identify "Regional" categories for local businesses

Detecting Over-Optimization

Majestic's Anchor Text distribution is more granular than Ahrefs. You can see:

• Exact-match anchor percentages (red flag if >30%)
• Branded vs. generic anchor ratios
• Foreign language spam (e.g., Cyrillic anchors on an English domain)

Historical Backlink Trends

Majestic stores 5+ years of historical backlink data, compared to Ahrefs' 1–2 years. This is useful for:

• Spotting domains that were penalized years ago (sudden TF drop in 2020)
• Identifying domains with sustained authority (TF 25+ for 5+ years)

Pros and Cons

When to Use Majestic

Essential Use Cases

• Topical validation: Ensure expired domains match your niche
• PBN vetting: Detect cliques before buying domains
• Budget buyers: Majestic is $80/month cheaper than Ahrefs
• Secondary validation: Cross-check Ahrefs DR with Majestic TF/CF

When to Skip Majestic

• If you already have Ahrefs: Ahrefs covers 90% of use cases (Majestic is supplementary)
• Low-volume buyers: If you're buying fewer than 5 domains/month, Ahrefs alone is sufficient
• General SEO work: Majestic is niche-focused; Ahrefs/SEMrush are better for broad SEO

Majestic vs. Ahrefs: Which to Choose?

Final Verdict

Majestic is the best tool for topical relevance and clique detection in 2026. If you're building niche-specific PBNs or vetting domains for 301 redirects, the Topical Trust Flow feature alone justifies the $49.99/month cost.

However, Majestic's smaller backlink database and dated UI make it a supplementary tool, not a replacement for Ahrefs. For solo buyers on a budget, choose one or the other. For agencies or high-volume buyers, use both.

Bottom line: Majestic excels at what it does (topical trust, clique detection), but it's not a one-stop shop. Pair it with Ahrefs for maximum vetting accuracy.