How To Sync Backlinks API With Google Sheets & Excel

From Manual Backlink Checks To an AI-Run Machine

If you run an agency, SaaS, or content-heavy business, you’ve probably lived this scene: it’s 11 p.m., you’re still exporting CSVs from a backlinks tool, cleaning columns, and pasting numbers into client decks. The work matters, but the clicks are mind-numbing.

Backlinks APIs plus an AI computer agent flip that script. Let’s walk through the best ways to work with backlinks APIs—from fully manual to fully automated—so you can decide what belongs to you, and what you should hand off to an agent.

1. Manual: One-Off Backlink Exports (Great For Learning)

When to use it: Small sites, experiments, or when you’re learning how a specific backlinks API behaves.

Step-by-step:

1. Get API access
   Sign up with a backlinks provider (e.g., SEO PowerSuite, DataForSEO, Semrush, SE Ranking). Grab your API key and note the base URL and backlink endpoints (summary, backlinks list, referring domains, history).
2. Call the API once
   Use a tool like Postman, curl, or the provider’s playground. For example, hit the backlinks or backlinks_overview endpoint with your domain, filters, and export columns. Confirm you get JSON or CSV with URLs, anchors, authority metrics, and first/last seen dates.
3. Load into Google Sheets
   • Save the response as CSV.
   • In Sheets: File → Import → Upload and select the file.
   • Or host the CSV and use =IMPORTDATA("https://your-file.csv") to keep it lightly updated.
4. Load into Excel
   • Save the CSV locally.
   • In Excel: Data → Get Data → From Text/CSV and follow the wizard.
   • Optionally use Power Query to split columns, change data types, and remove duplicates.

Pros:

• Maximum control and transparency.
• Forces you to understand metrics, limits, and filters.
• Zero extra tooling required.

Cons:

• Tedious for multiple domains or daily updates.
• Easy to mis-click, mis-filter, or overwrite a sheet.
• Your time becomes the bottleneck.

2. Semi-Manual: No-Code Flows Into Sheets Or Excel

When to use it: You’re tracking several domains or clients and want basic automation without code.

Idea: Use Make, Zapier, or n8n to call the backlinks API on a schedule, then push cleaned data into Google Sheets or Excel (via OneDrive/SharePoint).

Example workflow:

1. Trigger on a schedule (e.g., every morning at 6 a.m.).
2. HTTP module calls the backlinks API with your target domain list and chosen endpoint (summary, new/lost links, referring domains, etc.).
3. Transform module flattens JSON, keeps only the fields you care about (source URL, target URL, anchor, authority, first_seen, last_seen, follow/nofollow).
4. Google Sheets / Excel module appends rows, upserts by URL, or writes into a summary tab.

Pros:

• No code, no late-night CSV cleaning.
• Good for predictable, recurring pulls.
• Easy to clone per client or product line.

Cons:

• Still rigid: each new workflow must be wired by hand.
• Limited when you need cross-tool logic (e.g., "If this domain is toxic, open a ticket").
• Complex branching can get messy.

3. Fully Automated: An AI Agent Running Backlink Ops

When to use it: You’re managing many domains, competitors, or campaigns and need a system that behaves like a teammate, not just a scheduled script.

This is where a Simular AI computer agent shines. Instead of wiring one brittle automation per task, you teach an agent how you want backlinks handled, and it executes the entire workflow across apps and UIs like a human.

What the agent can do for backlinks:

• Log into your backlink platform’s UI or use its API docs when UI changes.
• Run summary, backlinks, and history reports for dozens of domains.
• Export or download CSVs, clean columns, remove duplicates, and enrich data.
• Paste or import results into Google Sheets dashboards and Excel workbooks.
• Cross-check against your CRM or project tracker and flag high-priority opportunities.

A typical AI-agent workflow:

1. You define the playbook in plain language.
   For example: “Every weekday, pull new and lost backlinks for all client domains, filter out spammy TLDs, update the ‘Backlink Log’ tab in each Google Sheet, then email me any new referring domains with authority >40.”
2. The agent executes across desktop and browser.
   Using Simular Pro, the agent can navigate your Mac desktop, open the browser, authenticate, run exports, manipulate files, and update Sheets or Excel—as if a trained assistant sat at your keyboard.
3. You review transparent logs.
   Every click, keypress, and API call is recorded and editable. You can refine prompts or tweak steps instead of rewriting scripts.

Pros:

• Handles messy, multi-step workflows that mix APIs, web UIs, files, and email.
• Scales from one domain to hundreds without rewriting automations.
• Production-grade reliability with detailed execution traces.

Cons:

• Requires a bit of upfront "onboarding" for the agent: clear instructions, example runs, and guardrails.
• Best run from a stable environment (e.g., a dedicated Mac with Simular Pro installed).

4. Choosing the Right Level Of Automation

• Solo founder / small site: Start manual, learn the metrics, then add a simple no-code flow into Google Sheets.
• Growing agency or in-house SEO team: Move to no-code or light scripting quickly; then pilot a Simular AI computer agent for the most repetitive multi-step tasks (weekly audits, competitor link gap reports, toxic link reviews).
• Enterprise or large portfolio: Treat backlink operations as a full workflow and hand it off to an AI agent end-to-end, with humans focusing on strategy, outreach, and content decisions.

The pattern is simple: you keep the thinking, the AI agent keeps the clicking. Backlinks APIs supply the raw power, Google Sheets and Excel surface the story, and the agent stitches it all together while you work on moves that actually move revenue.