| name | backlink-kol-extractor |
| description | Extract KOL, influencer, media, and partnership prospects from Semrush competitor backlink/refdomains/competitors xlsx data. Use when the user wants to find influencers, KOLs, review sites, media contacts, PR targets, affiliate partners, or forum communities from Semrush data exports. Triggers on "find KOL", "extract influencers from backlinks", "find review sites", "find media contacts", "partnership prospects", "who links to competitors", "backlink analysis for outreach", "find blogs that review", "discover influencer partners", "find collaboration opportunities from SEO data". |
Backlink KOL Extractor
Extract KOL/influencer/media prospects from Semrush competitor data using a three-step methodology: domain pattern matching, cross-competitor validation, and social media handle extraction.
Quick Start
Run the extraction script on a directory of Semrush xlsx exports:
python3 scripts/extract_kol.py <input_dir> [--output results.csv] [--min-sources 2] [--min-traffic 500]
Input: Directory with Semrush xlsx files organized by domain subdirectories:
input_dir/
competitor1.com/
competitor1.com-backlinks.xlsx
competitor1.com-backlinks_refdomains.xlsx
competitor1.com-organic.Competitors-us-*.xlsx
competitor2.com/
...
Output: CSV with columns: domain, category, priority_score, traffic, backlinks, source_count, sources
Workflow
Step 1: Gather Data
Ensure Semrush data is downloaded for 3+ competitors in the target niche. Key files:
*-backlinks_refdomains.xlsx — Primary source (which domains link to competitor)*-backlinks.xlsx — Secondary (specific URLs, can extract social handles)*-organic.Competitors-*.xlsx — Tertiary (traffic overlap sites)
Step 2: Run Extraction
python3 scripts/extract_kol.py ~/Downloads/semrush/_project_tactibeaver/
The script scans all xlsx files recursively, categorizes domains into KOL/Review, Media/Press, Forum/Community, Affiliate/Deal, cross-validates by counting how many competitors each domain links to, scores by priority, extracts social media handles from backlink URLs, and outputs sorted CSV.
Step 3: Interpret Results
Priority tiers:
- Score 70+: Core industry sites — prioritize for outreach
- Score 50-70: Important channels — include in outreach list
- Score 30-50: Worth monitoring — add to watchlist
Step 4: Expand via Linktree
For domains with linktree URLs found, visit linktr.ee/{username} to discover full social media presence.
Advanced Usage
Custom thresholds:
python3 scripts/extract_kol.py ./data --min-sources 3 --min-traffic 1000
Methodology Details
See references/methodology.md for category detection keywords, scoring formula, social media URL patterns, and filter rules.
