Opportunity Mapping
Target Universe (TUS) - The Sites Google Trusts Most In Your Niche
We build your full keyword universe, forensically analyse the SERPs, and score every competing domain 0–100 across five trust and influence dimensions - with strategy and feasibility for each.
The Core Idea
It is always better to have links from sites that Google already trusts in your niche. Generic authority scores don't tell you that. A DR 80 domain unrelated to your topic is worth less than a DR 45 publisher Google consistently surfaces for your category.
TUS answers a more useful question: which domains does Google demonstrably reward in this specific niche, how trusted are they on a 0–100 scale, and how do we get a link from each of them?
The methodology is built on two decades of forensic link analysis and the largest disavow dataset outside of Google. The same discipline we apply to scoring your existing links via LPS is applied to the link opportunities you don't yet have.
Example TUS Tier Distribution
Real distribution from a cosmetic-surgery audit - 7,063 keywords, 10,850 competing domains analysed. Note how few domains reach Dominant or Strong: those are the ones worth chasing.
Dominant (80–100)
The most trusted, most prominent domains Google rewards in your niche. Few exist - every one matters.
Strong (60–79)
Authoritative, consistent ranking presence. The core of any serious outreach plan.
Moderate (40–59)
Visible in the niche, useful supporting links once Strong & Dominant targets are in motion.
Low (20–39)
Long tail. Selective use only - usually outweighed by the volume of stronger targets above.
Source: anonymised Opphive TUS audit, cosmetic surgery niche
The Five TUS Dimensions
Every domain's 0–100 TUS score is built from five underlying dimensions. Each is itself scored 0–100, so you can see why a domain ranks where it does - not just where it sits.
Breadth
How many keywords in your niche the domain ranks for at all.
Prominence
How visible the domain is overall - weighted ranking presence across the keyword universe.
Top 3
How often the domain holds a Top 3 SERP position for niche queries - the positions that capture most clicks.
Consistency
How reliably the domain ranks across the full keyword set, not just for a handful of head terms.
Diversity
How varied the keyword themes are - a check against single-topic dependence.
How the Target Universe Is Built
Five stages, run end-to-end for every TUS audit.
1. Build the Keyword Universe
We start by mapping the full keyword universe that describes your niche - head terms, long-tail variants, commercial and informational queries, the language your customers actually use. A typical universe runs to thousands of keywords across a handful of seed terms.
2. Forensically Analyse the SERPs
For every keyword in that universe we capture and analyse the live search results - which domains Google ranks, in what positions, and how often. A mid-sized niche surfaces ten thousand or more competing domains.
3. Score Every Domain 0–100
Each competing domain is run through the TUS algorithm and given a single 0–100 score, built from five dimensions: Breadth, Prominence, Top 3, Consistency, and Diversity. The result tells you precisely how much weight Google gives that domain in your specific niche.
4. Strategy & Feasibility Per Domain
Every trusted domain is then tagged with an acquisition strategy - Paid Placement, Digital PR, Outreach, Sponsorship, or Unlikely - and a feasibility rating of High, Medium, Low, or Unlikely. You see not just who to target, but how to land them and how realistic each one is.
5. Confirmed Placements & Ranked Output
The final output is a tiered, fully ranked target list with coverage and average position data for every domain - plus the subset of placements we can confirm are available right now. Outreach teams work top-down with full confidence that every target is one Google already trusts.
How TUS Pairs With LPS and LinkRisk
Once you acquire a TUS opportunity, it joins your live profile - and gets scored by LPS and assessed by LinkRisk in your next audit. That's a closed loop: trusted opportunity → outreach → measured contribution → next opportunity. Combine that with AI Visibility and you have the full Offpage Signal Strategy in one workflow.
See your Target Universe
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