🔍 What Is an otto-community-backlink?
If you see a link on your website labeled otto-community-backlink, it was added by the OTTO Wildfire community feature. Wildfire is a community-based linking program. Websites that take part can receive links from, and give links to, other participating sites, with OTTO placing them automatically.
This label helps identify these links so they can be tracked, managed, and removed if you no longer want them.
❓ Why Did This Link Appear on My Site?
OTTO Wildfire links only appear on sites that are enrolled in the Wildfire community. If you see one and don't remember approving it, the most common reasons are:
- Wildfire participation was turned on in your project, possibly by another team member, agency partner, or administrator.
- Wildfire was enabled as part of your OTTO setup, and the setting wasn't noticed at the time.
- The link was placed through OTTO's automated deployment on a project connected to your website.
If you aren't sure how your site was enrolled, ask your team members who have access to your Search Atlas account. You can also ask our support team, who can confirm your enrollment status.
🛑 The Most Reliable Way to Stop These Links
The only dependable way to stop new community links from being added is to unenroll your site from OTTO Wildfire. Blocking or deleting individual links is not enough on its own, because they can be placed again while your site is still enrolled.
Follow this order for the best result:
- Unenroll first. This stops new community links from being created.
- Remove existing links second. Once you are unenrolled, existing links can be taken down without being replaced.
- Verify. Check your pages to confirm the links are gone.
⚙️ How to Unenroll From OTTO Wildfire
- Log in to your Search Atlas account and open the project for the affected website.
- Open the OTTO settings for that project and look for any Wildfire or community linking option.
- If you find a Wildfire option, turn it off or choose to leave the community.
- If you can't find the option, or you want us to confirm the change for you, open the chat widget (details below) and ask to be unenrolled from OTTO Wildfire. Include your website address so we can find the right project quickly.
Tip: If you manage more than one website, check each project separately. Wildfire enrollment applies to each site, not to your whole account.
🧹 How to Remove Existing Wildfire Links
After you've unenrolled, you may still see links already placed on your pages. To remove them:
- Ask our support team to remove the existing otto-community-backlink links from your site. This is the quickest option because we can handle the removal on the OTTO side.
- If you prefer to do it yourself, find the links in your page content or CMS and delete them. Search your page source for otto-community-backlink to find them quickly.
- Save and publish your changes, then clear any caching plugin or CDN cache so visitors see the updated page.
Removing links by hand before unenrolling may not be permanent, so always unenroll first.
✅ How to Confirm the Links Are Gone
- Open the affected page in your browser, right-click, and choose View page source.
- Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and search for otto-community-backlink.
- If nothing is found, the links have been removed.
- Check again after a few days to make sure no new links have appeared.
Search engines and third-party tools may take some time to notice the removal, so they can continue to show the old links for a while.
💡 Tips to Avoid Unwanted Links in the Future
- Review your OTTO and project settings whenever you add a new website or team member.
- Limit account access to people who should be able to change settings.
- Ask your agency or consultant whether they enabled any community features on your behalf.
- Check your key pages from time to time for links you don't recognize.
💬 Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.
To help us resolve your request faster, please include your website address, the page where you found the link, and whether you'd like us to unenroll the site, remove the links, or both.