Correct Backlinks + LLM Mentions to pay-as-you-go (DataForSEO 2026-07-01)

[AgriciDaniel]

What changed and why

On 2026-07-01 DataForSEO published a pricing update that cancelled all remaining monthly commitments and moved every endpoint to a 100% pay-as-you-go model. The $100/mo minimums on the Backlinks API and LLM Mentions API were removed (existing subscriptions auto-cancelled, access retained).

The brain asserted the opposite. As of 2026-06-26 it documented both modules as subscription-gated (40204), and cap-backlinks-api even carried an authoritative "the subscription was NOT removed" debunk. That was accurate on 2026-06-26 and became false on 2026-07-01. This PR corrects the brain across 24 files.

Verification

• Web: confirmed against the official pricing update and the Backlinks / LLM Mentions help-center subscription pages.
• Live re-probe (2026-07-08): hit the production API. Previously-40204 endpoints now return 20000 Ok with real data:
  • /v3/backlinks/summary/live -> 20000 (dataforseo.com: 347,004 backlinks, rank 323), ~$0.024
  • /v3/backlinks/bulk_ranks/live -> 20000, ~$0.024
  • /v3/ai_optimization/llm_mentions/search/live -> 20000, ~$0.105
  • Total probe spend: $0.153. Captured the first authentic Backlinks + LLM Mentions fixtures (local .raw/, gitignored per repo convention) plus a dated re-probe cost log.

Changes

• Timeline honesty: every correction keeps the record straight - gated through 2026-06-26, removed 2026-07-01. No silent deletions of the old claim.
• 40204 reframed as a defined-but-legacy code for these modules (kept in the error catalog; no longer returned on a pay-as-you-go account).
• dashboard-map.json gate flags flipped (gated / gated_partial -> false) with rewritten gate notes.
• source-ledger.json gains a dated pricing-update source; the two Backlinks / LLM-Mentions claim rows updated with the re-probe result.
• Hub (DataForSEO Brain Home), operator dashboard, overview, hot cache, current-requirements, CHANGELOG, and build log all corrected.

Gates

• audit_brain.py --require market-ready: market-ready, score 100
• pytest: 6 passed (the CI gate)
• No em dashes; all touched JSON validates.

Notes / out of scope

• tests/test_pipeline.py has a pre-existing, date-dependent failure: build_demo_vault.py stamps today's date into the demo vault, so package_release --release-type market-ready blocks on "dirty tracked files" before reaching the market-ready check, which the test's assertion string doesn't match. Unrelated to this content change (CI runs pytest, not this self-test). Flagging for a separate fix.
• The broader 2026-07-01 update also "adjusted rates across selected APIs." Per-endpoint pricing was not fully re-audited here; hot.md and current-requirements note that pricing figures are due a refresh.

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