Start with a reader-level judgment
Can you explain why someone reading this paragraph would benefit from the linked page? That does not answer every SEO question, but it catches many poor placements before you reach for a metric.
We would not call a small specialist website spammy merely because it has a low authority score. Equally, a large score cannot make an unrelated insertion useful.
Red flags to investigate
Look for pages selling unrelated anchor phrases, articles that exist mainly as lists of paid links, misleading authorship, or claims that a package guarantees rankings. Assess the actual arrangement rather than treating any single sign as a verdict.
If the placement is paid, check how it is disclosed and how the link is qualified. Advertising and independent editorial coverage should not be reported as the same thing.
A comparison in practice
A product review that explains why a tool suits a particular team has an identifiable purpose. A paragraph that abruptly links a legal service, casino, and scheduling app through commercial keywords has a much weaker editorial explanation.
You still need context. A broad resource page can legitimately cover several categories. Read enough to understand what the page is trying to do.
Avoid cleanup by automatic score
A backlink tool may flag unusual sites or patterns. Treat that as a prompt to investigate, not an instruction to remove or disavow everything below a threshold.
If you are worried about harmful links, review Google's guidance and your Search Console messages first. A campaign decision and a disavow decision have different consequences and deserve different evidence.