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How to check backlinks to your website for free

There are two free ways, and they answer different questions. Google Search Console shows the links Google itself has found to your site. A backlink checker like this one works on any domain, yours or a competitor's, and adds the authority and spam numbers Search Console leaves out.

For your own site, start with Search Console. It only works on a site you've verified, and it tells you who links to you and which of your pages earn the most links, but not how strong those sites are or whether the links are dofollow.

1. 1Open Google Search Console and pick your site
2. 2Click Links in the left-hand menu
3. 3Under External links, open Top linking sites to see every domain linking to you
4. 4Open Top linked pages to see which of your pages earn the most links
5. 5Use Export external links, top right, to download the full list
6. 6Paste your domain into the checker above for Domain Rating, spam score and the dofollow split

What a backlink profile actually tells you

A backlink is another site linking to yours. Search engines treat those links as votes of confidence, which is why backlinks remain one of the strongest signals in ranking. But the raw count is the least useful number in the report.

The figure that matters is referring domains: how many distinct websites link to you. One site linking 4,000 times is one vote, not four thousand. Weight that against the quality of those domains and how many links are dofollow.

Every number in your report, explained

The report has two parts: a summary of the whole domain, then the strongest sites linking to it, one link per site.

Domain Rating

Ahrefs' 0 to 100 score for how strong a domain's backlink profile is. The scale is logarithmic, so going from 20 to 30 is far easier than going from 70 to 80.

Backlinks

Every individual link pointing at the domain, including many from the same site.

Linking websites

How many distinct domains link in, also called referring domains. This is the number to watch.

Dofollow split

The share of backlinks that pass ranking equity. The rest are nofollow, sponsored or UGC.

Spam score

0 to 100, averaged across the pages linking in. Lower is better, and the report marks anything above 30 in red.

DR beside each linking site

That site's own Ahrefs Domain Rating, so you can compare it directly with yours. When Ahrefs can't be reached, the column switches to Rank, our link index's own 0 to 100 score, which runs on a different scale.

Referring page

The exact page the link sits on. Open it to see the link in context.

Anchor text

The clickable words of the link, which tell search engines what the linked page is about. "No anchor text" is often an image link.

Target URL

The page the link points to, which shows you which pages earn links.

Broken

The link points at a page that no longer loads, so it passes nothing until that page is restored or redirected.

Dofollow, nofollow and spam

A dofollow link passes ranking equity. A nofollow link (or one marked sponsored or UGC) tells search engines not to pass it. Nofollow links still have real value, they drive traffic, build awareness and look natural, but a profile that's almost entirely nofollow won't move your authority much.

Spam score flags profiles that look manipulated. A high score usually means a lot of links from low-quality or unrelated sites, which is the fingerprint of bought links.

What to do with your results

A report is only worth running if it changes what you do next. Five ways to use it:

Audit your own profile

Look at linking websites and spam score first. If only a handful of sites link to you, that alone can explain why good pages don't rank.

Benchmark a competitor

Run a rival that outranks you and compare linking websites and Domain Rating with yours. The gap tells you whether you're behind on authority or on content.

Build an outreach list

Every site linking to a competitor has already linked to something like you. They're your most realistic targets.

Fix broken links

A link marked broken points at a dead page. On your own site, restore the page or redirect it to the closest live one and the link counts again.

See which pages earn links

Scan the target URLs. The pages that collect links, on your site or a rival's, show what kind of content people cite. Make more of it.

What makes a backlink high quality

Two links can look identical in a report and be worth completely different amounts. These are the things that decide it:

Relevance

A link from a site about your subject counts for more than a link from an unrelated one, even a bigger one. The words around the link matter too.

Authority of the linking site

Links from domains that are themselves well linked carry more weight. That's what Domain Rating estimates.

Dofollow

Only dofollow links pass ranking equity. Nofollow links still send visitors and make a profile look natural.

Anchor text

Descriptive anchors tell search engines what your page is about. A natural mix of your brand name, your URL and topic words beats the same keyword repeated everywhere.

Placement

A link inside the body of an article, where a writer chose to cite you, is worth more than one in a footer, sidebar or long list of links.

A linking page people actually read

A link on a page that gets search traffic can send you real visitors as well as ranking value.

Do backlinks matter for AI search?

Yes, mostly indirectly. AI tools that search the web before answering, like ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews, take their sources from pages that rank. Links help pages rank, so they raise the odds a page gets cited.

Beyond that, being mentioned and linked on sites that cover your topic is widely believed to help AI tools connect your brand with that topic. No AI company publishes exactly how it picks sources, so treat that as a likely benefit rather than a rule. To see whether AI tools already mention you, try the free AI visibility checker.

Warning signs in a backlink profile

Google ignores most junk links on its own, so a few odd links aren't worth worrying about. Patterns are. These are the ones that make a profile look manipulated:

A high spam score

Lots of links from low-quality pages, usually the trace of bought or automated links.

Off-topic sites

Links from sites that have nothing to do with your subject. One is noise; dozens look bought.

Exact-match anchors everywhere

Natural links use your brand name, your URL or plain words like "this guide". When most anchors repeat your target keyword word for word, it reads as manipulation.

Sudden spikes

Hundreds of new links in a few days with no launch, press or viral post behind them.

Backlinks far above linking websites

Usually one site linking from every footer or sidebar. It inflates the count without adding a second vote.

Should you disavow bad links?

Usually not. Google's own advice is to use its disavow tool only when your site has a manual action against it, or when you know a large number of links were bought or built for you. Otherwise, disavowing does nothing useful, and the time is better spent earning good links.

How to earn links that count

There's no shortcut worth taking. Buying links violates search engine guidelines and can stall or damage a site. The durable approach is to publish things people genuinely want to cite, then make sure the right people see them.

Competitor backlinks are the best starting list: if a site linked to a rival, it's demonstrably willing to link to something like you.

1. 1Pull a competitor's referring domains as your target list
2. 2Publish something genuinely worth citing: data, tools, guides
3. 3Pitch the sites that already cover your category
4. 4Turn unlinked brand mentions into real links
5. 5Never buy links, the downside far outweighs the gain