How Do I Find Backlinks to My Website? 5 Reliable Ways

How do I find backlinks to my website? Start with Google Search Console’s Links report, which is free and shows the sites and pages Google knows link to you. Then add Bing Webmaster Tools and at least one third-party backlink checker, because each source sees a different slice of the web. Combine the exports into one list, remove duplicates and review it. That gives you the most complete picture you can get without paying for several tools.

If you have been asking “how do I find backlinks to my website?” and getting different answers from every tool, this is why. This guide walks through each source, what it shows and what it misses, and then explains what to do with the list once you have it.

Five places to find your backlinks

No single source shows every link, so use several. Here they are in the order we recommend.

Method 1: Google Search Console’s Links report

If your site is verified in Google Search Console, this is the first place to look. Open the Links report from the left-hand menu. Google’s Links report documentation explains that it shows:

• Top linked pages: which of your pages have the most external links.
• Top linking sites: which websites link to you most.
• Top linking text: the anchor text other sites use.
• Drill-downs: click a page to see which sites link to it, or a site to see which of your pages it links to.

To get a fuller list, use the export button at the top of the report. Google says the export can include up to 100,000 rows as a CSV or Google Sheet, in two sets: latest links, which are the most recently discovered, and more sample links, drawn from the full set.

Know the limits before you rely on it:

• It is a sample, not every link Google knows about.
• Individual tables only show up to 1,000 rows.
• It groups links by root domain and by canonical URL.
• Some links may be stale; the linking page may have changed or been deleted.
• It does not tell you whether a link is nofollow.

Search Console is still the most useful free source, because it reflects what Google itself has found.

Method 2: Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing runs its own crawler and index, so its data can include links Google’s report does not show. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools (you can import your Search Console properties to save time), then open its backlinks report. You can see linking domains, linking pages and anchor text, and export the data.

Treat it as a second opinion. Links that appear in both Google and Bing are almost certainly real and current. Links that appear in only one are worth checking.

Method 3: A third-party backlink checker

Tools such as Ahrefs and other SEO platforms crawl the web continuously and keep large link indexes. They add things Search Console does not:

• Whether each link is followed, nofollow, sponsored or ugc.
• When each link was first seen and whether it has been lost.
• An authority estimate for each linking site.
• Links to pages on your site that now return a 404 error.
• The same data for competitors, which helps you find link opportunities.

Several of these tools offer limited free versions or free access for sites you have verified. Check each tool’s current plan details before you choose one.

Remember that every tool’s numbers are estimates based on its own crawl. Do not panic if two tools disagree. Use them to discover links, then judge the links themselves.

Method 4: Your analytics referral traffic

Some of your most valuable links are the ones people actually click. In your analytics platform, look at referral traffic: visits that arrived from other websites. Sort by sessions or conversions.

This shows you links that matter to the business, not only to search engines. It also catches new links quickly, sometimes before backlink tools find them. If a site sends regular visitors, it is worth building a relationship with its owner.

Method 5: Search for unlinked brand mentions

Not every mention of your business includes a link. Search Google for your brand name, your founder’s or key people’s names, and your product names, in quotes, excluding your own site. For example:

"Your Brand Name" -site:yourdomain.com

Look for articles, directories and partner pages that mention you without linking. A polite email asking the author to add a link to the right page often works, because they have already chosen to reference you.

How do I find backlinks to my website that are broken?

Broken backlinks are links from other sites that point to a page on your site that no longer exists. They are the quickest links to win back, because the other site already chose to link to you.

To find them:

1. In your backlink tool, filter linked pages on your site by HTTP status and look for 404 or other errors.
2. Cross-check with Search Console’s top linked pages, and test those URLs in your browser.
3. For each broken URL, decide where it should go: the new version of that page, or the closest relevant live page.
4. Set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to that page. Avoid sending everything to your home page.

This is especially important after a redesign or migration, when URLs often change without redirects.

Combine and clean your backlink list

The last part of answering “how do I find backlinks to my website?” is merging what you found. Once you have exports from several sources, put them in one spreadsheet:

1. Add a column for the source of each row.
2. Normalize URLs so the same link is not counted twice (remove tracking parameters, and treat http and https versions consistently).
3. Group by linking domain. Referring domains are a better measure than raw link counts.
4. Add columns for the page linked to, anchor text, link type and your own quality notes.
5. Sort by linking domain and review the top ones by hand.

What to do with your backlink list

A backlink list is only useful if you act on it. Common next steps:

• Reclaim broken links with redirects, as above.
• Thank and build relationships with sites that link to you often or send real traffic.
• Spot your most-linked content. These pages show what people find worth citing. Create more like them, and link from them to pages you want to rank.
• Find gaps. Compare your linking domains with competitors’ to find sites that link to similar businesses but not to you.
• Benchmark your pages. Use the referring domains to each of your pages to estimate the gap with competitors. Our guide on how many backlinks you need to rank explains how.
• Check for problems. Most low-quality links are simply ignored by Google. If you find a large number of paid or manipulative links pointing at your site, read our guide on disavowing backlinks before doing anything.

Common mistakes when checking backlinks

• Relying on one tool’s numbers as if they were complete.
• Obsessing over authority scores instead of looking at whether a link is relevant and real.
• Panicking over spammy-looking links you did not build. They are usually ignored.
• Forgetting old URLs after a site change, which leaves earned links pointing at error pages.
• Collecting data and never acting on it.

When to get help

Finding your backlinks is straightforward. Turning the list into a plan for earning better links takes more time. If you want a team to review your link profile, reclaim lost links and build new ones from relevant sites, our link building services can help, or you can email support@growthscribe.com.

FAQ

What is the easiest free way to find backlinks to my website?

Google Search Console. Open the Links report for your verified property to see top linking sites, top linked pages and anchor text, and export a sample of external links. It is free, but it shows a sample rather than every link.

Why do different backlink tools show different numbers?

Each tool runs its own crawler and index, discovers links at different times and removes dead links on its own schedule. None sees the whole web, which is why combining several sources gives a fuller picture.

Does Google Search Console show nofollow links?

Google’s documentation says the Links report does not indicate whether a link is nofollow. Use a crawler or third-party backlink tool if you need to check link attributes.

How often should I check my backlinks?

Reviewing your backlinks every month or quarter is enough for most sites. Check more often after a site migration, a digital PR campaign or a sudden change in rankings.