The Links report in Search Console: what it shows and what it hides

The Links report is Google’s view of links to and within your verified property. It is built from the links Google has seen for your property.

• It has two parts: External links and Internal links.
• External links has three tables: Top linked pages, Top linking sites, Top linking text.
• Internal links has one table: Top linked pages.
• Each table shows a sample of up to 1,000 rows. The export gives the same rows.

It does not rate link quality. It does not show lost links over time. It does not show rival links. It is not a full crawl of the web.

If your property is a Domain property, it covers all subdomains and both http and https. A URL prefix property covers one exact prefix such as https://www.yourproduct.com/. That changes what links can show.

Open Links, External links, Top linked pages. You will see your pages sorted by the number of backlinks. Click a page to see the linking sites and the sample of source pages.

• Identify your most linked pages. On many small sites this will be the home page, a /blog/guide, or a /pricing page if it has been cited.
• Add sensible internal links from those pages to priority pages that underperform. Add links in body copy where they help a reader.
• Make the anchor clear. Use the target page’s topic in the link text, not “click here”.
• If a top linked page is thin or off-topic, improve it. The page that attracts links should convert or steer people well.

Example: /guides/getting-started has 80 links. It ranks for “yourproduct guide”. Add links from it to /pricing and to /features. Add a short comparison to help users choose a plan.

Top linking sites lists domains that link to your property, with a count. Click a domain to see the sample of source URLs and which of your pages they link to.

• Group similar domains. A cluster of university labs tells you your docs help researchers. Add a /guides/citations page to serve them.
• Watch for sites that link to many of your pages. They are likely to update references. Keep a short outreach list.
• Check for odd patterns, like dozens of links from a scraper. You can usually ignore them unless they cause a legal issue.

You will not see an authority score or toxicity flag here. If you need a competitive view, use a third-party crawler. For Bing’s view of backlinks, Bing Webmaster Tools has a Backlinks section and can compare profiles against another domain.

Top linking text shows anchor strings on links to you. Expect noise. Many anchors are your brand or naked URLs. Some are truncated or generic like “read more”.

• Scan for topic anchors you earned, like “web font optimiser” if you sell that. Those confirm how people frame you.
• Spot anchors that point to the wrong page. If “web font optimiser” links to /blog/old-post, add a clear path from there to /features/web-fonts.
• Ignore spam anchors that do not map to a source that matters. Chasing them wastes time.
• If your brand dominates every anchor, that is normal for small sites. You do not need to force keyword anchors.

Internal links count how many of your pages link to a given page. This is your own structure, not backlinks. It is useful to balance attention across your site.

1. 1

   Find pages that need help

   Sort by count. Look for important pages with low internal link counts. For example, /pricing with 2 links while /blog/has-20 has 30.

2. 2

   Pick hubs

   Use pages with both traffic and backlinks as hubs. Home, /guides/getting-started, /docs/overview. Link out to related pages.

3. 3

   Place links in context

   Add links from body copy with descriptive anchors. Add a short block on /guides that lists 3 to 5 next steps, not 30.

4. 4

   Update nav where justified

   If a page now matters, add it to the sidebar or header. Keep it short. Drop links no one clicks.

A fixed /pricing page might go from 2 internal links to 12, with links from /features and /guides. The report will show the higher count after Google recrawls those pages.

Your counts will differ. Each link index crawls the web in its own way. Search Console shows links Google knows for your property. Third-party tools show links their crawlers found across the web. Neither is a ground truth list of every link on the internet.

• Coverage: a crawler may miss a page or a JavaScript link. It may crawl a site less often than Google does.
• Scope: Search Console only shows links to your verified property. A third-party tool shows rivals too.
• Sampling: the Links report tables cap at 1,000 rows. Exports give the same sample. Large sites will not see the long tail here.
• Grouping: domains, subdomains and redirects are normalised differently across tools. Counts will not match.

Use Search Console to see how Google connects to your site. Use a third-party crawler when you need a bigger index or a rival view. Compare shapes, not absolute totals.

The Links report will list pages that no longer exist if Google still sees links to them. It will not tell you the status code. You have to check which ones return 404 and fix them.

1. 1

   Export Top linked pages

   Go to External links, Top linked pages. Export. You will get up to 1,000 rows, the same as the table sample.

2. 2

   Check status codes

   Test the exported URLs. Use your server logs, a crawler, or sample them with curl. Mark pages that return 404 or 410.

3. 3

   Decide the best fix

   Restore the page if it should exist. Or 301 redirect it to the closest relevant page. Avoid redirecting everything to the home page.

4. 4

   Update internal links

   If you still link to the dead URL, update those links. This reduces user errors and tidies your structure.

5. 5

   Ask for updates where it helps

   If a high quality source links a dead URL, email a short note with the correct page. Keep it factual.

Example: /blog/how-to-integrate-v1 was removed. It has 12 links. Restore a short archive with a note, or 301 to /docs/integrations. Update your own posts that still point to the v1 URL.

• Monthly: export Top linked pages and Internal links. Add 3 to 5 internal links from top pages to current goals.
• Quarterly: scan Top linking sites. Thank real sources that wrote about you. Offer a fresh resource they might cite.
• After launches: add a short note and a link from any evergreen pages that already have backlinks. For example, link a new /features/ai to /guides/getting-started.
• When cleaning content: before you delete or merge a post, check if it has links in the report. Keep a simple redirect map.
• When migrations hit: verify both the old and new properties. Watch the Links report to ensure links start pointing to the new host or path after redirects.

A tidy result looks like this: your /guides/getting-started links to /pricing, /features and /case-studies. Old URLs 301 to current pages. The Links report still shows the old targets for a while, but users reach the right place.

Each Links table shows at most 1,000 rows. The export gives the same rows you see. There is no extra depth behind the export for this report. Plan your audits around that cap.

• Filter by site section before you export. For example, filter for /guides/ in Top linked pages. This gives a more focused 1,000.
• Repeat exports over time and keep a simple log. You will see new patterns even without a lost links view.
• Use the Performance report and URL Inspection tool alongside Links. Performance shows what queries bring traffic. Inspection confirms a redirect or indexation state on a fixed URL.