A backlink checker shows you every page that links to a website - yours or a competitor's - and tells you whether those links help, hurt, or do nothing. It is the fastest way to see why a page outranks you and which links you have lost. This guide covers how backlink checkers work, how to check backlinks for free, how to read a backlink profile, and which tool to pick. For how to earn links once you know the gap, read the link building guide.
What is a backlink checker?
A backlink checker is a tool that crawls the web, records every hyperlink it finds, and lets you query that index by domain or URL. Enter a site and you get its referring domains (unique linking websites), total backlinks (individual links, often many from one site), the anchor text used, whether each link is followed or nofollow, and an authority score for each linking domain - Domain Rating (DR) in Ahrefs, Authority Score in Semrush, Domain Authority (DA) in Moz, Trust Flow in Majestic.
None of these tools sees the web exactly as Google does. Each runs its own crawler and index, so counts differ between them. The glossary entry on backlinks covers the terminology if you are new to off-page SEO.
How to check backlinks for free
Method 1: Google Search Console (your own site)
Search Console is the only backlink checker that shows Google's own data, and it is free. Open your property, click Links in the left menu, and you get top linked pages, top linking sites, top linking text, and internal links. Click Export external links for the full list. Limitations: it only covers sites you own, there are no authority scores, and the data lags the live web by days or weeks.
Method 2: Free tiers of paid backlink checkers (any site)
Every major SEO suite offers a free backlink checker that works on any domain, capped at roughly the top 100 links:
- Ahrefs Backlink Checker - top 100 backlinks, referring domains, DR, and anchor text for any URL.
- Semrush Backlink Analytics - free account, ten requests a day, Authority Score and toxicity flags.
- Moz Link Explorer - ten free queries a month with DA, spam score, and linking domains.
- SE Ranking, Seobility, Majestic - similar samples from smaller or older indexes.
For a quick "who links to this page" answer, the free tiers are enough. For a full backlink audit or a competitor gap analysis you need a paid index. Our best SEO tools roundup shows where each suite fits, and the Google search operators guide covers finding unlinked brand mentions, since the old link: operator no longer works.
Best backlink checker tools compared
| Tool | Free tier | Index strength | Best for | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Unlimited, own site only | Google's own data | Monitoring your site, disavow decisions | Free |
| Ahrefs | Top 100 links per URL | Largest live index, fastest crawl | Competitor analysis, link gap, lost links | $129/mo |
| Semrush | 10 checks/day | Very large, fast updates | Backlink audit with toxicity score, outreach | $139.95/mo |
| Moz Link Explorer | 10 queries/mo | Mid-size | DA checks, spam score, beginners | $49/mo |
| Majestic | Sample only | Deep historical index | Trust Flow, Citation Flow, link history | $49.99/mo |
| SE Ranking | Limited sample | Mid-size | Budget all-in-one with backlink monitor | $65/mo |
Two rules make the choice simple. If you manage one site and mostly need your own links, Search Console plus one free checker is enough. If you sell SEO, publish weekly, or need competitor data, pay for one large index. We compare the two leaders in Ahrefs vs AnotherSEOGuru and Semrush vs AnotherSEOGuru.
How to read a backlink profile
Raw link counts mislead. One site can send 5,000 sitewide footer links and count for less than one editorial mention in a relevant article. Read a backlink checker report in this order:
- Referring domains, not backlinks. Growth in unique linking sites is the metric that correlates with rankings. Ten links from one domain roughly equal one vote.
- Followed vs nofollow ratio. Followed links pass authority. Nofollow, UGC and sponsored links still bring referral traffic and brand signals but little ranking weight.
- Authority distribution. A healthy profile has a long tail of DR 10-40 relevant sites and a few DR 60+ editorial links. All DR 0-5 directories, or all identical DR 50 guest post farms, looks manufactured.
- Anchor text mix. Mostly brand names, URLs, and natural phrases. If 40 percent of anchors are exact-match commercial keywords, Google's link spam systems notice.
- Velocity and lost links. Steady acquisition beats spikes. Check the new and lost reports monthly; a sudden drop usually means a redesign broke URLs, which is a technical SEO fix, not a link building problem.
How to check competitor backlinks (the link gap workflow)
This is where a backlink checker pays for itself. The workflow takes about 30 minutes per keyword cluster:
- Search your target keyword and note the top 5 ranking URLs.
- Paste each URL into the backlink checker and export referring domains, filtered to followed links from sites with organic traffic above 500.
- Run the link intersect or backlink gap report with your domain as the target. Sites linking to two or more competitors but not to you are warm prospects.
- Sort by referring-domain traffic and relevance, discard directories, scrapers and PBN-looking networks, and you have an outreach list.
- Read the linking pages and note why they linked - a statistic, a tool, a guide, an expert quote - then build the asset that earns the same link. Skipping this step is why most outreach fails.
Pair the list with keyword research so you chase links for pages that can actually rank once the authority gap closes.
Backlink audit: finding toxic backlinks
Every backlink checker now sells a "toxic score", and most of it is noise. Google has said repeatedly that it ignores spammy links it does not trust, so the average site never needs a disavow file. A backlink audit is still worth doing once or twice a year for three reasons:
- Manual actions. An "unnatural links" penalty in Search Console means you must identify and disavow the paid or scheme links, then file reconsideration.
- Negative SEO or hacked-site spam. Thousands of adult, gambling or pharma links appearing in a week are worth documenting and disavowing as a precaution.
- Your own past mistakes. Old paid link packages, PBNs, or widget links with exact-match anchors are the one category worth removing proactively.
How to run it: export all referring domains, sort by lowest DR and highest link count, and manually review anything with spam patterns (foreign-language link farms, no organic traffic, hundreds of outbound links per page). Only then create a domain-level disavow file. Never upload a tool's auto-generated toxic list - you will disavow legitimate links and lose rankings. A professional SEO audit includes this review with the disavow decision made for you.
Backlink monitoring and common mistakes
A backlink checker used once is a snapshot. Used monthly, it is an early-warning system. Turn on new and lost referring-domain alerts, reclaim lost links first (fixing a broken URL usually restores the link), and report links next to the organic traffic trend so they are judged by what they moved.
Four mistakes waste the most time:
- Comparing counts across tools. Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz will never agree. Pick one and track the trend.
- Chasing DA or DR alone. A DR 70 site your customers never read is worth less than a DR 30 niche publication with real traffic.
- Disavowing on a toxicity score. This causes more ranking losses than it prevents.
- Auditing links before fixing the site. If the free SEO audit shows indexation problems or the internal linking audit shows orphan pages, fix those first.
FAQ
What is a backlink checker?
A tool that lists the pages linking to a domain or URL, with referring domains, anchor text, follow status, and linking-site authority. Search Console, Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz and Majestic are the main options.
How do I check backlinks for free?
Use Google Search Console's Links report for your own site. For any other domain, the free versions of Ahrefs, Semrush or Moz show the top links and referring domains.
How do I check competitor backlinks?
Enter the competitor URL in a backlink checker, export followed referring domains with real traffic, then run a link gap report against your own domain.
How many backlinks do I have?
Search Console gives Google's count under Links. Third-party checkers differ because each has its own index. Track referring domains over time, not the raw number.
How many backlinks do I need?
Compare your referring domains to the top 5 pages ranking for your keyword. The gap in relevant, followed referring domains is what you need to close.
What is a toxic backlink and should I disavow it?
A link from spam, hacked or link-scheme sites. Google ignores most of them; disavow only with a manual action or clear evidence of paid link schemes.
Which backlink checker is most accurate?
Ahrefs has the largest live index, Semrush the fastest updates, Majestic the deepest history, Moz the easiest free option. Pair Search Console with one paid tool.
Ready to turn the backlink gap into a plan?
Run the checker, export the competitor gap, and bring it to us. We start with a full SEO audit, map the pages worth promoting, and run white-hat link building that closes the gap with links your buyers actually see. Review pricing or get started with your money pages and competitor list.