Check backlinks in Google Search Console, table by table

If you want to check backlinks in Google Search Console, everything lives in one place: the Links report. It is free, it comes from Google's own crawl, and it is the only place Google shows link data at all. It is also easy to misread. This is a table-by-table reference for developers who need the numbers right, plus what to reach for when the report runs out.

Getting there

Open Search Console, choose the property, and click Links in the left menu. The page splits into external links (from other sites) and internal links (within your site). Backlinks are the external half. You need a verified property; there is no way to open this report for a domain you don't control.

The three external tables

Top linked pages. Your URLs ranked by how many outside links point at them. Use it to see which pages earn links on their own, and which URLs you must never break.

Top linking sites. Root domains that link to you, ranked by volume. Click a domain to see which of your pages it links to, then click again to see the exact pages on its side that hold the link.

Top linking text. The words used in links from outside your property. Links without words, such as image links, show up as "(empty)".

Every table is capped at 1,000 rows on screen.

Exports and their limits

Exports go to CSV or Google Sheets. Load the Latest links file into a script and you can group by domain, find which pages pick up new links, and count linking sites rather than raw rows.

Four gaps to keep in mind

1. It is a sample. Google's help page says the report is not a comprehensive list of every link and that some URLs, such as non-indexed pages or deduped URLs, may be left out.
2. Old links linger. The report keeps links found over time, so some may already be gone from the linking page.
3. No rel values. It does not say whether a link is nofollow, sponsored or ugc. Google treats all three as hints, so the difference matters when you weigh a link.
4. No lost-link warning. Nothing tells you when a strong site drops its link.

For gap 4, a cheap habit works: every few months, take the top 20 rows of Top linking sites and confirm the links still exist. For gap 3, open the linking page and inspect the rel attribute on the <a> tag.

When you need another view

Search Console never shows anyone else's links, and it gives no spam or strength estimate. For those, a third-party checker is the way. seogeoaeo.ai's Backlink Finder is the one we recommend for this job: it takes any public domain and, for 70 credits, returns the 100 strongest linking sites with a 0 to 1,000 link rank, link count, first-seen date, followed share and a spam score out of 100 (40 or more is marked likely spam). It also returns 50 grouped link texts and the total number of linking sites.

Two cautions when you put the two side by side. First, the counts will not agree. Each checker runs its own crawler with its own rules for dead links, spam and sitewide links, so compare your site against others inside one tool, not against your Search Console total. Second, Backlink Finder works per domain, not per page, and does not read Search Console, so keep the Links report for page-level detail on your own site.

The tool also runs over REST and MCP with the same price, so a script or coding agent can pull a monthly snapshot into your repo. A full link suite is the better buy only if you need every link with years of history.

Checking your linked pages still load

A link to a page that now returns 404 helps no one. Export Top linked pages, paste the URLs into the HTTP Status Bulk Checker (20 credits a run), and it returns each URL's status, redirect target and timing. Add redirects for anything broken.

What the report does not mean

A long list of junk domains in Top linking sites is normal for any site that ranks. Google's disavow guidance says most sites will not need the disavow tool and reserves it for a considerable number of spammy or artificial links tied to a manual action, actual or likely. If you have not bought links and have no manual action, leave it alone.

For the full walkthrough of both routes, see how to check backlinks to any site.