How to Check Your Backlinks in Google Search Console (Free)
Share
Google Search Console shows the links Google knows about pointing to your website, and it costs nothing. You need a Google account and a verified property. Open the Links report, click Export and choose Latest links or More sample links: each gives up to 100,000 rows as a CSV file or a Google Sheet.
Before you start
Search Console only shows data for websites you have verified you own, or that an owner has given you access to. If you haven’t set it up yet, Google’s Search Console Help walks through the verification options.
Step 1: Open the Links report
Go to search.google.com/search-console, choose your property and click Links in the left-hand menu. The report is split into External links (other websites linking to you) and Internal links (links between your own pages).
Step 2: Look at Top linking sites
Under External links, the Top linking sites table lists the domains linking to you. Tables in the report show at most 1,000 rows, so use the full export below for anything bigger.
Step 3: Export your links
Click Export at the top right of the Links report and choose one of two options:
- Latest links: the most recently discovered links to your site, up to 100,000 rows, sorted by discovery date.
- More sample links: a sample from the full set of links Google knows about, up to 100,000 rows.
Choose CSV or Google Sheets. For a first look, Latest links is the most useful.
Step 4: Paste it into the analyser
Open the file, select everything and copy it. In the free backlink analyser, choose the GSC Latest Links format, paste, and click Analyse backlinks. It pulls out each linking domain, classifies it and gives you a breakdown of your link profile. A More sample links export works the same way.
What Search Console doesn’t show
Search Console reports a sample of the links Google has found and chosen to show, not every link on the web, and each export stops at 100,000 rows. A crawler such as Ahrefs or Semrush will often list links that Search Console doesn’t. That makes Search Console a clean but partial view. For another angle, see how to get referring domains from Ahrefs or Semrush on their free plans.
Open the free backlink analyser
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Search Console free?
Yes. You need a Google account and a property you have verified as the owner, or one an owner has given you access to.
How many backlinks can I export from Search Console?
Up to 100,000 rows with each export option, Latest links or More sample links. Tables inside the report show at most 1,000 rows.
Why doesn’t Search Console show all my backlinks?
It reports a sample of the links Google has found, not every link on the web. A crawler such as Ahrefs or Semrush may list links that Search Console doesn’t, and the other way round.