How to Check Your Backlinks in SEMrush Free
Share
SEMrush offers a free account tier with access to their Backlink Analytics tool. You can check referring domains for any site — not just your own — and export a CSV, though the free tier caps the number of results. Here's how to use it.
Step 1: Create a free SEMrush account
Go to semrush.com and create a free account. Unlike Ahrefs, SEMrush doesn't require you to verify site ownership — you can look up any domain on the free tier, though with limited results.
Step 2: Open Backlink Analytics
In the left-hand menu, find Link Building and click Backlink Analytics. Enter your domain and click Analyse.
Step 3: Navigate to Referring Domains
In the Backlink Analytics report, click the Referring Domains tab. This shows you the domains linking to your site, with Authority Score (SEMrush's equivalent of Domain Rating), the number of backlinks, and follow/nofollow status.
Step 4: Export the CSV
Click the Export button at the top right of the table. On the free tier, SEMrush limits the number of rows in the export. You'll get a CSV file with the referring domain, Authority Score, number of backlinks, and link attributes.
Step 5: Paste into the analyser
Open the CSV, select all content, and paste it into the free backlink analyser. Select SEMrush CSV as the format and click Analyse.
The tool reads the domain column from the SEMrush export and classifies each referring domain — editorial, directory, platform or spam — with a plain-English explanation.
Free tier limitations
The SEMrush free tier limits how many rows you can export and how many reports you can run per day. For a small business site with a moderate backlink profile, it's usually enough to get a useful snapshot. If you need more depth, combine it with a free Ahrefs export and your Google Search Console data.
Together, the three sources give you a solid picture of your backlink profile without paying for a professional subscription.