How to check backlinks in Google search console

A practical walkthrough for finding backlinks in Google Search Console, exporting link data, and knowing when to go deeper with backlink research.

May 19, 2026Tom ZaragozaSEO Guides

Google Search Console is one of the first places most site owners should check for backlinks. It is free, it uses data from Google, and it can show you which outside sites link to your pages.

It is not a complete backlink database, though. Google says the Links report is a sample of internal and external links, not a comprehensive list of every link to your site. That means it is best used as a starting point: find your top linked pages, export the data, spot patterns, and then do deeper backlink research when you need source-page evidence.

Where backlinks live in Google Search Console

Open Google Search Console, choose the property you want to inspect, and select Links from the left navigation.

The Links report is split into external and internal link sections. For backlink research, focus on External links. These are links from other sites pointing to your property.

Google's official Links report documentation is here: Links report - Search Console Help.

Step 1: Open the External links report

In Search Console, go to:

Links > External links

You will see three useful backlink views:

Top linked pages: the pages on your site that have the most backlinks.
Top linking sites: the outside domains that link to you most often.
Top linking text: the anchor text most commonly used in links to your site.

Start with Top linking sites if your question is "who links to us?" Start with Top linked pages if your question is "which of our pages attract links?"

Step 2: Review top linking sites

Open Top linking sites and click More if you want the full table Search Console provides.

This report groups linking sites by root domain. That means links from subdomains are usually rolled up under the main domain. For example, links from www.example.com and blog.example.com can appear as example.com.

Use this view to answer:

Which domains link to us most often?
Do we recognize the sites in the list?
Are there obvious spam domains?
Are important partners, publications, customers, or communities linking to us?

This report is good for domain-level analysis, but it does not always answer the next question: "which exact page links to us?"

Step 3: Drill into a linked page

To inspect backlinks for a specific page, open Top linked pages, click More, and choose one of your URLs.

From there, Search Console can show the top sites linking to that page. Click a linking site to see source pages Google reports for that site-page relationship.

This is useful when you want to understand why one page is earning links. For example, a guide, product page, calculator, template, or research post might attract very different kinds of backlinks.

Step 4: Check anchor text

Open Top linking text to see the words other sites use when linking to you.

Anchor text can help you understand how the web describes your site. Look for patterns:

Branded anchors, such as your company or product name.
Descriptive anchors, such as the topic of a guide or tool.
Generic anchors, such as "click here" or "website."
Spammy or irrelevant anchors.

If anchor text does not match what your page is actually about, that is a signal to review the linking source and the target page.

Step 5: Export the backlink data

Use the export button in the Links report when you want to analyze the data outside Search Console.

Google's Links report can export link data as CSV or Google Sheets. On the main Links landing page, Google documents two external-link export slices:

Latest links: recently discovered links, up to 100,000 rows.
More sample links: another sample from links Google knows about, also up to 100,000 rows.

For smaller tables inside the report, exports can be limited by the table view. That is why it is usually worth exporting both main external-link files if you are doing a serious backlink review.

What Google Search Console backlinks can and cannot tell you

Search Console is useful because it shows backlink data from Google's perspective, but it has limits.

It can help you find:

Domains linking to your site.
Your most linked pages.
Common anchor text.
Some source pages for specific site-page relationships.
Recent and sampled external links through export.

It cannot reliably give you:

Every backlink on the web.
A complete historical backlink index.
Third-party authority scores.
Rich prospecting filters.
A perfect source-page list for outreach.
A guarantee that a shown link still exists today.

Google notes that the report can include links found over time, even if those links have since been removed or the page no longer exists.

A simple workflow for using GSC backlink data

Here is a practical process:

Open Links > External links.
Export Latest links and More sample links.
Review Top linked pages to see which pages earn links.
Review Top linking sites to identify important domains.
Check Top linking text for branded, descriptive, or spammy anchors.
Pick the most important linking domains and verify the source pages manually.
Group links by opportunity type: editorial mention, directory, resource page, partner, product listing, or spam.
Decide what action to take: preserve the link, reclaim it, build a relationship, update the linked page, or ignore it.

When to use CrawlConsole after GSC

Google Search Console is a strong first stop, especially when you want free backlink data for a site you own. But if you want your AI agents to analyze backlinks, compare competitors, or investigate page-level evidence from a broader backlink dataset, use CrawlConsole alongside GSC.

Start with the AI Backlink Analysis Agent overview, or connect a specific agent:

Use GSC to understand what Google is showing you for your own verified site. Use CrawlConsole when you need deeper backlink workflows, competitor gaps, and agent-ready backlink research.