The Google Search Console links report is the only link data that comes from Google itself, which gives it an authority it does not fully deserve. People treat it as the definitive list of who links to them, then wonder why a link they built last month is missing or why a dead link still shows. Both are expected. The report was never designed to be complete, and reading it well starts with knowing what it leaves out.
What the links report shows
Open Links in the left-hand menu and you get two columns. The external side has three tables: “Top linked pages”, “Top linking sites” and “Top linking text”. The internal side lists the pages on your own site that receive the most internal links. Each table has a More link that opens the full view, and from there you can drill into a single page or site to see where its links come from.
Google’s Links report documentation is direct about the scope: “This report isn’t a comprehensive list of every link on your site. It shows a sample of internal and external links.” That sentence is the most important thing to know about the report, and it is the one most guides skip.
How to check backlinks in Google Search Console
For a quick look at who links to you, start with Top linking sites. It lists linking domains, which is a more useful unit than individual links because one site can link to you hundreds of times from a sitewide footer. Click a domain to see which of your pages it links to.
Top linked pages answers the reverse question: which of your URLs attract the most external links. It is a fast way to find the pages carrying your authority, which are the ones to protect during a redesign and the ones worth linking out from internally.
For anything beyond a glance, export. The export menu offers Latest Links and More Sample Links, and these can run to many more rows than the on-screen tables. Pull the export into a spreadsheet, group the linking URLs by domain, and you have a working list you can sort, filter and annotate, which the interface does not let you do.
One habit worth building: export on a fixed schedule and keep the files. The report only shows the current sample, with no history view, so a dated archive of exports is the only way to look back at what Google was reporting three or six months ago. Treat the comparison with care, for the reasons in the next section, but having the files beats having nothing when someone asks what changed.
The limits, in one table
Every limitation below comes from Google’s own help page. Together they explain most of the confusion people have with the report.
| Limit | What Google says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | “It shows a sample of internal and external links.” | Missing links are not proof a link does not exist |
| Table size | “Tables are limited to 1,000 rows” | Large sites see only the top of each list on screen |
| Export size | Up to 100,000 rows for Latest Links and More Sample Links | Export for analysis; the screen view truncates |
| Link attributes | Does not say whether links are nofollow | You cannot separate followed from nofollowed links here |
| Freshness | Does not say whether links still exist | Removed links can linger in the sample |
| Omitted URLs | Leaves out some URLs, such as non-indexed or deduplicated pages | Links to duplicates may be counted against the canonical, or not at all |
The nofollow gap matters more than it looks. A large count of linking text from one forum, for example, could be entirely nofollowed comment links. The report will not tell you. See our piece on nofollow links for why the distinction still matters to how you value a link profile.
Where the Google Search Console links report is genuinely useful
The received wisdom is that Search Console’s link data is too thin to bother with. That undersells it. For two jobs it is the best free source available, precisely because it reflects what Google has actually processed.
Anchor text
Top linking text shows the words other sites use to link to you. If it is dominated by your brand name and bare URLs, that is a normal, natural profile. If exact-match commercial phrases are near the top, that pattern is worth understanding before it becomes a problem. Our guide to anchor text covers what a healthy distribution looks like.
Internal link distribution
The internal links table is the more actionable half. Sort it and look at the bottom as well as the top. Pages you care about that receive few internal links are telling you where your site structure fails them. Commercial pages that sit three clicks deep with a handful of internal links are a common finding. The fix is in internal linking for SEO.
When to use a third-party tool instead
For complete backlink data, a crawler-based backlink tool is the better instrument. It will show nofollow status, first-seen and lost dates, and the referring page’s own metrics, none of which Search Console provides. Those tools have their own blind spots, because no third-party crawler sees the whole web, but they are built for auditing in a way this report is not.
A sensible split looks like this. Use Search Console for anchor text patterns, internal link distribution and a sanity check that Google is seeing the links you think matter. Use a backlink tool for counting referring domains, tracking new and lost links, and assessing link quality. If you are trying to work out how many links a page needs to compete, our piece on how many backlinks you need starts from the competing pages rather than from your own report.
The limitation to keep in mind: because the report is a sample, you cannot use it to measure change over time with any confidence. A drop in the number of linking sites between two exports may be the sample shifting rather than links disappearing. Treat movements as a prompt to check, not as a finding.
The same applies to the disavow question. People sometimes scroll Top linking sites, find domains they do not recognise, and assume they need to act. Usually they do not; our view on whether toxic backlinks matter explains why. Read the report for patterns, verify anything important elsewhere, and do not read a sample as a census.
Frequently asked questions
Does the links report show all my backlinks?
No. Google says it “isn’t a comprehensive list of every link on your site. It shows a sample of internal and external links.”
Why is a link I know exists missing from the report?
Because the report is a sample, and it omits some URLs, such as non-indexed or deduplicated pages. A missing link is not evidence Google ignores it.
Can I see nofollow links in Search Console?
No. The report does not say whether a link is nofollow, or whether it still exists. Use a third-party backlink tool for that.
How many rows can I export?
On-screen tables are limited to 1,000 rows. Exports of Latest Links and More Sample Links can include up to 100,000 rows.
The takeaway Use the links report for anchor text and internal link distribution, where Google’s own view is valuable. Use a backlink tool for counting, auditing and tracking links.
