Ask how does PageRank work and most answers fall into one of two camps. One treats it as a relic from the late 1990s that Google retired along with the green toolbar bar. The other treats it as the master signal behind every ranking. Both are wrong, and the gap between them is where the useful lessons sit.
The short version: PageRank is still in use, it is one signal among hundreds, and you can no longer see it. That last point matters more than it sounds, because a score you cannot see is a score you cannot chase, and the chasing was what made the old toolbar number so misleading.
How does PageRank work?
The concept is simple enough to state without a formula. PageRank treats a link from one page to another as a vote. Not every vote counts the same: a link from a page that is itself important carries more weight than a link from a page nobody links to. So a page’s importance depends on the importance of the pages linking to it, which in turn depends on the pages linking to them.
The second half of the idea is that a page’s value is shared across the links it makes. A page with three outgoing links passes more to each of them than the same page would if it had three hundred. That is why a link buried in a long footer list or a sprawling directory page tends to be worth less than a link in a short, focused article, even when both pages look equally strong.
Put together, those two rules describe a graph where value flows along links and pools on the pages that collect the most well-sourced votes. That is the whole mechanism at the level that is useful for practical work. The precise maths in the original research is interesting history, but it is not what Google runs today, and quoting its constants tells you nothing about current rankings.
Is the PageRank algorithm Google still runs the same signal?
Google stopped showing PageRank publicly in its toolbar. About a year later, in February 2017, Google’s Gary Illyes tweeted a reminder, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable: “DYK that after 18 years we’re still using PageRank (and 100s of other signals) in ranking?”
Two parts of that sentence deserve equal attention. “Still using PageRank” settles the question of whether it survived. “100s of other signals” settles the question of how much it matters on its own. Google’s SEO Starter Guide makes the same point in plainer terms: “While PageRank uses links and is one of the fundamental algorithms at Google, there’s much more to Google Search than just links.”
Nobody outside Google knows how far the current version has drifted from the original. Google has not published it. What can be said with confidence is that the link-as-vote model is still part of the system, and that it sits alongside the content, intent and behaviour signals covered in our overview of how Google ranks websites.
| Claim | What the record shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PageRank was retired | “we’re still using PageRank” in ranking | Gary Illyes, via Search Engine Roundtable, Feb 2017 |
| PageRank is the main ranking factor | It works alongside “100s of other signals” | Same tweet |
| You can still check your PageRank | Google removed the public toolbar score about a year before the tweet | Search Engine Roundtable |
| Links are all that matters | “there’s much more to Google Search than just links” | Google SEO Starter Guide |
Why the toolbar score did more harm than good
A public number invites optimisation of the number. Once site owners could see a score for any page, links were bought, sold and swapped on the strength of it, and the score became a currency rather than a measurement. Removing it took away the price tag without removing the underlying signal.
The same trap now applies to third-party authority scores. Domain-level metrics from tool vendors try to approximate the link graph, and they are useful for sorting prospects. They are not PageRank, and Google does not read them. We go into that distinction in our piece on whether Domain Rating matters. Treat any such score as a rough proxy for the shape of the graph, not as the thing Google measures.
What the PageRank algorithm means for your links
The useful part of PageRank is not the score but the logic. Three practical consequences follow directly from the vote-and-share model.
Internal links move value around your own site. Your homepage and your most-linked articles collect the most external votes. Every internal link from them shares some of that value with the pages they point to. A page that sits five clicks deep with no contextual links pointing at it is cut off from that flow. Our guide to internal linking for SEO covers how to route links deliberately rather than leaving it to your navigation.
Fewer, better links beat more links. Because a page’s value is split across its outgoing links, one link from a focused, well-linked article usually outweighs several from bloated link pages. This is the arithmetic behind the advice to ignore volume targets and judge each link on the page it comes from.
Not every link passes a vote. Links marked nofollow, sponsored or ugc are hints to Google about whether to count them. Our explainer on nofollow links sets out what those attributes do and do not pass, and how to use them on your own pages.
The limits of what we know
The honest position is that the concept is public and the implementation is not. The vote-and-share model above is how PageRank was designed to work, and Google has confirmed the signal is still in use. How it is weighted today, how it interacts with spam detection, and how much any single link contributes are not things Google reports, and no external tool can measure them. Anyone quoting a precise PageRank figure for a page today is guessing.
That limitation cuts in a useful direction. If you cannot see the score, the only sound strategy is the one the concept itself recommends: earn links from relevant, well-linked pages, link internally to the pages you want to rank, and stop paying attention to anyone selling a number. That advice held when the toolbar was visible, and it holds now that it is gone.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google still use PageRank?
Yes. In February 2017 Google’s Gary Illyes said Google was “still using PageRank (and 100s of other signals) in ranking”, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable.
Can I check my PageRank score?
No. Google stopped showing PageRank publicly in its toolbar, and there is no official way to see it. Third-party authority scores are approximations, not PageRank.
How does PageRank work in simple terms?
Links act as votes, weighted by the importance of the linking page. Each page shares its value across the links it makes, so a link from a strong page with few outgoing links counts for more.
Is PageRank the most important ranking factor?
Google has not said so. Its own Starter Guide calls PageRank one of the fundamental algorithms but adds that there is much more to Google Search than just links.
The takeaway PageRank lost its public score, not its place in ranking. Its logic, votes weighted by importance and shared across outgoing links, is still the best guide to internal linking and to judging which external links are worth earning.
