Check a site
Backlink status checker
Paste the pages that should link to you and see, for each one, whether the link is still there, whether it's followed, and whether the page itself can be indexed.
Free · No signup · Reads public pages only
How it works
Enter your website and paste up to 20 pages that link to it, one per line.
We open each page, find every link pointing at your site, and read its rel value, the page's robots tag and its canonical.
You get a verdict per page. Your list stays in this browser, so next month you can re-check it in one click and see what changed.
Why links you earned go missing
Links you earned through outreach, guest posts, partnerships, PR or a directory listing don't stay put. Pages get redesigned and the link is dropped. An editor tidies up old posts. A site moves to a new platform and its archive disappears. A link you paid for quietly becomes nofollow once the campaign ends. Nobody tells you, and most backlink databases take weeks to notice.
If you keep a list of the links that matter (the ones from real publications, partners and customers), checking them yourself every month or two is the only way to know they're still doing their job. This backlink status checker does that check in one go.
What each verdict means
- Live and followed: the link is on the page and nothing tells search engines to ignore it.
- Live, not followed: every link to you carries rel="nofollow", "sponsored" or "ugc". Google treats these as hints rather than votes, so the link may pass little or no ranking value.
- Live, page hidden: the link is there, but the page has a noindex tag or a canonical pointing to a different page. Search engines may drop the page, and the link with it.
- Link missing: the page loads but no longer links to you.
- Page gone: the page returns 404 or 410.
- Couldn't check: the site blocked us, rate-limited us or timed out. Open the page yourself to be sure.
Anchor text is shown too: the clickable words of the link. If an image is the link, you'll see that instead. A link from "click here" still counts; a descriptive anchor helps readers and search engines understand what's on the other side.
What to do about a lost or changed link
If a link disappeared in a redesign, write to the site owner. Keep it short: say which page used to link to you, where, and the address it should point to now. Owners often restore a link that was dropped by accident, especially when the page it pointed to still exists.
If the page linking to you is gone, check whether the site moved it. Search the site for its old title. If the new page still mentions you without a link, that's a friendly, easy request.
If your own page moved and the link now hits a redirect, it still works, but a direct link is cleaner. Ask for an update only when the link matters; one redirect is fine. If it lands on a 404, fix that on your side first with a 301 redirect: that recovers the link without asking anyone.
A nofollow or sponsored tag on a paid placement is correct and expected. Google asks for paid links to be marked that way, so don't ask a publisher to remove it.
What this checker can't see
It reads each page's HTML the way a crawler does, before JavaScript runs. Most links are in the HTML, but some sites inject them later with scripts, and some show content only to logged-in visitors. If a page says "missing" and you can see the link in your browser, that's probably why.
It also can't tell you about links you don't know about. To find new and lost links across the whole web you need a backlink index, such as the links report in Google Search Console (free, for your own site) or a paid tool. This checker is for the shortlist you already care about.
Some sites block automated visitors outright, so you'll see "couldn't check" for them. That isn't a verdict about the link, just a gap in what we could read.
Questions people ask
Is a nofollow link worthless?
No. Since 2019 Google treats nofollow, sponsored and ugc as hints, not strict rules, and these links still send visitors. They're just less likely to pass ranking value than a followed link.
Where is my list saved?
In your browser's local storage, on this device only. We don't keep it on our servers. Clear your browser data, or use a private window, and it's gone.
How often should I check my backlinks?
Monthly is plenty for most sites, and right after any link-building campaign ends. Links from partners and press are worth checking after their sites are redesigned.
Why does a page I can open show "couldn't check"?
Its server refused or slowed down our request, usually because of bot protection. Your browser looks like a person, so it gets through. Check those pages by hand.
Is this backlink status checker free?
Yes. No signup. Check up to 20 linking pages at a time, as often as you need.
Want it done for you?
Romeo keeps the pages your links point to worth linking to
He checks that linked pages stay live, fast and indexable, redirects pages that move so their links keep counting, and improves the content people link to. You approve every change.
