How Do I Find Backlinks to My Website? (Free and Paid Ways to Check)

To find the backlinks pointing to your website, start with Google Search Console — it's free, straight from Google, and lists the sites linking to you under Links → Top linking sites. For a fuller picture, a dedicated backlink tool like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz shows more links plus quality metrics. Between the two, you can see exactly who links to you and how much each link helps.

The fastest free way: Google Search Console

If you own the site, Search Console is the first place to look because it reports links Google itself has recorded:

Verify your site in Google Search Console (free).
Open the Links report in the left menu.
Check Top linking sites (which domains link to you), Top linked pages (your most-linked URLs), and Top linking text (the anchor text others use).

The catch: Search Console shows a sample, not every link, and gives you no quality score. It answers "who links to me?" but not "how good are those links?" For that, you need a dedicated tool.

Dedicated backlink checkers (more complete)

Backlink tools crawl the web independently and usually surface more links than Search Console, plus metrics on each. The main options:

Ahrefs — the largest link index; excellent for depth. Paid, with a limited free Webmaster Tools tier for your own verified site.
Semrush — strong all-round SEO suite with a solid backlink audit.
Moz Link Explorer — good for domain authority-style scoring.
Free checkers (Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker, Ubersuggest) — show a capped sample, fine for a quick look.

What these add over Search Console:

Authority metrics for each linking domain, so you can tell strong links from weak ones.
Dofollow vs nofollow status — whether a link passes ranking signals. See dofollow vs nofollow links.
New and lost links over time, so you can spot links that disappeared.

How to check a competitor's backlinks

The same tools let you enter any domain, not just your own — one of the most useful moves in SEO. Plug a competitor's URL into Ahrefs or Semrush and you'll see who links to them. Those sites already link within your niche, which makes them warm prospects for your own links. Sort by relevance and authority, and you've got a ready-made outreach list.

What to do with the backlinks you find

Finding your links is only step one. Use the data to:

Audit quality. Lots of links from irrelevant or spammy sites? Those can be bad backlinks worth watching. A handful of relevant, authoritative links is worth more than hundreds of junk ones.
Find your best-performing content. Your most-linked pages show what earns links — make more like them.
Spot gaps. Compare your profile to competitors' to see where you're behind.
Protect what works. Watch for lost links and reach out to reclaim important ones.

Found out you don't have many links?

Most newer sites run this check and discover the real problem: not finding backlinks, but having too few. Checking is easy; building is the work. Once you know where you stand, the next step is earning relevant, in-content links — and doing it deliberately rather than waiting years for organic ones.

That's what Backlinkster is built for. It matches you with real site owners in related niches to swap verified in-content links and confirms by code that each one stays live — so the next time you run a backlink check, there's actually something new to find. Pair the checking tools above with a steady link-building habit and your profile grows on purpose, not by luck.

The bottom line

Use Google Search Console for a free, Google-sourced list of who links to you, and add a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush when you need quality metrics and competitor data. Checking your backlinks takes minutes; the value comes from acting on what you find — auditing quality, copying what earns links, and building more of the relevant, in-content links that actually move rankings.