Search Console Links Report: Internal and External Links

#01What does the report contain?

From Google's Links report help:

#02How should marketers use it?

• Internal linking: important pages should be well linked from related content.
• PR and partnerships: top linking sites show who already references you; good outreach targets.
• Content that earns links: top linked pages tell you which formats get cited.

Our view: use the Links report for internal linking and PR ideas, not for link-building metrics. It isn't designed to be a complete backlink database.

#03What to do with the data

#04Troubleshooting

#05An internal linking workflow

1. Export Internal links (Top linked pages). It lists your pages with how many internal links point to each.
2. Join it with your key-pages list and with Performance clicks for the same URLs.
3. Flag key pages in the bottom third of internal link counts.
4. Find linking opportunities: in Search Console Performance, filter Queries by the key page's topic with regex, then look at which other pages rank for those queries. Those pages should link to the key page.
5. Add 2-5 contextual links per key page with descriptive anchor text.
6. Recheck next month. Link counts update after Google recrawls the linking pages.

#06Using external link data for PR

#07Edge cases

• Redirected targets. Links to URLs that redirect are credited to the target in many cases, but the report may show either. Check both.
• www vs non-www. A URL-prefix property only shows links to that version. Use a Domain property.
• Sitewide links. A footer link counts from every page, so navigation-heavy pages dominate internal counts. Focus on contextual links in body content.
• Sudden drop in linking sites. Often a sampling change rather than real loss. Check a few known links before worrying.
• Spam domains. Google ignores most spammy links. The disavow tool is for rare cases, such as a manual action for unnatural links, and misuse can harm you.

#08An AI-era angle

Pages that earn external links from trusted sites tend to be the ones AI features rely on, because they're well discovered and well understood. Cross-check your top externally linked pages against the generative AI report (lesson 7): pages strong on both are your most resilient assets.

#09Questions practitioners ask

How often does the Links report update? It reflects Google's crawl of linking pages, so changes appear gradually.

Should anchor text match the target keyword exactly? For internal links, descriptive and natural is best. Avoid repeating the same exact phrase everywhere.

Is a high internal link count always good? Not if the links come only from navigation. Contextual links in relevant content carry more meaning.

#10Ledgerline walkthrough: a PR win from the report

1. The PR manager exported Top linking sites and spotted an industry association linking to a retired research page.
2. The content team published an updated study and redirected the old URL.
3. The PR manager emailed the association with the new URL and offered a short summary for its members.
4. The SEO lead annotated the publication date and checked the Links report the following month.

#11Troubleshooting the Links report

#12Internal linking checklist for a key page

• Linked from at least one relevant hub or category page.
• Linked from two or three related articles with descriptive anchors.
• Not orphaned: appears in the sitemap and in navigation or a hub.
• Links point to the final URL, not a redirect.

#13Where this fits in the monthly routine

Once a month, export Top linking sites and compare with last month. Share new referring domains with PR, and give the content team any key page whose internal link count has fallen.

#14Terms used in this lesson

• Referring domain: a site that links to yours.
• Anchor text: the clickable words of a link.
• Orphan page: a page with no internal links pointing to it.
• Contextual link: a link inside body content, not navigation.

#15Quick checks before you move on

• You exported Top linking sites and Top linked pages.
• Each key page has at least two contextual internal links.
• PR has the list of new referring domains.
• Internal links to redirected URLs are on a fix list.

#16Worked example: Ledgerline's internal links

Ledgerline is a fictional accounts-payable software company. Details and numbers are illustrative.

Ledgerline's new AP automation guide had very few internal links compared with older blog posts. The content team added links from five related glossary entries and the product page. A month later, the guide appeared in the internal links table near the top.

Walkthrough

1. Open Links in the left menu.
2. Under External links, click More on Top linked pages and sort by linking sites.
3. Under Top linking sites, review the domains.
4. Under Internal links, click More and find your key pages.
5. Export each table.
6. Note key pages with low internal link counts.

#17Try it yourself

Find your 10 most important pages in the internal links table. For any with fewer internal links than average, add two contextual links from relevant pages. Recheck in a month.

#18Quick quiz

1. Does the Links report show nofollow?

Answer: No.

2. Is the external links list complete?

Answer: No. It's a sample.

3. What is the table row limit?

Answer: 1,000 rows.

4. Which links can marketers most easily improve?

Answer: Internal links.

#19What should you check before the next lesson?

• You exported external and internal link tables.
• You found key pages with weak internal links.
• You have a list of linking sites for PR.
• Read How Google ranking influences AI answers.

Next: Crawl stats and removals. Or return to the Search Console for Marketers track.

#20Common questions

Should I disavow links found in the report? Usually no. Google ignores most spammy links. Disavow is for rare manual action cases.

Does the report show new or lost links? No. It shows current samples, not changes over time.

Do links matter for AI answers? Links help Google discover and understand pages, and internal links help important pages get crawled.