Free backlink checker
Paste the page your link should be on and the domain it should point to. You'll see whether the link is live, what its anchor text is, and whether it's dofollow or nofollow — read from the page as it is right now.
Check a backlink
What the check reports
Whether the link is there at all
Every anchor in the HTML the server sends is read and matched against your domain, including subdomains. If nothing matches, the link has been removed or was never placed.
Whether it is followed
The rel attribute on each matching link is reported — nofollow, sponsored, and ugc all stop a link passing ranking signal.
The anchor text
The visible text of each link, so you can confirm the placement uses the anchor that was agreed rather than a bare URL or the brand name.
Page-level directives
A noindex or a page-wide nofollow — set in the markup or in the X-Robots-Tag header — overrides every link on the page, so both are checked and reported.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a dofollow and a nofollow link?
A dofollow link passes ranking signal to the page it points at. A nofollow link — marked rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" — tells search engines not to count it. Both send real visitors; only one contributes to how the target page ranks.
The publisher said the link would be dofollow, but this says nofollow. What now?
The rel attribute is set in the page markup, so the check reflects what is actually published rather than what was agreed. Send the publisher the page URL and ask them to remove the rel attribute from your link. If a paid placement is marked sponsored, that is correct disclosure and it will not pass signal by design.
What does it mean if the page is noindex?
A noindex page is one search engines are told to keep out of their results. A link on a page that is never indexed passes nothing, even when the link itself is dofollow. It is worth checking before you chase a rel attribute.
Does the checker follow redirects?
Yes. If the URL you enter redirects, the check runs against the page it lands on and the result tells you which page that was. A placement that now redirects elsewhere is worth knowing about on its own.
Do subdomains count as a match?
Yes. Entering example.com also matches links to blog.example.com or shop.example.com, and each result shows the exact hostname the link points at, so a match on an unexpected subdomain is visible rather than hidden.
Does it work on pages that build their content with JavaScript?
No. The check reads the HTML the server sends, the same way a crawler does on its first pass, and does not run the page’s JavaScript. A link inserted by a framework after load will not be found, so it reads as missing. Most publisher sites are server-rendered and unaffected, but if you know the page builds its content in the browser, view the source and search it by hand instead.
Is there a limit on how many pages I can check?
The tool is rate limited to a small number of checks a minute per visitor, which is enough for checking placements by hand and not enough to run a crawl through it. There is no account required and no daily quota.
Tired of checking whether links stayed live?
On Serpverse every placement carries the publisher's own commitment to keep it live, your payment is held until you approve the content, and a link removed later is grounds for a dispute.