agentlinkopsBroken backlinks: find and fix links that point nowhere
A broken backlink still exists but leads to an error. Find which side broke, fix the links you control with a redirect and keep them apart from lost links.
A broken backlink is a link that still sits on another site but leads to a page that fails. The publisher kept your link. The address it points to no longer works. That makes it a different problem from a lost backlink, and usually an easier one to fix.
Broken versus lost
The two get mixed up because both show up as "a link that stopped working". They need different fixes:
| Broken backlink | Lost backlink | |
|---|---|---|
| Is the link on the source page? | Yes | No |
| What failed | The destination: your page returns an error | The source: the link was removed from a page that still loads |
| Who can fix it | Usually you, with a redirect | The publisher |
| First step | Check your own page | Confirm the loss with a second full check |
Keep them apart in your records. A broken backlink counted as lost sends you to an editor who did nothing wrong. A lost link counted as broken sends you looking for a redirect that won't help.
Why your end breaks
Most broken backlinks start on your own site:
- You changed a URL without redirecting the old one.
- You deleted or merged a page.
- A site migration changed paths or dropped trailing slashes.
- A redirect chain grew long or ended in an error.
Google doesn't use content from URLs that return a 4xx status, and drops those URLs from its index over time. So while your page stays broken, visitors who follow the link hit an error, and the page itself can drop out of Google.
Find your broken backlinks
You need two observations that most tools blend together: whether the link is still on the source page, and whether the page it points to still works.
- List the links you've earned, each with its source page and the exact page it points to.
- Check each source page for the link.
- Separately, check each destination page: does it load, redirect or fail?
- Flag the links that are present on the source but point at a failing destination.
AgentLinkOps keeps these as separate observations. Source checks record whether your link is on the page. Destination checks record whether your page still answers. A failing destination never counts as a lost source link. Backlink monitoring covers both, and the redirect chain guide shows how to read each hop.
Fix them
For a broken backlink you control:
- Redirect the old address to the closest live page with a permanent server-side redirect, as Google recommends. Every link to that address starts working again, with no one else involved.
- Restore the page if it was removed by mistake.
- Ask the publisher to update the link only when no sensible redirect target exists. A short note with the old and new address is enough.
Then check the destination again to confirm it loads, and keep the dated result with the link's history.
Broken links on other sites
Broken links that point to other sites are a link-building tactic of their own: find a dead resource on a relevant page and suggest your page as the replacement. That is broken link building, and it needs different evidence. See evidence to collect for broken link building.
Sources
- Redirects and Google Search · Google Search Central · 2026-04-14
- How HTTP status codes, and network and DNS errors affect Google Search · Google Search Central · 2026-02-04