Verify and repair backlinks

Check the publisher's hyperlink and your destination separately. A link can remain present while its destination fails; a live source page can omit a link; an incomplete request can establish neither. The repair depends on which observation you can support.

Identify which side changed

Keep source, exact target, match scope and last positive observation. A wanted prospect that never linked to you cannot become a lost placement. An unavailable source has its own availability finding; it does not establish what a readable article would contain.

Read the complete source

Follow the source's redirects, then inspect its title, body and relevant section. HTTP 200 may be a loading shell, error page or unrelated category. Response length is a clue, not proof of completeness. Search for the actual destination as well as the former anchor text.

Check relative hyperlinks against the page's effective base URL. Compare exact-page and domain matches explicitly; do not broaden the match silently to make a result pass. A domain in a script, comment or unused template is not a hyperlink. Google's crawlable-link guidance explains the anchor markup it can follow.

Save a minimal private evidence excerpt, destination, inspection time and method. Preserve distinct occurrences: a footer logo may remain after an editorial reference disappears. A screenshot records appearance; the resolved hyperlink identifies where a visitor goes.

Record browser-only evidence

The server response and browser-rendered document can differ. Google's JavaScript documentation treats crawling and rendering separately. A complete static read can lack a link that a script adds later; an incomplete response remains unknown.

Record any tab, accordion, lazy-loading scroll, consent choice or sign-in needed to reveal the relevant section. A sign-in-only observation does not establish public availability. Respect challenges and access rules; retain interaction notes without cookies or secrets.

In a synthetic three-tab resource page, the initial response contains only an introduction. Opening “Community resources” loads the expected hyperlink. Retain both observations with the interaction. The first did not establish removal; the second establishes presence in that session. If the next browser attempt fails to load the tab, keep it unresolved.

Trace source and target redirects

Record two chains: the stored source to the inspected page, and the actual linked address to its final destination. Save each URL, status and next location. A source redirect to a homepage does not prove its placement moved; a report redirect to a sales page may fail the cited task despite loading successfully.

Stop at loops, hop limits, challenges or unsafe destinations. An unreached endpoint stays unresolved. Do not forward account credentials through an untrusted redirect or fetch private-network addresses. Date observed URL equivalence without treating it as historical proof.

Confirm a lost-link finding

Compare an earlier positive observation with later complete source reads. AgentLinkOps confirms loss after two complete absent observations at least 30 minutes apart. One complete absence is suspected missing; unknown attempts do not advance that clock. The last verified state and latest attempt remain different facts. A confirmed lost placement that returns produces a recovery event; see the monitoring rules.

The evidence bounds a change interval, not the exact removal time or publisher intent. Keep the checking methodology beside any state explanation. Google may remove 404/410 source URLs from its index over time; that does not establish permanent deletion by their owner.

Read changed link attributes

Google recommends sponsored for paid placements, ugc for user-generated links and nofollow where other qualifications do not fit. A link can have several values. Preserve raw values while comparing sets so token order or whitespace alone does not become a changed-attribute alert. See Google's attribute guidance.

A link that changes from ugc to ugc nofollow remains present. Markup alone cannot establish payment, agreed terms or ranking benefit. Keep commercial context separately and respect editorial qualification; link-spam policy addresses the arrangement, not just the visible label.

Repair what you control first

Restore an accidentally deleted resource or use a permanent server-side redirect to a meaningful equivalent, as Google recommends. Verify the final resource and its promised download or functionality. A blanket homepage redirect may leave the reader's task unanswered.

Google treats most 4xx responses as missing content; 429 signals overload instead. Read the HTTP and network guidance before interpreting a temporary failure. Destination failure remains separate from source-link loss.

In a second synthetic case, your worksheet moved to a signup page before a publisher removed its link. Restore the usable worksheet or an equivalent accessible resource before asking for its return. A similarly titled sales page does not replace the worksheet's function.

Choose restore, update, clarify or close

Ask to restore a useful former reference, update an obsolete address or clarify an ambiguous change. Close the task when the section is retired or another source better serves it. Keep historical terms and previous correspondence; avoid guessing motives or claiming lost ranking credit.

Supply the source, section, old/proposed destinations, observation dates and one sentence of reader benefit through the sender handoff docs. A reply is not a live-placement check. After a change, verify the hyperlink again. For a one-off page check, use the free backlink checker.

Sources (6)

1. Link best practices for Google · Google Search Central · 2025-12-10
2. JavaScript SEO basics · Google Search Central · 2026-03-04
3. Redirects and Google Search · Google Search Central · 2026-04-14
4. How HTTP status codes, and network and DNS errors affect Google Search · Google Search Central · 2026-02-04
5. Qualify your outbound links to Google · Google Search Central · 2025-12-10
6. Spam policies for Google web search · Google Search Central · 2026-08-28