(Entry was posted by Kunjal Chawha on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 03/11/2021).

How reliable is Google Search Console "Linking Sites" Report?

How reliable is Google Search Console "Linking Sites" ReportBecause when I check that in GSC in linking sites it shows 1000 sites vs when I check the same in third-party tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush it shows more.So is it that GSC only shows limited data on linking sites? Or does it show the ones it has indexed or does it show the ones that I had indexed and counted as a linking site? For example, 404 backlinks that were indexed didn`t show in GSC Linking Sites Report

This question begins at 00:10:25 into the clip. Did this video clip play correctly? Watch this question on YouTube commencing at 00:10:25

Share on Twitter

Share on Facebook

YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

Paul Chaika: Better use Ahrefs
Perry Bernard: GSC will only show a sample. I believe the limited is 1000
Kunjal Chawhan: Perry Bernard exactly! Then how do we infer if Google has indexed a certain backlink? I used their filter options to search and didn`t found that backlink was to a broken page so I inferred that they don`t count backlink to broken page. Not sure if I`m correct in assuming so
Michael Martinez: While Google only shows you a random sampling, it`s showing you links it confirms it knows about.
Michael Stricker: Michael Martinez as I understand it, you just keep hammering â€œMore Sample Linksâ€ and exporting, until GSC runs out... also, this, â€œTo see all of your siteâ€™s backlinks, click the â€œLinksâ€ tab, then click â€œMoreâ€ under â€œTop linking sitesâ€ to view all of your inbound links.