LinkThe short version
- Find them: check your own list for links you placed, a backlink index for the rest.
- Confirm each one by hand. Tools report false losses.
- Sort by the reason the link was lost. The reason decides what to do.
- Write to the publisher: short, specific, with a date.
- Follow up once, then ask for a replacement or a refund if you paid.
Links do not last. Ahrefs looked at the links pointing to more than two million websites and found that 66.5% of them had rotted over nine years (study). Most of that is nobody's fault: sites close, articles get rewritten, sections are pruned. But some of those links are ones you worked or paid for, and a share of them can be recovered if you notice in time. This is the process.
Step 1: Find the links you lost
There are two kinds of lost link, and they are found in different ways.
Links you placed or paid for
You know where these are, so do not wait for a crawler to notice. Take your list of pages and check each one directly. The free check does five at a time: it fetches the page and tells you whether your link is there, how it is marked and whether the page is still open to search engines. A monitor such as LinkRot does the same for the whole list every day.
Links you did not place
For editorial links you need a backlink index. In Ahrefs, open Site Explorer, go to Backlinks and filter for Lost. Semrush has a similar report. Two limits are worth knowing:
- They are late. An index only learns about a change when it recrawls the page. Ahrefs says a complete refresh of its database takes about two months, and that popular pages are updated much more often than obscure ones (source).
- Search Console will not help. Its Links report is a sample of links Google has found over time. Google's help page says those links "may have since been removed", and that the report "doesn't specify if a link is marked as nofollow" (source). There is no list of lost links in it.
Step 2: Confirm it by hand
Before you email anyone, open the page yourself. Ahrefs has a help article on links it reports as lost that are still on the page, and the causes it lists apply to every crawler: the site blocked the crawler, the site returned an error at that moment, the page moved to https or redirects to a slightly different address, or the link is added by JavaScript (source).
Use "View page source" and search for your domain. Note what you see: link gone, link present with a new rel, page showing an error, page redirecting somewhere else. You will quote this in your email.
Step 3: Sort by the reason
What you do next depends on why the link is lost. This table follows the reasons a checker reports.
| What happened | Usual cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Link removed, page still live | The article was edited or "cleaned up" | Ask for it back. The best case for recovery. |
| Nofollow, sponsored or ugc added | A policy change, or a plugin applied to all external links | If you paid for a followed link, ask for the attribute to be removed. |
| Page set to noindex | The section was hidden from search, often for paid content | Ask for the noindex to be lifted, or for the article to be moved. |
| Canonical points to another page | The article was merged or syndicated | Check whether the other page has your link. If it does, nothing is lost. |
| Page gone (404, 410) | Deleted, or lost in a redesign | Ask whether it was intended. If you paid, ask for a replacement. |
| Page redirects elsewhere | A site move, or old posts folded into a hub page | Look at the destination. Same article at a new address is fine. |
| Site unreachable or blocking | An outage, or bot protection | Wait and check again. Not a loss yet. |
For editorial links, Ahrefs' own guide to link reclamation makes the same point: a removed link on a refreshed page is often worth a pitch, while a noindex, a canonical change or a crawl error usually is not. For links you paid for, the bar is lower. You have an agreement, so every row above except the last is a reason to write.
Step 4: Write to the publisher
Keep it to five lines: the page, what you see now, what was agreed, what you want, by when. Attach a screenshot of the source if the change is subtle. Three templates you can adapt:
The link was removed
A nofollow or sponsored was added
The page is gone or hidden from search
Step 5: Follow up, then escalate
Check the page again on the date you named. A promise is not a fix. If nothing changed, send one reminder that quotes your first email. If that goes unanswered and you paid for the link, ask plainly for a replacement placement or your money back, and say which. Whatever the outcome, record it next to the vendor's name. The vendors who fix things quickly are the ones to buy from again.
Step 6: Hear about the next one sooner
Recovery works when you notice within days. The way to notice within days is to stop relying on a crawler that visits when it likes, and check your own list on a schedule. How to monitor the backlinks you paid for walks through the setup, by hand and with a tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is a lost backlink?
A link to your site that used to count and no longer does. The link may have been removed, the page may be gone, or the link may still be there but switched to nofollow or sitting on a page that is now set to noindex.
How do I find lost backlinks?
For links you bought or placed, check your own list of pages directly: paste them into the free check or a monitor. For links you did not place, use the lost backlinks report of a backlink index such as Ahrefs or Semrush. Search Console does not report lost links.
Why does a tool say a backlink is lost when I can still see it?
Because the tool could not read the page the way you can. Ahrefs lists the usual causes: its crawler was blocked, the site returned an error at that moment, the page moved or redirects to a slightly different address, or the link is added by JavaScript. Always confirm by hand before you write to anyone.
Can I get a lost backlink back?
Often, when you paid for it and the terms are clear: the vendor has a reason to fix it. For links you earned, it depends on why the link went. A removed link on a refreshed page is worth a polite email. A page that was deleted on purpose usually is not.
How quickly should I act?
Within days. A vendor who hears about a problem in the first week treats it as a mistake to correct. After six months it is a new negotiation.