Referring domains
The number of distinct websites linking to the checked domain. One website counts once even when many of its pages link to you.
Free backlink checker
See which domains link to any website, measured on the open Common Crawl web graph. Enter a domain to get its referring-domain count, top backlinks, and how many links it gained or lost in the latest release.
How this backlink checker works
Most backlink tools charge for lookups against a proprietary index. This checker runs on the open Common Crawl web graph — a public crawl covering 100M+ domains, refreshed several times a year. We ingest each release and compute domain-to-domain link relationships from it, so the numbers you see are measured, not estimated.
A referring domain is a website with at least one page linking to the domain you checked. Referring-domain count is a commonly used indicator of website authority and search visibility, but relevance, placement, and link quality matter too.
Want this for every client you manage? Linkwake tracks whole portfolios of domains and shows you new, lost, and persistent backlinks each release — plus which domains link to your competitors but not you. Plans start at $29/mo, with a free tier for 5 domains.
Reading the report
What your backlink-checker results mean
New referring domains
Domains present in the newest selected release but absent from the previous release. Treat them as discoveries to review, not automatically as newly created links.
Lost referring domains
Domains present in the previous release but missing from the newest one. A loss can reflect a removed link, a changed page, or crawl coverage.
Referring domains versus backlinks
A backlink is an individual link from one page to another. A referring domain is the distinct website that contains one or more of those links. If a news site links to you from 40 articles, that can be 40 backlinks but only one referring domain. Linkwake focuses on domain-level relationships because they are easier to compare consistently across large portfolios.
New, lost, and persistent are comparison labels. A persistent domain appears in both releases; new appears only in the later release; lost appears only in the earlier release. Gross gains and losses often reveal more than net change because a site can gain and lose hundreds of relationships while its total barely moves.
Worked example
How to interpret a domain with 620 referring domains
Imagine the latest release shows 620 referring domains, including 42 new and 31 lost. The net change is only +11, but 73 relationships changed underneath that total. Review the 42 gains for relevant editorial mentions, check the 31 losses for reclaimable links, and compare the strongest referrers with close competitors.
Want to see the interface before checking a site? Open the portfolio movement demo, then read our study of how backlink churn can hide beneath a flat total.
Data freshness, coverage, and limitations
Results update when Linkwake processes a new Common Crawl web-graph release, typically several times per year. The release identifier shown with a result is the authoritative date reference; this is not a live or daily crawler.
Common Crawl is a large public sample of the web, not a complete copy of Google's index. A source page may be absent because it was not selected, was blocked by robots rules, required client-side rendering, returned an error, or changed between crawls. Counts will differ from proprietary tools, and a missing relationship does not prove the live link is gone. Learn more in our Common Crawl backlink methodology and the Common Crawl project documentation.
How to compare your site with competitors
- 1
Choose close peers
Use three to five sites serving the same audience rather than global brands with unrelated link profiles.
- 2
Compare the same release
Keep the dataset and domain scope consistent so differences are not caused by mismatched dates.
- 3
Look for repeated overlap
Prioritize domains linking to several peers but not you, then verify their relevance before outreach.
For a portfolio-ready workflow, use the competitor backlink gap tool.
Questions, answered
Free backlink checker FAQ
Is this backlink checker really free?
Yes. The public lookup provides a capped preview without an account. A workspace is required to save domains, monitor releases, and use portfolio features.
Why do these totals differ from Ahrefs, Majestic, Semrush, or Search Console?
Every system crawls, samples, normalizes, and updates the web differently. Compare movement within one consistent source rather than treating counts from different indexes as interchangeable.
Does “lost” prove somebody removed my link?
No. It means the domain relationship was absent from the newer graph release. Verify the source page directly before beginning reclamation outreach.
Can I check a full URL instead of a domain?
Linkwake's public graph is designed around registrable domains. Use a page-level backlink index when a specific URL and anchor text are required.
How often should I check backlinks?
Match the cadence to the source. Use Linkwake for release-to-release strategic monitoring, and use a daily link-verification tool for contractual or actively placed links.