Semrush Backlink Audit: How to Access and Use It in 2026

To access Semrush Backlink Audit, sign in to Semrush, go to SEO Toolkit → Backlink Audit, select or create a Folder, enter your domain, choose the campaign scope and run the audit. You can also open the Semrush Backlink Audit tool directly after signing in.

This 2026 tutorial walks through the exact setup, the Overview and Audit reports, Toxicity Score, Google Search Console integration, and what to do when a backlink deserves attention. A high Toxicity Score is not the same as a Google penalty, and most sites do not need to disavow their backlinks.

How to Access Semrush Backlink Audit

Quick navigation: Semrush Backlink Audit or Semrush → SEO Toolkit → Backlink Audit. If the left-hand menu looks different in your account, use Semrush\’s tool search to find “Backlink Audit.”

1. Log in to your Semrush account.
2. Open the SEO Toolkit.
3. Select Backlink Audit.
4. Choose an existing Folder or create a new one.
5. Enter the domain you want to analyse.
6. Configure the campaign scope, brand settings, categories and target countries.
7. Start the audit and allow Semrush to collect the backlink data.

Open the resulting campaign to view the Overview and Audit reports. Semrush may change how Folders and tools appear in the navigation, but the underlying process remains the same. Available exports, recrawls and additional reports vary by SEO Toolkit subscription.

What Is a Backlink Audit?

A backlink audit examines the external websites and pages linking to your site. It helps distinguish editorially useful backlinks from potentially manipulative patterns, recover valuable links and prioritise link-building opportunities. The aim is not to delete every unfamiliar or low-authority link.

A backlink audit can help you:

• Identify suspicious or manipulative backlinks that deserve investigation.
• Find valuable links pointing to deleted or redirected pages.
• Review branded, commercial and unusual anchor-text patterns.
• Understand which pages naturally attract authoritative backlinks.
• Build a stronger link-building strategy.

Semrush calculates its own Toxicity Score and Toxic Markers to help prioritise manual reviews. These are Semrush metrics, not Google penalties or a substitute for the Manual Actions report in Google Search Console. For a complete website review beyond backlinks, use OneMetrik\’s SEO audit checklist.

How to Set Up a Semrush Backlink Audit

Step 1: Choose the Correct Campaign Scope

The first setup decision is which part of the website you want to audit. Depending on your website structure, Semrush can analyse the complete root domain, a subdomain or a narrower website section.

For most websites, the root domain gives the clearest overall picture. A narrower scope can make sense when a blog sits on a separate subdomain, you are investigating one product area or separate teams manage different website sections.

Step 2: Add Your Brand Name and Variations

Add your official brand name and common variations. This gives Semrush more context when it evaluates branded and compound anchor text.

• Your primary brand name.
• Common abbreviations.
• Previous company names.
• Common spelling variations.
• Important product names that appear in link anchors.

Step 3: Select Relevant Website Categories

Select the categories that best describe your company, product and audience. For example, a B2B SaaS company might choose categories related to software, business services, data, marketing or finance.

Do not select every category. Choose the options that genuinely represent the site so Semrush has better context when evaluating referring domains.

Step 4: Choose Your Target Countries

Select the markets where your business operates or where your target audience is concentrated.

A foreign backlink is not automatically harmful. International publications, software directories, partners, customers and industry websites can all create legitimate links. Treat country information as context rather than an automatic reason to remove a backlink.

Step 5: Run the Audit and Connect Integrations

Start the campaign and allow Semrush to collect the backlink profile. Once it appears, open the Integrations menu in the upper-right area of Backlink Audit. You can connect supported sources such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Majestic, depending on your permissions and subscriptions. Semrush documents the account connection process here.

These integrations can add useful context. Search Console can provide additional links discovered through Google’s data, while Analytics can help show whether users have arrived from referring domains. The audit can still be useful without these integrations.

How to Connect Google Search Console to Backlink Audit

1. Open your existing Backlink Audit campaign and choose Integrations → Google Search Console.
2. Choose or add the Google account with access to a Search Console property matching the audit scope.
3. Follow Semrush’s integration instructions. In some cases, a verified Search Console owner needs to add the unique Semrush Backlink Audit email as a user through Settings → Users and permissions.
4. Return to Semrush and use Check connection and Upload backlinks when prompted. Confirm the correct domain and permissions before sharing access.

Permission note: Semrush’s documented workflow may request Full access for its integration user. That is a meaningful permission level: have the Search Console property owner review and approve it. Do not grant an unfamiliar account access simply to finish a tutorial. The Semrush audit can still be used without this optional integration.

Google Analytics can add referral-traffic context, helping you avoid discarding a relevant link based solely on its toxicity score. Connecting analytics or Search Console does not turn the Semrush score into a Google ranking or penalty signal.

Understanding the Semrush Backlink Audit Overview

The Overview report gives you a summary of the backlink profile and highlights patterns worth investigating. Depending on your account and campaign configuration, you may see metrics for analysed backlinks, referring domains, new and lost links, follow and nofollow links, Authority Score, anchor text and overall toxicity.

Use this screen to identify patterns rather than making immediate removal decisions. Investigate further when you notice sudden increases in unrelated links, repeated commercial anchors, hacked or malware-infected referring pages, templated link creation or suspicious activity after a link-building campaign.

Use the report as a triage dashboard. A useful first pass is to separate links worth keeping, links that need investigation and links associated with known manipulative campaigns.

Semrush report or metric	What to check	First action
Overall Toxicity Score	Share and concentration of suspicious linking signals	Review underlying links, not just the score
Referring domains and analysed backlinks	Whether link growth comes from diverse relevant sources	Investigate unusual spikes or repeated patterns
Audit tab and Toxic Markers	The exact pages, anchors and indicators behind flagged links	Open the referring page and assess context
Lost & Found	New and disappearing linking domains, when available in your plan	Find valuable lost links to recover
Target Pages	Pages receiving backlinks, including inaccessible targets when available	Repair relevant broken URLs or redirects

How to Review Individual Backlinks in Semrush

Open the Audit report to review links individually. Semrush can organise links into groups such as For Review, Whitelist and All Links. You can also group and filter links by domain, URL and other attributes to make large backlink profiles easier to review.

Check Topical Relevance

Ask whether the referring website and page are genuinely connected to your company, product, market or subject matter. A lower-authority website can still provide a legitimate backlink when the context is relevant.

Review the Referring Page

Open the actual referring page and check whether it contains original, useful content. Warning signs can include copied content, malware warnings, deceptive redirects, obvious link networks or pages filled with unrelated outgoing links.

Examine the Anchor Text

Branded, descriptive and naturally varied anchor text is normal. A backlink profile dominated by identical commercial keywords can deserve closer investigation, especially when those links were deliberately created.

Consider Authority and Organic Visibility

Authority metrics can help prioritise your review, but they should not be used alone. A low Domain Rating or Authority Score does not prove a link is harmful. A high-authority domain can also contain poor-quality or manipulated pages.

Review the Toxic Markers

Semrush currently describes 45+ Toxic Markers, including signals associated with link networks, suspicious anchors, irrelevant sources and malware. You can inspect the factors affecting an individual link by hovering over its Toxicity Score and using the marker filters. See Semrush\’s Toxic Marker definitions.

A Toxic Marker is a warning signal, not proof that Google considers a link manipulative.

Can’t Find or Access Backlink Audit in Semrush?

If the Backlink Audit option is missing or a report is unavailable, try these checks before assuming the tool has been removed:

• Search for the tool: Open Semrush’s internal tool search, or visit the Backlink Audit landing page while logged in.
• Check your Folder and scope: Make sure you are opening the campaign for the correct domain. A separate subdomain or URL path may require a different scope.
• Check your subscription: According to Semrush’s current Backlink Audit documentation, accounts without the SEO Toolkit can manually re-run a campaign once per week. Automatic recrawls, exports, Lost & Found and Target Pages require the SEO Toolkit.
• Check Google connections: The Search Console property must match the audit’s scope, and a property owner or Full user may need to approve access.
• Check account access: If you are working inside a shared company account, ask its administrator which Folders and toolkit features you are allowed to use.

For a quick interpretation of the results, refer to the official Semrush Audit report guide rather than relying on old screenshots from a different interface.

What Does the Semrush Toxicity Score Mean?

Semrush assigns potentially suspicious backlinks a Toxicity Score from 0 to 100. A higher score means Semrush has detected more signals that may warrant manual review.

The score is not a Google metric, does not confirm a penalty and does not prove that the backlink should be removed.

Before taking action, review the referring website, exact linking page, surrounding content, anchor text, reason the link exists and whether your company or an agency deliberately created it.

Never automatically remove or disavow every backlink above a particular Toxicity Score.

Should You Remove or Disavow Toxic Backlinks?

Do not disavow links solely because Semrush marks them as toxic. Most sites can leave ordinary third-party spam links alone. First check Google Search Console for an unnatural-links manual action and investigate whether your company or a former SEO provider participated in paid links or link schemes.

Google\’s official disavow guidance says to use the tool only when there is a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links and those links have caused, or are likely to cause, a manual action. If the links were created through a link scheme, ask the referring site to remove them first where possible. Using the Disavow Tool incorrectly can harm your organic performance.

Backlink situation	Recommended action
Relevant editorial or branded link	Keep or whitelist it.
Unfamiliar but harmless-looking link	Review and monitor it.
Automatically generated spam link you did not create	Usually no action unless there is broader manual-action risk.
Paid or manipulative link created by your team	Request removal.
Manipulative link that cannot be removed and creates manual-action risk	Consider disavowing after careful review.
Valuable link pointing to a broken page	Restore the page or add an appropriate redirect.

How to Request Backlink Removal in Semrush

When a backlink genuinely needs to be removed, move it to the Remove list, open the Remove report, connect an authorised email account if you want to manage outreach through Semrush, confirm the website owner’s contact details and send a clear removal request.

Keep a record of your outreach if you are resolving an unnatural-links manual action. Documentation can help show that you made a genuine effort to remove deliberately manipulated links.

How to Create a Disavow File Using Semrush

Only proceed when disavowal is genuinely necessary.

1. Move the relevant URL or domain to the Disavow list.
2. Choose whether you want to disavow the individual URL or the entire domain.
3. Export the disavow list as a text file.
4. Manually review every entry.
5. Upload the final file through Google’s Disavow Links Tool.

Disavowing an entire domain is broader than disavowing one URL. Use domain-level disavowal only when you are confident that links across that domain are manipulative or create genuine risk.

Important: Google\’s Disavow Links Tool requires a URL-prefix Search Console property; it does not accept a Domain property. Uploading a new disavow file replaces the previous file for the selected property. Back up and merge any previously reviewed entries before submitting an update. If you are resolving an unnatural-links manual action, follow the related reconsideration-request process after cleanup. Review Google\’s exact file-format and upload instructions first.

Semrush Backlink Audit vs Backlink Analytics

The two Semrush tools serve different purposes:

Tool	Best used for
Backlink Audit	Reviewing potentially suspicious backlinks, assessing risk and managing removal or disavow workflows.
Backlink Analytics	Exploring backlink profiles, comparing competitors and finding link-building opportunities.

Use Backlink Audit when you need to assess risk or investigate unusual links. Use Backlink Analytics when you want to study competitors, referring domains and outreach opportunities. You can also learn how to find competitor backlinks using Ahrefs if you use both platforms.

Common Semrush Backlink Audit Mistakes

Automatically Trusting the Toxicity Score

The score is a starting point for investigation, not a final verdict. Open the referring page and assess the link manually before taking action.

Treating Every Foreign Website as Spam

A website’s country or language does not determine whether its backlink is legitimate. Review the quality and context of the page instead.

Focusing Only on Domain-Level Metrics

Relevance, editorial context, anchor text and referring-page quality are often more useful than one authority metric.

Disavowing Links Without Checking Search Console

Review the Manual Actions report in Google Search Console before assuming suspicious backlinks have caused a penalty.

Confusing Removal With Disavowal

Removal means asking for the backlink to be deleted from the referring website. Disavowal asks Google not to use the specified link or domain when evaluating your site.

Expecting an Immediate Ranking Increase

Completing a backlink audit does not guarantee improved rankings. The outcome depends on whether problematic links were affecting the site or contributing to a manual action.

How OneMetrik Turns a Backlink Audit Into an SEO Plan

A backlink audit is useful only if it changes what your team does next. At OneMetrik, a Semrush Agency Partner, we recommend treating its findings as part of a wider SEO roadmap, not as an exercise in lowering a third-party toxicity metric.

1. Protect valuable links: Identify useful editorial citations and linking domains that send relevant visitors or strengthen important commercial pages.
2. Fix recoverable technical issues: Restore or redirect broken pages that still have valuable referring domains, then verify the destination content matches the original intent.
3. Review genuine link risks: Investigate unnatural links connected with link schemes or a manual action. Avoid automated bulk disavowal.
4. Build future authority: Compare competitors’ referring domains, find legitimate editorial gaps and prioritise content that earns relevant mentions.
5. Connect findings to results: Track organic landing-page performance and conversions alongside the audit rather than expecting Toxicity Score changes alone to improve rankings.

If you are auditing a B2B SaaS site, start with the pages that matter commercially, including product, integrations, comparisons and high-intent educational articles. Our SEO competitor analysis guide explains how to connect backlink patterns with meaningful content and ranking opportunities. For technical SEO, see the 2026 SEO audit checklist.

Need an external review? Explore OneMetrik’s SEO and AEO services or book a free SEO consultation to prioritise backlink, technical and content opportunities.

Semrush Backlink Audit Checklist

• Select the correct audit scope.
• Add your brand name and important variations.
• Select accurate categories and target countries.
• Run the audit and connect Search Console or Analytics where useful.
• Review high-risk backlinks manually.
• Check unusual anchor-text patterns.
• Investigate sudden spikes in new backlinks.
• Check the Manual Actions report before assuming there is a Google penalty.
• Attempt removal before considering disavowal when appropriate.
• Manually review any disavow file before uploading it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to Do After Completing the Audit

A backlink audit should not focus only on removing links. Use the findings to recover valuable links pointing to broken pages, understand which content earns natural editorial links and improve future outreach and link-building decisions.

Backlink quality is only one part of SEO performance. Technical issues, content quality, internal linking and search intent also affect whether pages rank.

Use OneMetrik’s free website audit tool to identify additional technical and on-page issues. You can also view OneMetrik’s Semrush Agency Partner profile or explore how our SEO agency turns technical, content and backlink findings into a prioritised growth plan.