Find the broken links on any page
Enter a page URL. We read its links and request each one, then show which are broken, which redirect, and which a site refused to check, with the status code for each.
Follow one redirect chain
The redirect checker in the AY Rank app shows every hop and status code for one URL.
Check the URLs in your sitemap
Our XML sitemap validator checks a sitemap's format and the status codes of a sample of its URLs.
Read the page
One GET to the page, following up to 5 redirects, with a 2 MB read cap. Public addresses only.
Collect the links
Every <a href> on the page, deduped, up to 100. Email, phone, JavaScript and same-page links are left out.
Request each link
4 at a time, one GET each with the body thrown away, following up to 5 redirects, 6 seconds per request.
Sort the results
Problem links first, then refused, then redirects, then links that work, each with its status code.
Google says: "All 4xx errors, except 429, are treated the same: Google crawlers inform the next processing system that the content doesn't exist." A link that ends in one of those wastes the reader's click and sends crawlers to a dead end. This tool shows which links on a page do that, so you can fix or remove them.
What the checker reads, and what it does not
- Only links in <a href> are read. Links in scripts, buttons or CSS are not, and JavaScript is not run, so links a page adds with JavaScript are missing.
- Each unique URL is checked once, without its #fragment. Up to 100 unique URLs per page.
- Broken means the final answer is a 4xx code other than 401, 403 and 429. Google treats those codes as content that doesn't exist.
- Server error means a 5xx code. Google says 5xx and 429 errors make its crawlers slow down, and its index drops URLs that keep returning server errors.
- Refused means 401, 403, or a code above 599, which RFC 9110 calls invalid. Many sites refuse automated checks, so check these in a browser.
- Redirects means the link works but goes through at least one redirect. We follow up to 5 hops per link, and Google's crawlers follow up to 10. Linking to the final URL saves the extra hop.
- Links to private or local addresses are not requested. Links not started within 25 seconds show as not checked.
- Requests come from our server, so a site may answer differently by country or block our IP address. Results can differ from what you see in your browser.
- The API at /api/v1/broken-link-checker allows 30 checks per 60 seconds per IP address. The spec is at /openapi.json.
Sources
Read on 2026-11-12.
- Google Crawling Infrastructure, How HTTP status codes affect Google's crawlers (last updated 2026-02-04)https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/troubleshooting/http-status-codes
- RFC 9110, HTTP Semantics, Status Codeshttps://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110.html#name-status-codes
Worked example: one of our blog posts
We checked ayrank.com/blog/ai-training-vs-ai-grounding on 2026-11-12. It has 77 links to 47 unique URLs. 43 work, 2 redirect (a Google blog link and our Instagram profile), and 2 are LinkedIn pages that refused the check, one with 403 and one with LinkedIn's non-standard 999. No broken links.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find broken links on a page?
Enter the page URL above. The tool requests every link on that page and lists the broken ones first, with the status code each one returned.
What counts as a broken link?
A link whose final answer is an error: a 4xx code such as 404 or 410, or a 5xx server error. Google says that for its crawlers, all 4xx errors except 429 mean the content doesn't exist.
Why do LinkedIn links show as refused?
LinkedIn and many other sites refuse automated requests, often with 403 or a non-standard code like 999. The link may open fine in a browser, so the tool shows it as refused, not broken.
Should I fix links that redirect?
They work, but each redirect is one more request for the reader and for crawlers. Google's crawlers follow up to 10 redirect hops. Pointing the link at the final URL removes the hop.
Can it check my whole site?
No. It checks one page at a time, up to 100 unique links. To check many URLs at once, run your XML sitemap through our sitemap validator, which tests a sample of its URLs.
Want us to fix this for you?
Want broken links, redirects and crawl errors fixed across your whole site? AY Rank's technical SEO work covers it.