Broken Link
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What Is a Broken Link? (And Why Google Cares)

A broken link — also called a dead link or dead URL — is any hyperlink on your website that leads to a page returning an error response. The most common type is a 404 Not Found error, meaning the destination page no longer exists at that URL. Other broken link types include 410 Gone (permanently deleted), 500 Server Error (destination site is down), and connection timeouts.

From Google's perspective, broken links cause two distinct problems. First, they waste crawl budget: Googlebot spends time and resources trying to follow links to pages that don't exist. For large sites with limited crawl budget, this is a meaningful issue. Second, broken links create PageRank leakage — link equity that should flow to working pages instead flows into a dead end. While Google handles this gracefully in most cases, fixing broken links is consistently cited by Google engineers as a worthwhile technical SEO task.

Beyond SEO, broken links are a direct user experience problem. A visitor who clicks a broken link gets a 404 error page and is likely to leave your site. High exit rates on error pages send negative engagement signals that can indirectly affect rankings. Use our full SEO toolset to audit your site comprehensively.

HTTP Status Codes: What Each One Means for Your Links

When our broken link checker tests each URL, it looks at the HTTP response code. Here is what each common status code means for your SEO:

200 OK — Healthy Link

The destination page exists and is accessible. No action needed. This is the ideal status for every link on your site.

301 Moved Permanently — Update Your Link

The page has permanently moved to a new URL. The link technically still works, but you should update internal links to point directly to the final destination URL. Each redirect hop costs a small fraction of link equity. 301s on external links are acceptable since you cannot control them.

302 Found / 307 Temporary Redirect — Monitor It

A temporary redirect. PageRank may not fully pass through a 302. If a 302 has been in place for months, it should be changed to a 301 at the destination domain level.

404 Not Found — Fix Immediately

The page does not exist. For internal 404s, either restore the page, update the link, or add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the most relevant existing page. For external 404s, replace the link with a working alternative source or remove it.

410 Gone — Remove the Link

The page has been permanently deleted and will never return. Remove links pointing to 410 pages immediately. Do not add a redirect — the content is intentionally gone.

500 / 503 Server Error — Check Again Later

The destination server had an error. This may be temporary. Re-check these links after 24 hours. If they persist, treat them as broken.

Timeout / Connection Error — Likely Broken

The server did not respond within the timeout window. This usually means the domain is offline, the server is overloaded, or the site has been taken down. Verify manually before removing the link.

AI, LLMs & Broken Links: How ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini Are Changing SEO Link Strategy

The rise of large language models like ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), and Gemini (Google) is fundamentally changing how users discover and navigate web content. AI-powered search features — including Google's AI Overviews (formerly SGE), Bing Copilot, and standalone AI chatbots — now synthesise information from multiple web sources and surface answers directly in response to user queries.

This creates a new dimension to the broken link problem: AI citation quality. When AI systems index and cite your content, they follow links to understand context, verify claims, and build knowledge graphs. Pages with broken links signal poor maintenance, which can reduce the likelihood of AI systems citing your content as a reliable source.

More importantly, Google's AI Overviews pull content from well-structured, authoritative pages. Sites with clean link graphs, no 404 errors, and properly maintained content are significantly more likely to be featured. AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) — the practice of optimising for AI-generated answers — requires the same technical hygiene as traditional SEO: no broken links, clear structure, fast load times, and authoritative content.

Run our free SEO tools suite regularly to ensure your site meets the technical standards expected by both traditional search engines and modern AI answer systems.

How to Fix Broken Links: A Systematic Approach

Once you have a broken link report from this tool, fixing broken links follows a clear prioritisation framework:

Step 1: Fix Internal Broken Links First

Internal broken links are 100% within your control and have the most direct SEO impact. For each internal 404, you have three options: (1) restore the deleted page at the original URL, (2) update the link to point to the correct existing page, or (3) add a 301 permanent redirect from the dead URL to the most relevant live page.

Step 2: Replace External Broken Links

For external links returning 404 or 410, search for an alternative authoritative source covering the same topic and update your link. If no replacement exists, remove the link rather than leaving it broken. The Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) can help you find what content originally lived at the broken URL.

Step 3: Handle Redirect Chains

Multiple consecutive redirects (A→B→C) lose more link equity than a single hop. Where possible, update internal links to point directly to the final destination URL. For external redirect chains, update your link to the final destination.

Step 4: Monitor Regularly

Broken links accumulate over time as external sites change their URL structures and delete old content. Schedule a monthly broken link audit using this tool. Also check Google Search Console under Coverage → Not Found (404) for a supplementary view of broken URLs Googlebot has discovered.

Broken Link Checker for Indian Websites: GEO & Local SEO Considerations

For websites targeting audiences in India — including businesses across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and all Tier-2 cities — broken link audits carry specific importance due to several factors unique to the Indian digital landscape.

First, mobile-first indexing is especially critical in India where over 80% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Google crawls your site as a mobile user first, and broken links on mobile pages directly affect how your site is indexed. Our tool checks links the way Googlebot does — via HTTP requests that mirror real browser behaviour.

Second, many Indian businesses link to government portals (GST, MCA, SEBI, RBI), news sources, and industry bodies. These frequently restructure their URLs, creating external broken links on your pages. Regular audits ensure your citations remain credible and accurate — which is increasingly important for E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals Google uses in its ranking algorithms.

Third, with Google's growing emphasis on regional language content in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali, well-maintained sites with clean link structures are more likely to be surfaced in vernacular language searches. Use our complete SEO tools suite to build a technically sound foundation for your Indian SEO strategy.