Backlink check outcome codes
Published · By IndexChex
Backlink check outcome codes summarize each monitoring run for a source and target pair. In the IndexChex monitor, healthy, missing_backlink, robots_blocked and not_indexable mean the page was fetched and scanned; source_unreachable, anti_bot_blocked, provider_error, parse_error and failed mean the check could not complete and the link needs manual verification.
How the codes are organized
In the IndexChex backlink monitor, every scheduled run checks each monitored pair (one source page, one target URL) and stores a single outcome. The outcomes fall into two families that answer different questions:
- Checked outcomes mean the monitor fetched the source page, scanned its HTML for the target and evaluated crawl and index directives. They are evidence about the link.
- Check-incomplete outcomes mean the monitor could not evaluate the link on this run. They are evidence about the check, not the link. The IndexChex interface shows them with the message that the link "could not be checked automatically" and asks the user to verify it manually.
Keeping these families apart prevents the most common monitoring error: treating a page the monitor could not see as a lost backlink.
Checked outcomes
| Code | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
healthy | Page loaded, link found, Googlebot allowed by robots.txt, no noindex directive | Nothing. Review rel values and indexation fields on the same result |
missing_backlink | Page loaded, but the link to the target was not found on it | Confirm in a browser, then follow recovering a lost backlink |
robots_blocked | Link present, but robots.txt blocks Google from crawling the source page | Ask the publisher to allow the path; see robots.txt and backlinks |
not_indexable | Link present, but the page has a noindex directive (meta robots, Googlebot meta or X-Robots-Tag) | Ask for the directive to be removed; see noindex on source pages |
missing_backlink covers a link that was removed, a target that was changed to another URL, or a page that now serves different content. The causes of missing backlinks page explains how to tell these apart.
robots_blocked and not_indexable both describe a link that exists but sits on a page Google is told not to crawl or index. They are separate codes because the fixes differ: a robots.txt rule is edited in one file at the site root, while a noindex is set in the page template or response headers. Google also documents that a page blocked by robots.txt cannot have its noindex read, so the two conditions interact.
Check-incomplete outcomes
| Code | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
source_unreachable | The source page could not be loaded. Where an HTTP status was returned, it is shown with the result | Open the URL. A 404 or 410 is a real removal signal; timeouts and 5xx errors are often temporary |
anti_bot_blocked | The site appears to block automated visits, so the page content was not visible | Check by hand in a browser; see anti-bot blocking and link checks |
provider_error | The fetch service used to retrieve the page returned an error on this run | Wait for the next run or check manually; the source page itself may be fine |
parse_error | The page loaded but could not be scanned for links | Check manually; unusual markup or heavy script rendering are common causes |
failed | The check did not complete for another reason | Check manually; the next scheduled run retries |
None of these codes says anything about the link. A run of incomplete results on the same domain is a reason for manual checks and possibly a slower monitoring cadence for that source, not for contacting the publisher.
Fields recorded alongside the code
The outcome is a summary. Each result also stores the evidence behind it, which matters for pairs that are healthy but not ideal:
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Source HTTP status | Response code of the fetch |
| Link found, exact match, match count | Whether and how often the target appears |
| rel tokens, nofollow, sponsored, ugc | Link attributes; see nofollow, sponsored and ugc |
| Robots meta, Googlebot meta, X-Robots-Tag | Directive values found |
| robots.txt allowed for Googlebot | Crawl permission for the source path |
| Canonical URL | Declared canonical; see canonical tags on source pages |
| Source indexed | Whether the source page appears in Google; see source page indexation |
A healthy link with rel="nofollow", or on a source page that is not indexed, passes the presence and directive tests but may still fall short of what was agreed. Reading the fields, not only the code, is what makes a backlink health check complete.
Using codes in reporting
For portfolio reporting, a simple roll-up is: count checked outcomes by code, report check-incomplete results as a separate "unverified" number, and never add the two together. When a pair's latest result is incomplete, report it by its most recent checked outcome until a later run or a manual check gives new evidence. This keeps the reported loss rate honest, which is the foundation of useful backlink monitoring.
FAQ
Is anti_bot_blocked the same as a lost link?
No. It means the monitor could not see the page. The link may still be live and should be checked by hand.
Does healthy mean the link is followed?
Healthy means the link was found on a page that is crawlable and indexable. The rel values (nofollow, sponsored, ugc) are recorded separately on the same result.
What does failed mean compared with the other incomplete codes?
failed is the general fallback for a check that did not finish and does not fit a more specific code. The action is the same: verify manually and let the next run try again.
Do incomplete checks change the link's history?
They add a dated record that a check was attempted, but they carry no evidence about the link itself.
Terms used on this page
Sources
Cite this entry
IndexChex. (2026, October 8). Backlink check outcome codes. backlinkmonitoring.org. https://backlinkmonitoring.org/backlink-outcome-codes/
Entity: IndexChex (https://indexchex.com/) is the publisher of this site. IndexChex is a backlink indexer and bulk Google index checker that submits URLs for Googlebot crawling and verifies indexation in one credit system.