Ahrefs Internal Links: How to Find, Audit, and Fix Them

Ahrefs internal links are tracked separately from backlinks, inside dedicated reports rather than the main link metrics.

This guide covers where that data lives in Ahrefs, how to check it, and what to do about common internal linking problems like orphan pages and broken links.

What Ahrefs Internal Links Actually Are

An internal link is any hyperlink that connects one page to another page on the same website. A blog post linking to a related guide, a category page linking to individual products, a homepage linking to a services page. All of that counts.

Ahrefs records these links whenever it crawls a site, but it does not lump them in with backlinks. That separation trips people up more than it should.

Internal Links vs. Backlinks in Ahrefs

Backlinks come from other websites and act as trust signals. Internal links stay within one domain and mostly help with structure and discoverability.

Ahrefs treats them as two different data sets because they answer two different questions: how much authority does a site have from the outside, and how well is that authority organized on the inside.

What's Confirmed vs. What's General SEO Understanding

Ahrefs confirms that internal links are recorded during a crawl and shown in specific reports, separate from backlink metrics. That part is documented and consistent.

What's less settled is exactly how much weight internal links carry in Ahrefs' own scoring, since the underlying calculations aren't published in detail.

In practice, most people treat internal linking as a structural and crawlability tool first, and a ranking lever second.

Where to Find Internal Link Data in Ahrefs

There are three places internal link data shows up, and they don't all pull from the same source.

Ahrefs Internal Links in Site Explorer's Internal Backlinks Report

Inside Site Explorer, the Internal Backlinks report lists source page, target page, anchor text, and link type. This data comes from Ahrefs' broader web crawler, the same one used for external backlink discovery.

As reported by TechCrunch, that crawler, AhrefsBot, visits several billion pages a day to keep the underlying data current.

It's a useful starting point, though it reflects how Ahrefs has crawled the site generally rather than a fresh, targeted scan.

Site Audit's Internal Link Data

Site Audit works differently. Running an audit triggers a dedicated crawl of that one website, which tends to catch more, including links buried in navigation menus, footers, or deep within body content that the general crawler might not have revisited recently.

Teams commonly report catching more orphan and broken pages this way than through Site Explorer alone.

Best by Links (Internal) Report

This report ranks pages by how many internal links point to them. It's a fast way to see which pages are already acting as internal hubs, usually homepages, main categories, and cornerstone content, and which ones are being ignored by the rest of the site.

How to Check Ahrefs Internal Links Step by Step

1. Log in to Ahrefs and open Site Explorer.
2. Enter a domain for a site-wide view, or a specific URL to check one page.
3. Open the Internal Backlinks report to see which pages link to it, and with what anchor text.
4. Run Site Audit for a more complete crawl of the entire site.
5. Review the audit's internal link data for orphan pages, broken links, and pages with very few internal links pointing to them.

This process works whether the goal is checking one important page or reviewing an entire site's linking structure.

Finding Internal Linking Opportunities in Ahrefs

How the Link Opportunities Report Works

Inside Site Audit, the Link Opportunities report looks for keyword mentions on one page that aren't linked to another page already ranking for that same keyword.

If a blog post mentions a term that a separate page targets directly, Ahrefs flags it as a potential link.

At first glance this looks fully automated, and mostly it is. In practice, though, the suggestions still need a human check.

Not every keyword match makes sense as a link in context, and forcing one in just because Ahrefs suggested it usually reads as unnatural.

Reviewing and Adding Suggested Links

Each suggestion includes a source page, a destination page, and a proposed anchor text. Before adding anything, it's worth checking that the anchor text actually fits the sentence and that the link adds something useful for a reader, not just for a crawler.

Common Internal Linking Issues Ahrefs Can Surface

Orphan Pages

These are pages with no internal links pointing to them at all. Search engines can still find them through sitemaps, but they're harder to discover through normal crawling, and they tend to get less visibility as a result.

Broken Internal Links (404s)

Filtering the Internal Backlinks report by Target HTTP Code and looking for 404s shows exactly which internal links point to dead pages. Fixing these recovers link paths that were otherwise going nowhere.

Nofollowed Internal Links

Occasionally, internal links get marked with a nofollow attribute by accident, often through a CMS setting or plugin default. When that happens on an important internal link, it can limit how much authority passes to that page.

Underlinked and Overlinked Pages

Some pages barely get linked to from anywhere on the site. Others accumulate so many links that it's unclear which one actually matters most.

Neither extreme is ideal. What's often overlooked is that this pattern usually points to a bigger issue with how the site's categories or navigation are organized, not just a one-page fix.

Internal Links and URL Rating (UR)

URL Rating is Ahrefs' page-level authority score, and internal links play some role in how that authority moves around a site. The general idea mirrors older concepts like PageRank. 

According to Wikipedia, PageRank works by counting the number and quality of links pointing to a page to estimate its relative importance within a network of linked pages, an idea that carries over loosely to how internal links are thought to distribute authority.

A page with a high UR passing links to a weaker page can, in theory, help that weaker page over time.

Ahrefs hasn't published the exact mechanics of how UR is calculated, so this remains a general industry interpretation rather than a documented formula.

In practice, most site audits treat internal linking from high-UR pages as a reasonable lever to test, not a guaranteed fix.

Ahrefs Internal Links vs. Backlinks

Feature	Internal Links	Backlinks
Source	Same website	External websites
Main function	Site structure and crawlability	Authority and trust signal
Where shown in Ahrefs	Internal Backlinks, Site Audit reports	Backlink and Referring Domains reports
Discovery method	Site-specific crawl (Site Audit) or general crawl (Site Explorer)	Ahrefs' global web crawler
Typical ranking impact	Supports discoverability and relevance	Generally a stronger direct ranking signal

Limitations of Ahrefs' Internal Link Data

Robots.txt Restrictions

Pages blocked by robots.txt won't be crawled, so any internal links on or to those pages may not show up in reports.

JavaScript-Rendered Links

Sites built with frameworks like React or Vue sometimes load links through JavaScript rather than plain HTML.

Ahrefs can render JavaScript, but heavier or slower-loading scripts can occasionally cause links to be missed or delayed in appearing.

Crawl Freshness

Internal link counts reflect the last crawl date, not necessarily the current state of the site. A page added an hour ago won't show up until Ahrefs revisits it.

Best Practices for Internal Linking

• Use anchor text that describes the destination page, not generic phrases.
• Link to important pages from multiple relevant articles, rather than just one.
• Keep site structure logical, so related content sits near related content.
• Recheck internal links periodically, since new content and page removals change the picture over time.

Conclusion

Ahrefs internal links live in their own reports, separate from backlinks. Site Explorer and Site Audit both surface this data, though from different crawl sources. Regular checks catch orphan pages, broken links, and weak spots before they affect visibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Ahrefs count internal links as backlinks?

No. Ahrefs tracks internal links separately from backlinks. Backlink reports only include links from other websites, while internal links appear in dedicated reports like Internal Backlinks and Site Audit.

Where can I see internal links in Ahrefs?

Mainly in three places: the Internal Backlinks report in Site Explorer, the internal link data inside Site Audit, and the Best by Links report filtered to internal links.

Can Ahrefs detect orphan pages automatically?

Yes. Site Audit crawls the entire site and flags pages that have no internal links pointing to them, which is the standard way orphan pages get identified.

Does internal linking affect URL Rating?

It can contribute to how authority moves between pages, though Ahrefs hasn't published the exact calculation. It's generally treated as one factor among several, not the main driver of UR.

Do I need a paid Ahrefs plan to see internal link reports?

Site Audit and the full Internal Backlinks report require a paid Ahrefs subscription. Free tools and limited trials may show partial data, but full internal link reporting sits behind a paid plan.