How to Check Nofollow Links with Ahrefs

Understanding the nofollow status of your backlinks is one of those tasks that sounds simple but has real strategic consequences. Whether you’re auditing a link profile, evaluating a competitor’s link acquisition strategy, or trying to understand why certain links aren’t moving the needle in search rankings, knowing exactly how to filter and analyze nofollow links inside Ahrefs is a skill every serious SEO practitioner needs.

I’ve spent years working with link data across dozens of client sites, and Ahrefs remains my go-to tool for this kind of analysis. The interface has evolved significantly, but the core workflow for isolating nofollow links is something I want to walk through in precise, actionable detail – including some nuances most tutorials skip entirely.

What Is a Nofollow Link and Why Does It Matter in Ahrefs?

Before diving into the mechanics, it’s worth being clear on what we’re actually looking for. A nofollow link is any backlink that carries the rel="nofollow" attribute in its HTML. This attribute tells search engines not to pass PageRank through that link. In practice, Google has said it treats nofollow as a “hint” rather than a directive since 2019, meaning some nofollow links may still influence rankings to a degree.

Ahrefs crawls the web independently and catalogs link attributes, including nofollow, UGC (user-generated content), and sponsored tags. This means its database reflects the real-world link attributes as found during crawling, which can sometimes differ from what you think you’ve built or earned.

A nofollow link in Ahrefs is any backlink flagged with the rel="nofollow", rel="ugc", or rel="sponsored" attribute. Ahrefs groups these under a broader “nofollow” filter in its Site Explorer interface. You can isolate them using the Link type filter within the Backlinks or Referring Domains reports.

How to Check Nofollow Links in Ahrefs: Step-by-Step

Method 1: Checking Your Own Site’s Nofollow Backlinks

1. Open Ahrefs Site Explorer – Enter your domain or a specific URL into the Site Explorer search bar. Make sure you select the correct mode (domain, exact URL, prefix, or subdomain) depending on the scope of your analysis.
2. Navigate to the Backlinks Report – In the left sidebar, click “Backlinks” under the “Backlink profile” section.
3. Apply the Link Type Filter – At the top of the Backlinks report, locate the filter bar. Click on “Link type” and select “Nofollow.” This will filter the entire report to show only backlinks carrying a nofollow attribute.
4. Review the Results – You’ll see each nofollow backlink including the referring page URL, anchor text, domain rating (DR), URL rating (UR), traffic estimates, and the date the link was first and last crawled.
5. Export if Needed – Use the Export button (top right) to download the filtered list as a CSV for deeper analysis or reporting.

Method 2: Checking Nofollow Links via the Referring Domains Report

1. In Site Explorer, click “Referring domains” in the left sidebar.
2. Apply the “Dofollow/Nofollow” filter at the top. Select “Has nofollow link” to surface domains that are linking to you exclusively or partially with nofollow attributes.
3. This view is useful when you want to see which domains are sending traffic but not passing link equity. It’s a strategic view rather than a granular link-level view.

Method 3: Using the Link Intersect or Batch Analysis for Competitor Nofollow Analysis

If you want to check a competitor’s nofollow link profile, the process is identical – just enter their domain into Site Explorer instead of yours. Apply the same Nofollow filter in their Backlinks report. This is particularly useful when reverse-engineering a competitor’s PR strategy or brand mention acquisition, since many high-authority nofollow links come from press coverage, Wikipedia citations, and editorial mentions.

Understanding What Ahrefs Actually Flags as “Nofollow”

Here’s something that trips up a lot of SEOs: Ahrefs uses a broader nofollow classification than just the literal rel="nofollow" attribute. When you apply the nofollow filter, you’re capturing links tagged with any of the following:

• rel="nofollow" – The original and most common attribute
• rel="ugc" – User-generated content (forum posts, blog comments)
• rel="sponsored" – Paid links and affiliate relationships

These three attributes were introduced or expanded as part of Google’s link attribute update. Ahrefs reports them separately in the detailed link view, but the top-level filter groups them all as non-passing links. If you need to distinguish between them specifically, click into individual link rows to see the exact attribute displayed.

I’ve seen SEO audits go sideways because the analyst didn’t realize a client’s so-called “nofollow” links included a significant number of sponsored tags – which is a disavow consideration if they’re paid links that weren’t previously disclosed.

How to See the Nofollow vs. Dofollow Ratio in Ahrefs

To see the dofollow vs. nofollow ratio in Ahrefs, go to Site Explorer, enter your domain, and look at the Backlinks or Referring Domains overview. Switch between “All,” “Dofollow,” and “Nofollow” using the filter tabs. The total counts for each will appear at the top of the report, giving you an immediate ratio at a glance.

For a more visual breakdown, the Overview page in Site Explorer includes a summary widget that shows the proportion of followed versus nofollowed links in your backlink profile. This is a quick diagnostic I run at the start of every link audit – a profile that’s 90%+ nofollow often indicates the site has been active in low-quality link schemes, has mainly social media or UGC-based mentions, or has been hit by a negative SEO campaign.

A natural, healthy link profile typically contains a mix of followed and nofollowed links. In my experience across hundreds of client audits, most established authority sites maintain somewhere between 30-60% nofollow links, depending heavily on industry and content type.

How to Check if a Specific Link is Nofollow in Ahrefs

Sometimes you need to verify a single specific link – say, after a PR placement or a guest post goes live. Here’s the fastest way to do it:

1. Go to Site Explorer and enter your target URL or domain.
2. Open the Backlinks report.
3. Use the “Include” filter and search for the referring domain or URL of the specific link you’re checking.
4. The results will show that specific link, and in the “Link type” column, you’ll see either a padlock icon (nofollow) or a link icon (dofollow).
5. Hover over the link type icon or click the link row for full attribute detail.

This is particularly useful after you’ve had a link edited by the referring site. Sometimes a webmaster will retroactively add a nofollow attribute to a previously followed link, especially on press releases or affiliate content. Ahrefs will reflect this change the next time it crawls the page.

Analyzing Nofollow Links in Ahrefs for Strategic Purposes

When Nofollow Links Still Matter

I want to push back against the idea that nofollow links are worthless. From a pure technical SEO standpoint, yes, they don’t reliably pass PageRank. But from a strategic standpoint, high-authority nofollow links carry significant indirect value:

• Brand exposure and referral traffic – A nofollow link from Forbes or a major industry publication drives real visitors regardless of PageRank.
• Trust signals – Google’s systems observe patterns. A brand consistently mentioned and linked to from authoritative domains builds entity prominence over time.
• Google’s “hint” policy – Since Google treats nofollow as a hint for crawling and indexing purposes, some of these links do contribute to crawl pathways and potentially ranking signals.
• Diversification – A link profile with zero nofollow links looks unnatural. Editorial diversity includes nofollow links.

Red Flags to Watch for in Your Nofollow Link Profile

When I’m auditing a site’s nofollow link data in Ahrefs, these are the patterns that raise concerns:

• Large volumes of nofollow links from low-DR domains with no traffic
• Paid links incorrectly marked as dofollow (compliance risk)
• Competitor negative SEO campaigns showing up as mass nofollow links from spam sites
• Previously dofollow links that have been switched to nofollow without notification
• High concentrations of UGC-tagged links suggesting automated comment spam

How to Export and Use Nofollow Link Data from Ahrefs

Exporting your nofollow link data is straightforward but worth doing systematically. After applying the nofollow filter in the Backlinks report:

1. Click the “Export” button in the upper right corner of the report.
2. Choose your preferred format (CSV is standard).
3. In the export, you’ll get columns including: Referring page URL, referring page title, DR, UR, anchor text, link type, first seen, last seen, and traffic data.
4. Filter in your spreadsheet by the “Link type” column to separate nofollow from dofollow if you’ve exported an “All links” report.

I typically export both the full backlink list and the nofollow-filtered list separately when building client reports. Comparing the two side-by-side gives a cleaner picture of what’s actually contributing to authority versus what’s contributing to visibility and brand presence.

Checking Nofollow Links for a Competitor in Ahrefs

To check a competitor’s nofollow links in Ahrefs, enter their domain in Site Explorer, open the Backlinks report, and apply the “Nofollow” filter under Link type. You can see every nofollow backlink pointing to their site, including the source domain, anchor text, DR, and traffic estimates – identical to how you’d analyze your own site.

Competitor nofollow analysis is underutilized. Most SEOs focus on stealing dofollow links from competitors, but the nofollow link data tells a different story – it reveals PR placements, brand partnerships, and editorial relationships that are harder to replicate through traditional link building but represent the genuine authority signals Google cares about long-term.

I once audited a competitor’s link profile for a client in the financial services space and discovered the competitor had dozens of nofollow links from high-authority government and educational domains – .gov and .edu sites that had cited their research content. The dofollow link profile looked mediocre, but the nofollow profile explained exactly why they were outranking everyone. That insight completely changed the content strategy.

Common Mistakes When Analyzing Nofollow Links in Ahrefs

Using Ahrefs Link Intersect to Find Nofollow Link Opportunities

One advanced application I use regularly is combining the Link Intersect tool with nofollow filtering to find specific publishers who consistently link nofollowed to competitors but may offer dofollow opportunities for my clients.

Here’s the workflow:

1. Go to “Link Intersect” under the Competitive Analysis section in Ahrefs.
2. Enter 3-4 competitors and your own domain.
3. Run the analysis and look for referring domains that link to competitors but not to you.
4. For each promising domain, go back to Site Explorer, enter that domain as the referring page filter, and check whether their outbound links are typically followed or nofollowed.
5. Publishers who give dofollow links are your priority outreach targets. Publishers who consistently nofollow their outbound links may still be worth pursuing for brand visibility but won’t move DR directly.

Nofollow Links and the Disavow Decision

A question I get regularly: should you disavow nofollow links? My honest answer is almost never. The disavow tool exists to address followed links that Google might be using to penalize or discount your site. Nofollow links, by definition, are already being treated as non-passing by Google’s systems in the vast majority of cases.

The only scenario where I’d consider disavowing nofollow links is if the volume is so extreme and so clearly spam-based that it might be influencing Google’s perception of the site’s overall trust signals – which is rare and difficult to prove. In practice, spending time disavowing nofollow links is almost always a misuse of your SEO resources.

What I do recommend is using the nofollow spam data as a competitive intelligence signal. If a competitor is receiving large volumes of nofollow spam links, that may be an opportunity to report manipulation if it crosses into black-hat territory, or simply to recognize that their authority is somewhat inflated by unnatural patterns.

Ahrefs vs. Other Tools for Checking Nofollow Links

Ahrefs isn’t the only tool that can surface nofollow link data. Semrush, Majestic, and Moz all have similar functionality. But in my day-to-day work, Ahrefs consistently surfaces more backlinks and provides better accuracy on link attribute data than any of the alternatives I’ve tested. Its crawler coverage is more comprehensive, and the interface for filtering by link type is faster and more intuitive than Semrush’s equivalent workflow.

Google Search Console is another resource, but it deliberately limits link data – you can’t filter by nofollow status within GSC. It’s useful for confirming what Google has actually indexed and processed, but for link attribute analysis, Ahrefs is the more complete picture.

One important distinction: Ahrefs reports on what it found when it crawled those pages. If a page has a robot.txt block or JavaScript-rendered links that Ahrefs couldn’t read, those links may not appear in the database at all, regardless of their follow status.

Summary: The Key Points for Checking Nofollow Links in Ahrefs

• Use Site Explorer’s Backlinks report with the “Nofollow” link type filter to isolate all nofollow backlinks pointing to any domain.
• Ahrefs groups nofollow, UGC, and sponsored attributes under the nofollow filter – check individual link rows for specific attribute type.
• The Referring Domains report gives a domain-level view of which sites are sending nofollow links.
• Export filtered data as CSV for client reporting or deeper spreadsheet analysis.
• Use nofollow competitor link data strategically – it reveals PR, editorial, and brand authority patterns that dofollow analysis misses.
• Almost never disavow nofollow links – they’re already flagged as non-passing by Google.
• A healthy link profile includes a natural mix of followed and nofollowed links – extreme ratios in either direction warrant investigation.

Work With an SEO Expert Who Understands Link Data

If you’re running link audits, building backlink strategies, or trying to diagnose why your rankings have plateaued despite what looks like a solid link profile, the nofollow vs. dofollow breakdown is often where the real answers hide. At Affordable SEO Expert, I work with businesses to cut through the data noise and build link strategies that actually move the needle.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I filter nofollow links in Ahrefs Site Explorer?

In Ahrefs Site Explorer, enter your target domain and navigate to the Backlinks report. At the top of the report, locate the “Link type” filter and select “Nofollow.” This will instantly filter the entire backlink report to display only links carrying the nofollow attribute, including those tagged as UGC or sponsored, which Ahrefs groups under its broader nofollow classification.

Does Ahrefs distinguish between nofollow, UGC, and sponsored link attributes?

Yes, but only at the individual link level. Ahrefs groups all three attributes (nofollow, UGC, sponsored) under the nofollow filter for top-level reporting. To see the specific attribute type on any individual link, click into the link row in the Backlinks report and view the detailed link data. The exact rel attribute will be displayed there.

Can I check a competitor’s nofollow links in Ahrefs?

Yes. Enter any competitor’s domain into Ahrefs Site Explorer, open the Backlinks report, and apply the Nofollow link type filter. You’ll have complete visibility into their nofollow backlink profile, including the referring domains, anchor text, domain ratings, and traffic estimates – identical to the analysis you’d run on your own domain.

Should nofollow links be included in a disavow file?

Almost never. Nofollow links are already treated as non-passing by Google’s systems, which means they generally cannot cause a manual penalty or algorithmic downgrade. The disavow tool is designed for followed links that may be harming your site’s standing with Google. Disavowing nofollow links is typically a waste of time and in rare cases could inadvertently remove links that have some indirect value.

How accurate is Ahrefs nofollow link data compared to what Google actually sees?

Ahrefs crawls web pages independently and records link attributes as found at the time of crawling. Its data is highly accurate but not perfectly real-time – there can be a lag between when a link attribute changes on a page and when Ahrefs re-crawls it. Google Search Console shows links Google has processed but does not filter by nofollow status. For comprehensive nofollow link analysis, Ahrefs is the most practical tool available, with the understanding that very recent changes may not yet be reflected in its index.