Fewer Links Showing in Google Search Console Report?

SEOs have noticed a significant drop in the number of links reported in Google Search Console (GSC). For example, Leonard Brahm reported a 30% drop in links for one of his sites. Other SEOs have also observed similar issues, such as a huge drop in external backlink count from high-DA domains, and in some cases, a total disappearance of external links to their homepage. This has led to concerns about whether Google is zapping valid links, not indexing content anymore, or if there's a technical error or penalty coming.

Several reasons have been speculated for the drop in external backlink count in GSC:

1. Google zapping valid links: Some SEOs believe that Google might be removing valid links.
2. Content not being indexed: There is a possibility that Google is not indexing the content anymore, causing the links to drop off.
3. Technical errors or penalties: Concerns have been raised about potential technical errors on the site or impending penalties.
4. AI dataset inclusion: It is also speculated that once Google includes a page in its AI dataset, it may no longer keep the page in the live index.

The drops in link counts reported by SEOs are quite significant. For instance:

• Leonard Brahm reported a 30% drop in links for one of his sites.
• Another SEO mentioned Google dropping over 1,000 links in one shot.
• One user reported a drop of ~60% in total backlinks.
• Another user noticed that all external links to their homepage had disappeared, which previously had 483 links.

Historical data shows that link drops in GSC have occurred before. For example:

• In June 2023, there was a bug with the link report, where links dropped significantly.
• A screenshot from June 2023 showed 215,000 links.
• A screenshot from July 2022 showed 550,000 links.
• In October 2019, there were 1.2 million links.
• In August 2018, there were 2.5 million links.

SEOs are concerned about their rankings due to the drop in links reported in GSC. One user mentioned that despite the drop in external links to their homepage, the site/page is still indexed, still ranking, and there are no penalties or redirects issues. However, the sudden drop in reported links raises concerns about potential technical errors or impending penalties that could affect rankings.