A hyperlink pointing to a page that no longer exists, returning a 404 error and wasting crawl budget while harming user experience.
A broken link is a hyperlink that points to a webpage or resource that cannot be found, typically returning a 404 "Not Found" error when clicked. These links occur when the destination page has been moved, deleted, or the URL has changed without proper redirection in place.
Broken links create multiple problems for websites: they waste valuable crawl budget as search engine bots attempt to access non-existent pages, they frustrate users who click expecting to find content, and they can signal to search engines that a site isn't well-maintained. Every broken link represents a lost opportunity for both user engagement and search engine optimization.
Why It Matters for AI SEO
AI-powered search systems are increasingly sophisticated at evaluating site quality signals, and broken links serve as clear indicators of poor maintenance and user experience. Modern AI algorithms consider the overall health of a website's link architecture when determining rankings, making broken link management more critical than ever. AI crawlers are also more efficient at discovering and cataloging broken links across your site. This means search engines can quickly identify sites with significant link rot and potentially downgrade them in search results. Additionally, as AI systems become better at understanding user intent and journey mapping, broken links that interrupt natural user flows become more damaging to your site's perceived quality.
How It Works
Broken links typically fall into two categories: internal broken links (pointing to pages within your own domain) and external broken links (pointing to other websites). Internal broken links are entirely within your control and should be prioritized for fixes, while external broken links require monitoring and updating when possible. Tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs Site Audit, and Sitebulb can crawl your entire website to identify broken links systematically. These tools categorize errors by HTTP status codes (404, 410, 500, etc.) and provide detailed reports showing which pages contain the broken links. For ongoing monitoring, set up automated crawls to catch new broken links as they appear. When fixing broken links, you have several options: update the URL to point to the correct destination, implement a 301 redirect from the old URL to a relevant page, or remove the link entirely if no suitable replacement exists.
Common Mistakes
The biggest mistake is ignoring broken links entirely, assuming they're harmless. Many site owners only discover widespread link rot during major audits, by which point the damage to user experience and crawl efficiency has already occurred. Another common error is fixing broken links by pointing them to irrelevant pages just to eliminate the 404 error—this actually creates a worse user experience than removing the link altogether.