I walk you through how to Remove/Disavow Google Toxic Links With Semrush Backlink Audit so you can identify harmful backlinks, contact webmasters, and tell Google to ignore spammy links. The process covers setting up a project, connecting Google Search Console, interpreting the toxicity score, reviewing suspicious links, and exporting a disavow file to upload to Google.
Table of Contents
- How do I set up a Semrush Backlink Audit campaign and define the campaign scope?
- How do I connect Google Search Console to import backlinks and improve toxicity detection?
- What does the Backlink Audit report show and how do I interpret the toxicity score?
- How do I review backlinks and prepare a disavow file for Google?
- How do I contact webmasters from Semrush to request link removal?
- What are the Lost and Found and Target Pages reports used for?
- How often should I rerun the audit and recalculate toxicity?
- Final checklist to Remove/Disavow Google Toxic Links With Semrush Backlink Audit
- Frequently asked questions
- Conclusion
How do I set up a Semrush Backlink Audit campaign and define the campaign scope?
Start by creating a project for the domain you want to audit. Choose whether to audit the root domain or a specific version of the site. I recommend adding up to 10 brand names to help Semrush recognize brand mentions and categorizing the domain under the appropriate domain category. Semrush will attempt to predict your target country, but you can change it if needed.
After you confirm those settings, click Start Backlink Audit. The tool will begin collecting and analyzing backlinks, checking whether referring domains are indexed, identifying harmful domains, and crawling URLs. Depending on how many backlinks your site has, this process can take some time.
How do I connect Google Search Console to import backlinks and improve toxicity detection?
To include Google Search Console backlinks and let Semrush detect toxic links flagged by Google, add the Semrush service email to your site property in Google Search Console as a verified owner or user with full permissions. Then click Check Connection and Upload Backlinks inside Semrush. Once connected, Semrush will import Search Console backlinks and merge that data with its own crawl results.
What does the Backlink Audit report show and how do I interpret the toxicity score?
The Backlink Audit overview gives recommendations and a toxicity score. It highlights issues such as error pages, potential link networks, mirror pages, and the number of low authority domains pointing to your site. The report also shows:
- Referring domains and authority scores
- Backlinks by anchor text and link type
- Top referring domain categories
- Top target pages that attract the most backlinks
The tool separates backlinks into categories like toxic, potentially toxic, and non-toxic. You can review backlinks flagged for attention and move them to a remove list, whitelist safe links, or mark them for disavowal.
How do I review backlinks and prepare a disavow file for Google?
Open the audit section and click Review Backlinks for any suggested issue, such as a link network or mirror pages. For each unwanted backlink you can:
- Add the URL or domain to the remove list to contact the site owner.
- Add the URL or domain to the disallow list to prepare a disavow file.
- Export the disavow list as a text file ready for upload to Google.
When you export to text, Semrush generates the disavow file entries so you can upload the TXT file into Google Search Console’s disavow tool. After uploading, recalculate the toxicity score in Semrush so the report ignores the disavowed links and reflects the updated profile.
How do I contact webmasters from Semrush to request link removal?
The Remove report lists the pages, social profiles, and contact pages where the backlinks were found and attempts to find an email address. You can connect a mailbox in Semrush and use a saved outreach template. I use the outreach templates to explain that I am cleaning the project domain and politely request link removal.
Semrush tracks outreach status, follow-ups, and responses. Add private notes for each outreach item to manage the process. If a webmaster does not respond, move the link to the disallow list and include it in the disavow file.
What are the Lost and Found and Target Pages reports used for?
The Lost and Found report shows new, broken, and lost backlinks. It helps you monitor backlink gain and attrition. The Target Pages section tells you which pages receive the most backlinks, and when connected to Google Analytics you can see referral traffic for those pages. Use this to prioritize which backlinks to protect or clean up.
How often should I rerun the audit and recalculate toxicity?
Schedule regular reruns of the campaign to keep the backlink profile up to date. Recalculate the toxicity score after uploading a disavow file or after major outreach work. That gives you a current view of how many domains are flagged, the authority distribution, and whether any new low authority or suspicious links have appeared.
Final checklist to Remove/Disavow Google Toxic Links With Semrush Backlink Audit
- Set campaign scope to root domain if you want to include all versions of your site.
- Add brand names and the correct domain category.
- Connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics for richer data.
- Review flagged backlinks and choose remove or disallow actions.
- Use Semrush outreach to contact webmasters, track responses, and follow up.
- Export the disavow TXT file and upload it into Google Search Console if needed.
- Rerun audits and recalculate toxicity after changes.
Frequently asked questions
How does Semrush calculate the toxicity score?
Semrush analyzes backlink signals such as domain authority, indexation, anchor patterns, link networks, and suspicious attributes like mirror pages or comment spam to generate a toxicity score that indicates how risky a backlink profile is.
Can I disavow individual URLs instead of entire domains?
Yes. You can add either specific pages or whole domains to the disallow list. Choose pages when only specific links are problematic and domains when the entire referring site is low quality.
Do I have to contact webmasters before disavowing links?
Best practice is to contact webmasters first and request link removal. If they do not respond, add the links to your disavow file and upload it to Google Search Console.
Will disavowing links immediately improve rankings?
Disavowing removes those links from Google’s consideration but does not guarantee immediate ranking improvement. It prevents harmful links from dragging down your profile and helps protect rankings over time.
How often should I run Semrush Backlink Audit?
Run audits regularly based on your backlink volume—monthly for large profiles and quarterly for smaller sites. Schedule reruns after significant outreach or cleanup activity.
Conclusion
Using Semrush Backlink Audit I can identify toxic backlinks, perform outreach, and prepare a proper disavow file to upload to Google. The combined workflow of importing Search Console data, reviewing flagged links, contacting webmasters, and exporting the disavow file helps me protect rankings and maintain a healthy backlink profile. Remove/Disavow Google Toxic Links With Semrush Backlink Audit is a practical, repeatable process that I recommend including in routine SEO maintenance.
