# What are backlinks in documents?

A backlink is a link seen from the page it points to: each document lists the documents that link to it.

Updated on 22 October 2026.

## How it works

When document A links to document B, B gains a backlink from A. Note-taking tools such as Obsidian show these in a panel, which turns every link into a two-way connection without writing it twice.

On the web, the same word means links from other sites to yours, which search engines count. In a team’s documents, backlinks answer a more practical question: what depends on this page?

## An example

Before changing the pricing spec, a product manager opens its backlinks and sees the launch plan, two sales briefs and the support FAQ. Those are the documents to check after the change.

## Common mistakes

- Treating backlinks as decoration instead of checking them before a change.
- Expecting a mention to count: a document that names another without linking it is not a backlink.

## In Nodary

Every Nodary document lists, under Mentioned in, the documents whose [[links]] point to it. The map shows something else: the links people draw between documents, each with its reason. Studio AI and connected agents read a document’s links and backlinks too, so they can find what a change affects.

**What Nodary does not do:** it lists linked references, not unlinked mentions: a document that names another without linking it does not appear.

- [Getting started](https://nodary.ai/docs/getting-started)

Try it on your own documents. The Free plan needs no card. [Create a free workspace](https://nodary.ai/sign-up)

## Sources

- [Backlinks, Obsidian Help](https://obsidian.md/help/plugins/backlinks)
- [Backlink, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlink)

## Related terms

- [Linked documents](https://nodary.ai/glossary/linked-documents): Linked documents point to each other, so each idea is written once and other documents link to it instead of copying it.
- [Knowledge graph](https://nodary.ai/glossary/knowledge-graph): A knowledge graph stores knowledge as entities and the named relationships between them, so software can follow those relationships to answer questions.
- [Team wiki](https://nodary.ai/glossary/team-wiki): A team wiki is a set of linked pages that any member can create and edit, so shared knowledge grows from everyone’s contributions.

https://nodary.ai/glossary/backlinks