Backlink Tool Finding Links That Aren't Visible

[AAttias]

I'm using a variety of backlink toolsl; OSE, SEM Rush, Link Research Tools and Google Webmaster Tools.

On some occasions the tools are telling me there is a link to my site on a certain page, however when I open that page I can't see any mention of my company.

I have run all these reports today, so I think it is unlikely that Google is using old data.

Does anyone know why this happens and if I should still be concerned about links that I cannot see but backlink tools are telling me are there?

Thanks guys.

[StreamlineMetrics]

Have you tried using ahrefs.com? It seems to update its index on a daily or almost daily basis, which is much faster than OSE and GWT.

[jesse-landry]

It doesn't really matter when you run the reports, the bots/spiders are crawling and refreshing their index on set timeframes. When you "run a report" you're doing just that, you're getting a report of the last crawl from that particular bot.

So for example, OSE's last refresh was on **May 21, 2014 **and it's next isn't til June 18th.

That being said, none of them are going to be perfect and complete also.

When you say "unlikely that Google is using old data" it makes me think you're focusing on the GWT backlink analysis which is arguably the weakest of those mentioned.

All of those things combined should explain why you are seeing things that may not be there. Hope that helps.