quickest way to find links to a website?

for your own site, the search console list also shows which of your pages get the most links, useful when deciding where internal links should come from. for a competitor, free tools only show a sample, so treat it as a list of ideas rather than the full picture.

if it's your client's own site, search console > links shows the top linking sites for free. it's sampled, not every link, but for a small business it's usually enough. for a competitor you need a backlink tool, most have a free limited check.