A previously lost or broken link that has been successfully restored.
A reclaimed link is a previously lost or broken reference whose useful connection has been restored. The term describes an outcome. Link reclamation describes the work undertaken to achieve it. A request sent to a publisher is therefore not yet a reclaimed link.
Recovery can take different forms. A publisher may restore the hyperlink or correct its destination. Alternatively, a relevant redirect on the receiving site can make an existing old link useful again. Record which repair occurred so that a direct updated link and a link working through a redirect are not confused.
Verification should establish that the referring page actually contains the expected link and that following it reaches the appropriate content. A dashboard label alone cannot explain whether the reader’s journey is fixed. Restored access does not prove that a search engine has reprocessed the link or that rankings have changed.
Takeaway: Count recovery when you have checked the working reference, not when outreach starts. Keep the evidence practical: source page, destination, repair type and verification date.
Example
A trade association corrects a mistyped link to an engineering firm’s inspection guide. The firm opens the listing and follows the link to the intended guide. That is a confirmed recovery; an unanswered email asking the association to make the same correction is still pending.
What to check
After a redirect-based repair, confirm that it does not end on an unrelated page or cycle through a loop. Preserve useful old redirects when later redesigns occur. Assess any resulting referral traffic separately from the fact that the link now works.
For more detail, see Site moves with URL changes.