How to Filter Countries and Languages in GSA SER (2026)

Customers often ask me questions like these: “Why is GSA SER building so many links on non-English sites?” or “Why am I getting links from Japanese sites when my website is in German?”

The answer is that GSA Search Engine Ranker posts to every site it can unless you tell it not to. Two filters in the project options fix that: one for countries and one for languages. This guide shows where they are, how to set them, and when they are worth using. I updated it in October 2026.

Where are the country and language filters in GSA SER?

Create a new project or edit an existing one. In the project window, open the Options tab and scroll all the way down. You will see two lists:

• Skip sites from the following countries on the bottom left
• Skip sites with the following languages on the bottom right

Both lists work the same way, and the one thing to remember is that they are skip lists. A ticked box tells GSA SER to stay away from that country or language.

How do you build links only on sites from one country?

1. Tick Skip sites from the following countries to switch the filter on.
2. Right-click inside the country list and choose Select All. Every country is now ticked, so every country is skipped.
3. Untick the country you want, for example the United States.
4. To target several countries, untick each one you want.

The country filter looks at the site itself, not at its domain ending. If you want links only on certain domain endings, such as .de or .co.uk, use the must-have domain filter instead. I explain it in how to build only .EDU and .GOV links in GSA SER, and it works the same way for any TLD.

How do you build links only on sites in one language?

1. Tick Skip sites with the following languages.
2. Right-click inside the language list and choose Select All.
3. Untick the language you want, for example English.
4. To target several languages, untick each one you want.

For a site aimed at Spanish speakers in Spain, set both filters: untick Spain in the country list and Spanish in the language list.

Are country and language filters worth using?

Yes, on the links that point straight at your website. Google’s own advice on links is about relevance and real usefulness to readers. A link on a page in your audience’s language is more likely to be relevant, and any visitor who clicks it can actually read your site. A link from a Japanese page to a German website does neither.

Google has never said that the country of a linking site is a ranking factor in itself, so do not expect a filter to lift rankings on its own. Treat it as a way to keep links relevant and to avoid a link profile that looks odd for a local site.

What is the downside?

Every filter removes targets. A filter for a widely used language such as English costs you less than one for a smaller language or a single country. To keep a filtered project busy:

• Select as many platforms as you can in the project.
• Give it a large site list. Our GSA SER verified link list currently holds 92,393,141 identified URLs and is updated once a day.
• Let GSA SER also search for its own targets with keywords in your language.

When should you use each filter?

Project	Country filter	Language filter
Tier 1 for a local business site	On: your country only	On: your language only
Tier 1 for a non-English niche site	Optional	On: your language only
Tier 1 for an English niche site	Usually off	On: English only
Tier 2 and tier 3	Off	Usually off, to keep volume up

Lower tiers exist to power up your tier 1 links, so volume matters more there than language. If you want us to set this up for you, our done-for-you GSA SER projects can target any country or language.

Frequently asked questions

Where are the country and language filters in GSA SER?

In the project window, open the Options tab and scroll to the bottom. Skip sites from the following countries is on the bottom left and Skip sites with the following languages is on the bottom right.

Does a ticked box mean GSA SER builds links there?

No, the opposite. Both lists are skip lists. A ticked country or language is skipped. To target one, select all and then untick the one you want.

Can I target more than one country or language?

Yes. Select all, then untick every country or language you want to keep. GSA SER will post to sites that match any of the unticked ones.

Is the country filter the same as filtering by domain ending?

No. The country filter looks at the site, not at its domain ending. To build links only on domain endings such as .de or .co.uk, use the must-have filter under Skip sites with the following words in URL/Domain.

Why does my filtered project build so few links?

Each filter removes targets, and smaller languages and single countries remove the most. Select more platforms, give the project a bigger site list and let it search for targets with keywords in your language.

Should I use language filters on lower tiers?

Usually not. Tier 2 and tier 3 links are there to strengthen your tier 1 links, so volume matters more than language. Use the filters mainly on links that point straight at your website.