Copy the link without filling in missing characters
Start with the actual clickable link or a clearly readable address from the public profile. Preserve the full string, including letter case and the text after the slash. If you only have an uncertain screenshot, resolve the ambiguous text before treating a guessed link as the one the profile published.
Keep the profile label beside the copied URL in your notes. A button labelled Official guide and a shortened address are two different observations: one is descriptive text, the other is a navigation target.
Inspect the destination in the official checker
Bitly documents a Link Checker where you paste a link and choose the check action. The preview shows the destination beneath the short link. The same checking function is available through its mobile app, with or without signing in. Source
Use the official help page to reach that tool rather than an unrelated service asking you to sign in with a social account. You do not need to publish a new short link to inspect an existing Bitly link.
Compare the destination with the promise
Read the host and path shown in the preview. Compare the host with the website address you already obtained from a trusted project source. Do not decide that two destinations are equivalent just because a project name appears somewhere in both strings.
| Observation | Useful next step |
|---|---|
| Expected host and relevant page path | Decide whether to open and inspect the page |
| Different host from the profile label | Keep the mismatch explicit and use a known route to the project |
| Another short or redirecting address | Record that the final page remains unresolved |
| Incomplete or invalid copied link | Return to the source rather than trying guessed variants |
For an illustrative event profile, a button might say Registration while the preview points to an old campaign page. That mismatch is enough to pause your citation. It does not reveal who created the link or establish a motive.
Verify the page only if you choose to open it
A destination preview does not certify the content behind the address. If you proceed, inspect the page’s actual heading, relevant details and final browser address. Avoid entering credentials or payment information merely to complete a source comparison.
Record the short link, previewed destination, any final address you inspected and the access date. If you stop at the preview, say so. Do not describe the page as reviewed when you only saw its URL.
Use the public-web source checklist to connect a resolved page with the claim it supports. For a screenshot containing the shortened address, the OCR query guide covers transcription errors before this destination check.