ShieldmyLinks lets you restrict any protected link by country. Here's how it works and when to use it.

What Is Link Geo-Fencing?

Geo-fencing lets you control which countries can access a protected link. You define a rule — either an allow list (only these countries can access) or a block list (everyone except these countries can access) — and ShieldmyLinks enforces it automatically when someone clicks.

If a visitor's country isn't allowed, they see an "Access Restricted" message instead of the captcha. The link destination is never revealed.

Allow List vs Block List

Allow list — only visitors from the listed countries can proceed. Best for: regional launches, local event registrations, content that should only reach a specific market.

Block list — visitors from the listed countries are blocked; everyone else can proceed. Best for: blocking specific regions known for high bot traffic, complying with trade restrictions, or age-gating content in regulated markets.

Both work with ShieldmyLinks' existing bot protection — geo-fencing and captcha verification run together. A visitor who passes geo-fencing still needs to solve the captcha.

Use Cases

GDPR compliance. If your link leads to a service not available in the EU, you can block EU countries at the link level — before any data is collected. Clean and simple.

Regional product launches. Launching in France before the global rollout? Create an allow list with just France (and maybe Belgium and Switzerland for French-speaking neighbours). Share the link publicly — only French visitors get through.

Event invite links. Running a meetup in Berlin? Restrict your event registration link to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. No need to manually vet sign-ups from the other side of the world.

Community protection. If your Discord or Telegram community has been repeatedly attacked from specific regions, add those countries to a block list. You can always remove them later.

How to Set It Up

Go to your Dashboard and click the Geo Rules tab.
Click New Profile and give it a name (e.g. "EU Only" or "Block High-Risk Regions").
Choose Allow list or Block list, then select countries. You can use region presets (EU, North America, Asia-Pacific, etc.) or search by country name.
Save the profile.
Open the Edit modal for any protected link and assign the geo rule from the dropdown.

That's it. The rule is active immediately — no re-sharing the link needed.

What Blocked Visitors See

Blocked visitors see a clean "Access Restricted" page that shows their detected country and explains they can't access the content from their location. No destination URL is ever shown or leaked in the HTML.

A Note on IP Accuracy

Geo-fencing is based on IP geolocation via ipapi.co. This is accurate for the vast majority of real users (ISP-assigned IPs map reliably to country). VPN users may bypass geo-restrictions — this is a known limitation of any IP-based system. For content where VPN bypass is a serious concern, combine geo-fencing with other access controls.

If the geo-check fails for any reason (network error, API timeout), ShieldmyLinks fails open — the visitor is allowed through. This prevents your own users from being accidentally locked out due to a third-party API issue.

Geo-Fencing Your Links: Control Access by Country