diff --git a/src/cljc/athens/common_db.cljc b/src/cljc/athens/common_db.cljc
index 2e5b2fd8ed..15977614e5 100644
--- a/src/cljc/athens/common_db.cljc
+++ b/src/cljc/athens/common_db.cljc
@@ -516,16 +516,6 @@
       (throw (ex-info fail-msg position)))))
 
 
-(defn page-refs
-  "Returns page titles referenced in eid."
-  [db eid]
-  (->> eid
-       (d/entity db)
-       :block/refs
-       (map :node/title)
-       (remove nil?)))
-
-
 (defn extract-tag-values
   "Extracts `tag` values from `children-fn` children with `extractor-fn` from parser AST."
   [ast tag-selector children-fn extractor-fn]
diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs
index 448b3038b9..9102086adb 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/db.cljs
@@ -295,7 +295,9 @@
 
 
 (def block-document-pull-vector
-  '[:db/id :block/uid :block/string :block/open :block/order :block/header {:block/children ...} :block/refs :block/_refs])
+  '[:db/id :block/uid :block/string :block/open :block/order :block/header {:block/children ...} :block/refs
+    ;; for backrefs, also return their refs and matching titles, if any, for coref analysis.
+    {:block/_refs [:db/id {:block/refs [:db/id :node/title]}]}])
 
 
 (def node-document-pull-vector
diff --git a/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks/core.cljs b/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks/core.cljs
index 902bf68930..88fe8719eb 100644
--- a/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks/core.cljs
+++ b/src/cljs/athens/views/blocks/core.cljs
@@ -214,9 +214,19 @@
                                         :margin-block-start "0"}]]})
 
 
+(defn has-coref?
+  [set {:block/keys [refs] :as backref}]
+  (when (some set refs)
+    backref))
+
+
 (defn inline-linked-refs-el
   [block state]
-  (let [refs (db/get-linked-block-references block)]
+  (let [ref-filter (-> state deref :inline-refs/filter)
+        block'     (if (seq ref-filter)
+                     (update block :block/_refs #(vec (keep (partial has-coref? ref-filter) %)))
+                     block)
+        refs       (db/get-linked-block-references block')]
     (when (not-empty refs)
       [:div (stylefy/use-style references-style {:key "Inline Linked References"})
        [:section
@@ -235,30 +245,29 @@
 (def coref-string-size-limit 3)
 
 
-;; TODO: show corefs in block view
 (defn block-refs-count-el
-  [refs click-fn]
-  (let [db     @db/dsdb ; TODO: this isn't reactive
-        total  (count refs)
-        corefs (->> refs
-                    (map :db/id)
-                    (mapcat (partial common-db/page-refs db))
-                    (remove #(> (count %) coref-string-size-limit))
-                    (frequencies))]
+  [backrefs click-fn]
+  (let [total      (count backrefs)
+        coref-freqs (->> backrefs
+                         (mapcat :block/refs)
+                         (remove #(-> % :node/title not))
+                         (remove #(> (count (:node/title %)) coref-string-size-limit))
+                         (frequencies))] ; TODO: stable sort
 
     [:div (stylefy/use-style {:margin-left "1em"
-                              :grid-area "refs"
-                              :z-index (:zindex-dropdown style/ZINDICES)
-                              :visibility (when-not (pos? total) "hidden")})
+                              :grid-area   "refs"
+                              :z-index     (:zindex-dropdown style/ZINDICES)
+                              :visibility  (when-not (pos? total) "hidden")})
      (doall
-       (for [[title total] corefs]
-         [:> Button {:on-click  (fn [e]
-                                  (.. e stopPropagation)
-                                  (click-fn e))}
+       (for [[{:node/keys [title] :as coref} total] coref-freqs]
+         [:> Button {:key      (str "coref-count-" title)
+                     :on-click (fn [e]
+                                 (.. e stopPropagation)
+                                 (click-fn e #{coref}))}
           [:span title " " [:sub total]]]))
-     [:> Button {:on-click  (fn [e]
-                              (.. e stopPropagation)
-                              (click-fn e))}
+     [:> Button {:on-click (fn [e]
+                             (.. e stopPropagation)
+                             (click-fn e #{}))}
       total]]))
 
 
@@ -416,6 +425,7 @@
                         :show-editable-dom  false
                         :linked-ref/open    (or (false? linked-ref) initial-open)
                         :inline-refs/open   false
+                        :inline-refs/filter #{}
                         :inline-refs/states {}
                         :block/uid          uid})
          save-fn #(db/transact-state-for-uid (or original-uid uid) state)
@@ -502,10 +512,18 @@
            [presence/inline-presence-el uid]
 
            (when (and (> (count _refs) 0) (not= :block-embed? opts))
-             [block-refs-count-el _refs (fn [e]
-                                          (if (.. e -shiftKey)
-                                            (rf/dispatch [:right-sidebar/open-item uid])
-                                            (swap! state update :inline-refs/open not)))])]
+             [block-refs-count-el _refs (fn [e new-filter]
+                                          (let [{:inline-refs/keys [open filter]}  @state]
+                                            (if (.. e -shiftKey)
+                                              ;; shift-click always opens the block on the sidebar
+                                              (rf/dispatch [:right-sidebar/open-item uid])
+                                              (do
+                                                ;; update the filter
+                                                (swap! state assoc :inline-refs/filter new-filter)
+
+                                                ;; toggle open unless we're already open and just switching filters
+                                                (when-not (and open (not= filter new-filter))
+                                                  (swap! state update :inline-refs/open not))))))])]
 
           [autocomplete-search/inline-search-el block state]
           [autocomplete-slash/slash-menu-el block state]