Yeah, the very strange thing about Airtable is that its own native CSV import functionality doesn’t let you import data into linked record fields. It feels like a major bug to me, which you can report to support@airtable.com.
However, you can install the CSV Import Extension, and that WILL actually allow you to import data into linked record fields.
Also, if you need to do automated CSV imports on a regular basis (instead of manually importing your CSV files every time), you can do that with Make’s automations and integrations.
I demonstrate how to automatically import & export CSV files using Make on this Airtable podcast episode.
Hope this helps!
If you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with this or anything else that is Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld