Competitor backlink analysis is the process of studying the backlinks of the pages that outrank you, so you can find links you could realistically earn too. Done well, it takes four moves: identify the pages that actually rank for your target keyword, pull and clean their backlinks, find the sites that link to several competitors but not to you (a link intersect), and sort every link into what you can replicate and what you can't. Then you score the replicable ones and work from the top.
The goal isn't to copy a competitor's profile link for link. Plenty of their links came from history you don't share, and some came from tactics you shouldn't touch. The goal is a short, prioritized list of relevant sites that are demonstrably willing to link to pages like yours.
This guide walks through the six steps, with a sorting framework, a scoring model, a spreadsheet layout and a worked example.
What is competitor backlink analysis?
Definition
Competitor backlink analysis is the practice of examining the backlink profiles of pages that rank above you for a target keyword, in order to understand why they rank, measure the link gap, and identify link opportunities you can pursue.
It answers three questions that drive your whole link building plan:
- How big is the gap? How many relevant referring domains do the ranking pages have compared with yours?
- What kinds of links work in this niche? Resource pages, guest posts, PR, tools roundups, associations?
- Which specific sites should we approach? The ones already linking to pages like ours.
If you're putting together a wider plan, this analysis feeds Step 3 of our link building strategy framework.
Step 1: Find the competitors that actually rank
Your business competitors and your search competitors are often different. A local accounting firm's real search competitors might be a national software company's blog, a government guidance page and a finance publisher. Analyze whoever ranks.
- 1
Pick one target page and its main keyword
Competitor analysis works page by page. Start with your highest-priority page and the keyword it should rank for. - 2
Search the keyword and note the top results
Use a private window and your target location. Record the URLs ranking in roughly the top five to ten. - 3
Remove the ones you can't learn from
Skip giant sites that rank on brand power alone (major marketplaces, encyclopedias) unless they dominate every keyword in your niche. - 4
Keep three to five comparable pages
Include at least one competitor similar to you in size and age, so your benchmark is realistic rather than aspirational. - 5
Repeat for your next priority page
Different pages often face different competitors, especially informational content versus commercial pages.
Compare pages, not just domains
Step 2: Gather and clean their backlinks
To see a competitor's backlinks, you need a third-party backlink index. Google Search Console only shows links to sites you've verified. Commercial platforms such as Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz and Majestic maintain their own indexes; free versions typically show a limited sample. Our overview of link building tools explains the categories.
Export referring domains (not every individual link) for each competitor page, then clean the list:
Cleaning a competitor link export
0/6Much of what you remove in this step is noise every site collects, which Google says its systems largely ignore. Don't read anything into it, and definitely don't replicate it.
Step 3: Run a link intersect
A link intersect finds the sites linking to two or more competitors but not to you. These are your warmest prospects: they've already shown they link to pages like yours, often more than once.
| Referring domain | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C | Links to you? | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gardening-resources.example | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No | Very high |
| localgrowersguild.example | ✓ | ✓ | — | No | High |
| homesteadweekly.example | ✓ | — | ✓ | No | High |
| randomdirectory.example | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No | Check quality first |
| soilsciencedept.example | — | ✓ | — | No | Medium |
You can do this without a dedicated feature: export referring domains for each competitor into one sheet, count how many competitors each domain appears against, and filter out domains that already link to you. A domain linking to three of three competitors deserves a close look — though, as the "random directory" row shows, high overlap can also signal a low-quality site that links to everyone.
Step 4: Sort links into replicable vs not
This is the step that turns a link export into a plan. Open each kept linking page, see why it links to the competitor, and put it in one of four buckets:
| Bucket | What it means | Typical link types | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — Replicable now | You could earn this with what you already have | Resource pages, directories and associations, roundups, partner pages, guest contributions | Pitch it this month |
| B — Replicable with an asset | You need a comparable or better page first | Links to a competitor's tool, study, guide or template | Build the asset, then pitch |
| C — Not replicable | Earned from something you don't share | News about their funding or founding, their own partners, events they ran, links from their sister sites | Note the pattern; move on |
| D — Don't copy | Likely manipulative or low value | Paid posts on link-selling sites, PBN-style networks, spam directories, comment and profile spam | Ignore, and don't treat as a benchmark |
Common competitor link types and how to replicate them
| Link type | How to recognize it | How to replicate |
|---|---|---|
| Resource page | A curated list of links on a topic | Pitch your page as an addition; see resource page link building |
| Broken link replacement | Competitor replaced a dead link | Check the page for other dead links you can replace |
| Guest post | Competitor's staff byline on another site | Pitch your own topic to the same publication |
| Roundup or listicle | "Best X" or "top tools" article | Ask to be considered when it's next updated |
| Expert quote | Competitor quoted in an article | Answer journalist requests in your area of expertise |
| Data citation | Article cites a competitor's statistic | Publish fresher or better data; pitch the writers who cite old data |
| Association or directory | Member or listing page | Join or list if it's relevant and genuinely curated |
| Unlinked brand mention turned link | Competitor named and linked in passing | Find mentions of your own brand without links |
For the playbooks behind these, see resource page link building, broken link building, guest posting and the skyscraper technique.
Step 5: Score and prioritize
You'll end up with more bucket A and B opportunities than you can pursue. A simple score keeps you focused on the ones most likely to matter. Rate each from 0 to 3 on four factors:
| Factor | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relevance | Unrelated | Loosely related | Adjacent topic | Same topic and audience |
| Authority and quality | Spammy or no traffic | Low | Moderate | Strong, real audience |
| Replicability | Not realistic | Needs a major asset | Needs a small asset or tweak | Can pitch today |
| Effort (inverted) | Very high | High | Moderate | Low |
Weight relevance most heavily when scores tie. A relevant link from a modest site usually does more for you than an unrelated link from a big one. To check authority quickly across a list of domains, use a bulk checker.
A spreadsheet layout that works
Referring domain | Linking page URL | Links to (A / B / C) | Anchor | Rel (follow / nofollow / sponsored / ugc)
Link type | Bucket (A / B / C / D) | Relevance 0-3 | Authority 0-3 | Replicability 0-3 | Effort 0-3 | Score /12
Our page to pitch | Asset needed? | Contact | Status (to pitch / pitched / won / declined) | Date | NotesStep 6: Turn the list into links
- 1
Match each opportunity to one of your pages
Decide exactly which page you'd want linked and why it serves that page's readers at least as well as the competitor's. - 2
Close asset gaps for bucket B
Group bucket B opportunities by the asset they need. If eight sites link to competitors' calculators, a better calculator is your next project. - 3
Pitch with a specific reason
Reference the page, the specific section and what your page adds — fresher data, a missing step, a free tool. Never just say 'you link to my competitor'. - 4
Track outcomes in the same sheet
Update the status column so the analysis becomes your outreach pipeline rather than a one-off report. - 5
Repeat quarterly
Check which new links competitors earned. New links often reveal fresh roundups, resource pages or journalists covering your topic.
For pitch structure and templates, see our link building outreach guide, or draft one with the free outreach email generator.
Worked example
A fictional gardening site, rootandrow.example, wants its "raised bed soil calculator" page to rank. It currently has 6 referring domains to that page. The team analyzes three competitor pages ranking above it. The numbers below are illustrative:
| Stage | Result |
|---|---|
| Referring domains to competitor pages | 28, 41 and 19 (median 28) — a gap of roughly 22 to the median |
| After cleaning | Spam and irrelevant domains removed; about two-thirds remain |
| Link intersect (2+ competitors) | 17 domains, none linking to rootandrow.example |
| Bucket A | 7 — four resource pages, two gardening club link lists, one roundup |
| Bucket B | 6 — articles citing a competitor's soil volume chart, which rootandrow.example doesn't have |
| Bucket C | 2 — local news about a competitor's community garden project |
| Bucket D | 2 — sites with paid "sponsored post" pages |
| Plan | Pitch the 7 bucket A sites now; build a printable soil volume chart, then pitch the 6 bucket B sites |
The key insight came from bucket B: six sites linked to the same kind of asset. That told the team what to build next — a far better use of time than guessing at content ideas.
What not to copy
Learn from
- Which link types work in your niche
- The assets that attract links repeatedly
- Publications and communities that cover your topic
- How competitors phrase anchors on editorial links
Don't replicate
- Links from sites that openly sell posts
- PBN-style networks: many sites with the same theme, owner or thin content
- Spam directories, comment links and profile links
- Exact-match anchors repeated across many links
A competitor ranking with manipulative links doesn't mean those links are working; Google says it neutralizes many spammy links automatically, and competitors can rank despite bad links rather than because of them. Copying their worst links can only add risk to your profile. If you're worried about links already pointing at you, see our guide to toxic backlinks.