Backlink Gap With a Competitor a to-do list, not a report
Enter your own domain and one or two competitors to get the list of sites that have linked to the competitor and not to you, sorted by authority.
- Up to two competitors
- Sorted by authority
- Directly actionable output
Run the tool right here
Sites that link to your competitor but not to you, which is your link-building to-do list.
- What it costs $0.054
- Data source DataForSEO
The short answer
A backlink gap is the list of domains that were willing to link to a site like yours and simply have not seen you. It is the one SEO report whose output is directly a to-do list: every row is one specific site you could contact today.
Choosing the competitor is the most important decision here, and it is usually got wrong. Pick a competitor slightly ahead of you, not the biggest name in the market. A giant list is full of sites that will never link to you, and reading it is only discouraging. The list of a competitor your own size is executable from the start.
If you give it two competitors, only domains that linked to both come back. The list gets shorter but its quality rises, because a site that linked to two of your competitors probably does this as part of its work rather than by accident. If you are just starting, one competitor is enough; if the list gets crowded, add a second so it sifts itself.
Use the authority column to prioritise, but do not get stuck on the ordering. More important than the order is opening each row and seeing what kind of page linked to the competitor. If it is a listicle, you can probably be added. If it is a news item or an interview, the route is different. If it is a purchased advertorial, that is not an opportunity at all, it is a price.
Where the data comes from
DataForSEO backlinks domain intersection with exclude_targets set to your own domain: the intersection of your competitors' linkers minus your own. Give two competitors and only domains linking to both are returned, which is a shorter but higher-quality list.
When it helps
When you want link building to stop being guesswork. Pick a competitor slightly ahead of you, not the market giant; a same-size competitor's list is actually actionable.
Where it does not help
This tool finds the opportunity, it does not get the link. Every row only means that site once linked to somebody like you, not that it will link to you. The real success rate of outreach to this list is low and you should expect that; its value is that instead of contacting a thousand random sites you contact fifty that have already proved they link into this field. The second limitation is the data: as with any backlink tool, the list is what the provider crawler found and is not complete. A last point: some of these rows are purchased links, which are not opportunities; open a few examples before any outreach so you know what kind of list you are holding.
One thing we learned using it
The comparison against your own domain happens inside the request itself, not afterwards. That means the list you get has already had your own linking sites subtracted and what remains genuinely is the gap. We built it that way on purpose, because in practice we have seen that without that subtraction half the list is sites that already link to you and somebody spends time removing them by hand.
What it costs
No monthly subscription. You top up a wallet and the price of a run is printed on the button before you press it; if you never run it, nothing is deducted.
Questions about this tool
Which competitor should I pick?
Somebody slightly ahead of you who sells what you sell. If you are not sure who that is, run link competitors first; its output is exactly the list of candidates.
One competitor or two?
One to begin with, so you get a longer and more varied list. Two is good when the single-competitor list has become crowded and you only want to see sites that linked to both, which are the more serious ones.
How do I actually get links from this list?
Open each row and see which page linked to the competitor and why. If it is a listicle, propose being added; if it is an interview or news item, create your own news. Mass identical outreach against this list does not work and only spends your credibility.