Competitor Backlink Analysis: Find Sites Linking to Your Competitors

Sites that link to your competitors have shown they will link to businesses like yours. Here is how to analyse competitor links and turn them into targets.

Competitor backlink analysis is the practice of studying who links to the sites outranking you, so you can find realistic targets and understand what earns links in your market. It is one of the most efficient forms of link research, as long as you analyse rather than copy.

Step 1: Choose real competitors

Your search competitors are the domains that appear repeatedly for your key keywords. Pick three to five, including one larger and two similar in size. Use competitor SEO analysis or your rank tracker results to identify them.

Step 2: Collect linking pages

For each competitor, gather the pages that link to them, with domain, page title and context. Bizsenti AutoSEO's competitor backlink analysis does this from web search and data sources; note that no tool shows every link, so treat the data as a sample.

Step 3: Classify the links

Type	Example	What it tells you
Editorial mention	Article citing a competitor's study	Content that earns links
Directory or listing	Industry directory	Easy, lower-value
Resource page	"Best tools for X"	Curated lists that accept suggestions
Partner or supplier	Supplier case study page	Relationship links
Press	News story	PR angles that worked
Paid or sponsored	Labelled or obvious	Do not copy
Spam	Irrelevant, scraped	Ignore

Step 4: Look for patterns

Which content types attract links? (Data, tools, guides.)
Which site types link? (Local press, industry blogs, associations.)
Which domains link to several competitors? These are your best targets.

Step 5: Run a gap analysis

List domains linking to competitors but not to you. Sort by how many competitors each links to. See backlink gap analysis: a practical guide.

Step 6: Match targets to assets

For each top target, decide which of your pages deserves the link. If none does, create the asset first. Pitching a weak page wastes goodwill.

Step 7: Reach out with a reason

Use a short, personalised message. See the outreach templates.

Step 8: Track and repeat

Track replies and live links, monitor them, and re-run the analysis quarterly.

Mistakes to avoid

Copying a competitor's paid or spammy links.
Using the biggest competitor as the only benchmark.
Treating every gap as worth pursuing.
Pitching without an asset worth linking to.
Assuming the data is complete.

Example

A local accountancy firm compares four competitors. A regional chamber directory, a small-business advice blog and two local news sites link to three of the four. The firm joins the chamber, contributes a tax-deadline checklist to the advice blog, and pitches a local news roundup. Three of the four targets convert.

A worked gap analysis

Suppose you sell project management software. After collecting linking pages for four competitors you find:

Linking domain	Links to competitors	Type	Action
remote-work-blog.example	3	Roundup	Pitch inclusion with a comparison asset
startup-tools-directory.example	3	Directory	Complete a listing
agency-ops-newsletter.example	2	Newsletter	Offer an expert contribution
coupon-site.example	4	Paid/sponsored	Ignore

The domain linking to four competitors is a coupon site, so overlap alone is not enough: type and credibility matter too.

Quality filters to apply

Relevance, real readership, editorial control, whether the link is sponsored, and fit with your assets. Remove anything that fails two or more.

Tracking outcomes

Record outreach sent, replies, links won and the pages they point to. After a quarter, review which target types converted and focus there.

FAQs

Is this legal and ethical? Yes; link data is public. Copying manipulative tactics is the problem.

How often should I do it? Quarterly.

What if competitors have thousands of links? Focus on the most relevant fifty, not the total.

Competitor Backlink Analysis: Find Websites Linking to Your Competitors