Competitor Backlink Analysis: Find Where They Win
Most competitor backlink research stops at a spreadsheet. You export a list of domains linking to your competitor, feel briefly productive, and then never touch it again. The list is not the hard part. Knowing which of those links you can actually go get is.
This guide walks through finding a competitor's backlinks without an enterprise subscription, then sorting every result into two piles: links you can realistically earn and links you cannot. That second step is the one most guides skip, and it is the difference between a link building plan and a list of names.
Quick Navigation
- Why Google Search Console Can't Show You This
- Finding a Competitor's Backlinks Without a Paid Subscription
- The Link Intersect Method
- Sorting What You Find: Replicable vs. Not Replicable
- Evaluating Each Opportunity for Real Relevance
- A Simple Prioritization Framework
- Turning the List Into Outreach
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Google Search Console Can't Show You This
Google Search Console shows backlinks for one property: yours. The Links report under Reports > Links lists sites linking to the domain you have verified, and there is no field, filter, or setting that lets you enter a competitor's URL instead.
This trips people up because GSC feels thorough once you are inside it. It is thorough, for your own site. GSC was built as a webmaster tool, not a competitive intelligence platform, and Google has never added competitor lookup to it. If you want to see who links to a competitor, you need a third-party crawler that indexes the open web independently of Google's own index.
That is not a knock on GSC. For understanding your own link profile, checking your own backlinks first gives you the baseline you need before a competitor comparison means anything. Once you know your own profile, you can compare it to a competitor's and see the actual gap, not just an unconnected list of unfamiliar domains.
Finding a Competitor's Backlinks Without a Paid Subscription
Ahrefs' free Backlink Checker lets you look up backlink data for any domain, including a competitor's, without a paid plan. Enter a competitor's URL and it returns their total backlink count, their total referring domain count, and a list of their top 100 backlinks by Ahrefs' authority metric, no signup or credit card required. That is according to Ahrefs' own walkthrough of finding competitor backlinks, published on its blog.
A hundred backlinks sounds thin next to a competitor's full profile, which can run into the tens of thousands for an established site. In practice it is enough to start. The top 100 by authority are the links doing the most work for that domain, which means they are also the links worth investigating first. A full export matters more once you are running ongoing link building at scale, not on your first pass.
What to record for each competitor backlink:
- The referring domain and the specific page linking out
- The anchor text used
- What kind of page it is (directory listing, guest post, resource page, news article, sponsorship, forum post)
- Whether the link points to the competitor's homepage or a specific inner page
Run this same free lookup against two or three direct competitors instead of one. A link that shows up for a single competitor might be a fluke. A link type that shows up across three competitors is a pattern, and patterns are what you build a strategy around.
The Link Intersect Method
A link intersect search finds sites that link to multiple competitors but not to you, and those overlaps are your highest-probability link targets. If a site has already linked to two or three businesses like yours, it has shown a willingness to link to companies in your category. That is a much stronger signal than a single backlink pulled at random from a competitor's list.
Think about why a site links to a competitor in the first place. Maybe it is a local business directory that lists every plumber in the metro area. Maybe it is an industry resource page that rounds up tools in your category. Maybe it is a blog that regularly covers your niche and links out to sources it trusts. None of those reasons are exclusive to one company. A directory that lists your competitor almost certainly has a submission process for you too.
This is the concept behind Ahrefs' paid Link Intersect tool, which automates the overlap search across multiple competitor domains at once — a Site Explorer feature that sits above the free Backlink Checker tier. You do not need the paid version to use the underlying logic. With the free checker, manually cross-reference the backlink lists for two or three competitors and flag any domain that appears more than once. It takes longer than an automated tool, but the free method surfaces the same signal: sites that have already proven they will link to a business in your category.
Sorting What You Find: Replicable vs. Not Replicable
Every backlink on a competitor's list splits into one of two categories: links you can go earn the same way they did, and links tied to circumstances that will never repeat for you. Treating both categories the same is where most competitor backlink research goes wrong.
Replicable Links
These are links tied to a process, not a person or a moment. If a competitor got the link by doing something, you can do that same something.
Directory and listing sites. Local business directories, industry-specific listings, chamber of commerce sites, and niche associations typically accept submissions from any qualifying business. If your competitor is listed, check whether the directory has an open submission process. Most do.
Guest posts. If a competitor has a byline on an industry blog or publication, that publication accepts outside contributors. Find their submission guidelines and pitch a different angle on the same topic.
Resource pages. Pages titled something like "Best Tools for [Category]" or "[Industry] Resources" link out to multiple businesses by design, and they are one of the most consistently replicable link types because their entire purpose is aggregating options. Our guide to finding and pitching resource pages covers the outreach process in detail.
Sponsorships. Local events, industry conferences, and podcast sponsorships often come with a backlink as part of the package. If a competitor sponsors a local 5K or an industry newsletter, that is a paid or in-kind arrangement you can pursue too.
Not Replicable Links
These came from something specific to that competitor: their history, their relationships, or a moment in time that will not repeat for you.
Unearned press coverage. A journalist wrote about the competitor because of something newsworthy they did — a funding round, a controversy, a product launch that happened to be timely. You cannot pitch your way into a story that was never about you.
Personal relationships. A link from the founder's old business school classmate's blog, or a partner agency that links out of goodwill. These exist because of who the competitor knows, not what they built.
Historical links. Some backlinks point to something that no longer exists the way it did when the link went up: a defunct partnership, an acquired company, an old asset from a competitor's earlier era. There is nothing to replicate because the original opportunity is gone.
Chasing not-replicable links wastes outreach hours on dead ends. Sort your list into these two piles before you write a single email, and only the replicable pile moves forward.
Evaluating Each Opportunity for Real Relevance
Not every replicable link is worth chasing, even after you have filtered out the impossible ones. A directory listing means little if the directory has no real traffic and no topical connection to your business.
Check topical relevance first. A resource page about small business accounting software is not a fit for a landscaping company, even if a landscaping competitor somehow ended up on it. Google's own guidance on link schemes treats irrelevant, low-context links as a spam signal rather than a ranking asset (Google Search Central, Link Spam). The link should make sense to a human reader who lands on that page, not just to a crawler.
Look at the page the link sits on, not the domain alone. A high-authority publication can still host a thin, unmaintained resource page that gets no traffic and no attention. Open the actual page. Does it read like something a person maintains, or does it look abandoned?
Consider whether the link is followed or nofollowed. Directory and sponsorship links are sometimes nofollowed, which limits their direct ranking value even though they can still send referral traffic and build brand visibility. Nofollow does not make a link worthless, but it changes how you weigh it against a followed link from the same type of source.
Ask what happens if a real customer clicks it. A link building program that only optimizes for search engines misses half the value. If the referring page would put your business in front of people who might actually buy, that is worth more than a link chosen purely for its authority score.
A Simple Prioritization Framework
Once you have a sorted, filtered list, rank what is left using four questions:
| Priority | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Tier 1: Pursue first | Replicable link type, relevant to your industry, and appeared in your link intersect overlap (linked to 2+ competitors, not to you) |
| Tier 2: Pursue next | Replicable link type and relevant, but appeared for only one competitor |
| Tier 3: Low priority | Replicable in theory but low relevance, thin content, or minimal traffic on the linking page |
| Skip | Not-replicable (press, personal relationships, historical/dead links) |
Work Tier 1 first. Those are the sites that have already shown a pattern of linking to businesses like yours, through a process you can repeat, on pages that make sense for your industry. That combination is rare enough that when you find it, it deserves the first outreach email you send.
Turning the List Into Outreach
A prioritized list still requires action to become a link. For each Tier 1 and Tier 2 target:
- Find the right contact. A submission form for directories, an editor's byline for guest posts, an event organizer's email for sponsorships.
- Match the ask to the link type. Do not pitch a guest post to a static directory listing, and do not submit a directory-style form to a publication that only accepts full articles.
- Reference something specific. Mention the exact page or article you found them on. Generic outreach emails get ignored; specific ones get read.
- Track what you sent and when. A simple spreadsheet with domain, link type, date contacted, and status prevents duplicate outreach and shows you what is actually working after a few months.
This is manual work, and it stays manual. No tool submits guest post pitches or fills out directory forms for you. What a tool can do is remove the guesswork of which targets are worth that manual effort, which is the entire point of sorting and prioritizing before you start.
Start with your own link profile
Before comparing yourself to a competitor, know where you stand. Our free backlink audit guide walks through checking your own profile in Google Search Console first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Google Search Console show me a competitor's backlinks?
No. Google Search Console only shows backlink data for properties you have verified ownership of, under Reports > Links. There is no way to enter a competitor's domain and see their backlinks inside GSC. For competitor data, you need a third-party tool with its own independent web crawl, such as Ahrefs' free Backlink Checker.
Is the free Ahrefs Backlink Checker enough to analyze a competitor, or do I need a paid plan?
For a first pass, the free version covers what most small businesses need: total backlink count, total referring domains, and the top 100 backlinks by authority for any domain you enter, no signup required (Ahrefs). A paid plan adds a full export and historical trend data, plus the automated Link Intersect tool run across every competitor at once. If you are running a one-time competitive check rather than ongoing link building at scale, the free tool is enough to build a prioritized list.
What is a link intersect, exactly?
A link intersect is the set of websites that link to more than one of your competitors but do not link to you. Those overlaps matter because a site linking to two or three businesses in your category has already shown it will link to companies like yours, through whatever process got that link placed. You can build one manually by cross-referencing free backlink checker results for several competitors and flagging domains that repeat.
How do I know if a competitor's backlink is realistic for me to get?
Sort it into replicable or not replicable first. Directories, guest posts, resource pages, and sponsorships are process-driven; any qualifying business, including yours, can go get them. Unearned press coverage and links tied to personal relationships or one-off history are different. They exist because of that specific competitor's circumstances, not a process you can repeat. Only replicable links belong on your action list.
Should I chase every replicable link a competitor has?
No. Relevance matters as much as replicability. A directory or resource page listing is only worth pursuing if it is topically relevant to your business and sits on a page that gets real attention, not an abandoned or thin one. Use the prioritization framework: replicable, relevant, and part of a link intersect overlap goes first. Replicable but low-relevance links go last, if at all.
Building the list is the analysis. Acting on it is the work. If you would rather ask "which of my competitor's backlinks could I realistically get" in plain English instead of manually cross-referencing spreadsheets, try Brass-SEO free for 3 days. It connects to your Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 data so you can see your own link and traffic picture clearly before you go after anyone else's.
For the bigger picture on where backlinks fit into a small business SEO strategy, see our link building for small business guide.