Link Gap Analysis is one of the most powerful features in LinkRocket's Competitor Analysis toolkit. It reveals the domains that link to your competitors but not to you — giving you a curated list of high-probability outreach targets that are already predisposed to linking to sites in your space.
What Is Link Gap Analysis?
Every competitor in your niche has backlinks from sites that you don't. Some of those linking sites are irrelevant to you, but many of them are perfect outreach candidates. They've already demonstrated two things: they link to content in your industry, and they have an editorial willingness to include outbound links. That makes them far more likely to respond positively to your outreach than a cold prospect.
Link Gap Analysis automates the process of finding these sites. Instead of manually cross-referencing backlink profiles, you select your competitors and let LinkRocket surface the domains where opportunities exist.
How to Run a Link Gap Analysis
Navigate to the Competitors section from the main menu.
Open the Link Gap Analysis tab.
Select which competitors to compare. You can include all of your tracked competitors or select a subset. Comparing 2–4 competitors tends to produce the most actionable results.
Configure your filters to narrow the results:
Filter | What It Does | Recommended Setting |
|---|---|---|
Links to at least X competitors | Only shows domains linking to this many of your competitors | Set to 2+ for higher-confidence targets |
Domain Rating minimum | Filters out low-authority sites | 20–30+ for most use cases |
Link type | Filter by dofollow, nofollow, or all links | Dofollow for link equity; All for broader view |
Click Find Opportunities.
Tip: Start with the "Links to at least 2 competitors" filter. Sites linking to multiple competitors in your space are the strongest signals of a willing link source — they've proven a pattern of linking to sites like yours.
Understanding Your Link Gap Results
For each opportunity, LinkRocket displays:
Domain and linking page URL — the specific site (and often the specific page) that links to your competitors.
Number of competitors linked — how many of your tracked competitors this domain links to. Higher numbers indicate stronger relevance.
Domain Rating — the authority of the linking domain. Higher DR links pass more value.
Anchor text used — the clickable text of the link, which reveals what context the link appears in.
Link type — whether the link is dofollow (passes SEO value) or nofollow.
Prioritizing Link Gap Opportunities
Not every result deserves your attention. Focus your time on opportunities that check multiple boxes:
High-priority targets are domains where the linking site connects to two or more of your competitors, the Domain Rating is comparable to or higher than the average DR of your existing backlinks, the content on the linking page is topically relevant to your site, and the site appears legitimate and well-maintained (not a link farm, scraper site, or abandoned blog).
Lower-priority targets — sites linking to only one competitor, very low DR sites, or pages where the link context is unrelated to your niche — can go on a secondary list for later outreach or be skipped entirely.
Warning: Resist the temptation to pursue every opportunity in your results. A focused outreach campaign targeting 20–30 high-quality prospects will almost always outperform a spray-and-pray approach to 200 mediocre ones.
Taking Action on Link Gap Opportunities
Once you've prioritized your list, here's how to turn data into backlinks:
1. Visit the Linking Page
Click through to the actual page where the link appears. Understanding the context of the link is critical for crafting outreach that makes sense. Ask yourself: what content on this page earned a link, and why?
2. Identify the Link Type
The type of link tells you what strategy to use:
Link Type | What It Means | Your Approach |
|---|---|---|
Resource list | The page curates links on a topic | Create a resource that belongs on the list, then ask to be included |
Guest post | A competitor wrote content for the site | Pitch a different (non-competing) article idea |
Editorial mention | The competitor was cited in an article | Create content or data that's newsworthy and worth citing |
Directory or listing | A niche directory or business listing | Submit your site through their standard process |
Roundup or interview | Curated expert content | Reach out to be included in future roundups |
3. Find Contact Information
Check the site's About, Contact, Write for Us, or Contribute pages for email addresses or submission forms. If those aren't available, LinkedIn or Twitter can work for editorial contacts.
4. Personalize Your Outreach
Generic outreach gets ignored. For each prospect:
Reference the specific page where you found their link to a competitor.
Explain what your content offers that would add value to their audience.
Don't just ask for a link — frame it as a benefit to their readers.
For example, instead of "I noticed you link to [Competitor]. Would you add a link to my site too?" try something like "I saw your guide on [Topic] — it's a great resource. I recently published [Your Content] that covers [Angle Competitor Missed], which might be useful for your readers."
Exporting Link Gap Results
You can export your Link Gap results as a CSV file for use in outreach tools, spreadsheets, or CRM systems. Click the Export button in the results toolbar to download the full dataset, including all domains, URLs, metrics, and anchor text data.
This is especially useful if you're managing outreach across a team or using a dedicated outreach platform to track responses.
Next Steps
After running your first Link Gap Analysis:
Export your top 20–30 opportunities to a spreadsheet.
Visit each linking page and categorize the link type.
Draft personalized outreach templates for each link type.
Begin outreach, starting with the highest-DR, most-relevant targets.
Track response rates and link placements to refine your approach over time.
For keywords and content opportunities your competitors are capitalizing on, continue to Content Gap Analysis.