How to Do a Link Gap Analysis (Step-by-Step)

A link gap analysis answers the most important question in competitive link building: which backlinks do my competitors have that I don't, and which of those should I be targeting?

Without this analysis, link building campaigns are directionally correct but tactically unfocused. You know you need more links — but more links from where, pointing to which pages, targeting which publishers? A link gap analysis replaces guesswork with a prioritised list of specific acquisition opportunities based on what's actually working for the pages beating you in search.

This guide walks through the full process — from setting up the analysis through to prioritising your outreach list — using real tooling and a practical workflow you can run in under two hours.

What a Link Gap Analysis Reveals

At its core, a link gap analysis compares the backlink profiles of your target pages against the pages currently ranking above you. The output is a list of referring domains linking to your competitors but not to you. These are your highest-value targets because:

• The publishers are already willing to link to content like yours — they've demonstrated this by linking to your competitors

• The links are proven to contribute to page-one rankings in your specific niche

• Your outreach pitch has a concrete value proposition: 'you link to X, here's why you should also consider linking to us'

Done properly, a link gap analysis transforms your link building from 'acquire links generally' to 'acquire these specific links from these specific publishers'.

What You Need Before You Start

• An Ahrefs or Semrush account — both have dedicated Link Intersect / Gap tools. Ahrefs is preferable for iGaming due to its larger index.

• Your target URL — the specific page you want to rank higher, not your homepage

• 3–5 competitor URLs — the specific pages currently ranking above yours for your target keyword, not their homepages

• A spreadsheet for the output — you'll be exporting and filtering data

Important: run this analysis at the page level, not the domain level. You want to know which sites link to the specific pages ranking for your keyword — not which sites link to your competitors' domains generally. Domain-level gap analysis produces too much noise.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Identify Your Target Keyword and Current Page

Choose the specific keyword you want to move. Use a keyword with clear commercial intent and a measurable current position — either not ranking (not in top 100) or ranking outside page one (positions 11–30 are the most actionable gap analysis targets, as you're close enough that link acquisition can realistically move you to page one).

Confirm your target page URL — the exact URL you want to rank. If you don't have a page targeting this keyword yet, that's the first problem to fix before running a gap analysis.

Step 2: Identify the 3–5 Pages You're Competing Against

Search your target keyword in Google (in incognito or with location set to your target market) and note the top 5 organic results. These are your gap analysis competitors. Use the exact URLs of the ranking pages, not the root domains.

If you're already ranking on page two, your direct competitors are positions 1–10. If you're not ranking at all, start with positions 1–5.

Step 3: Run the Link Intersect Analysis in Ahrefs

• Open Ahrefs → Link Intersect

• In the 'Show me links to these targets' fields, enter the 3–5 competitor URLs

• In the 'But not this target' field, enter your own page URL

• Set mode to 'URL' (not Domain)

• Click Show link opportunities

The output is every referring domain linking to at least one of your competitors' pages but not to yours. This is your raw opportunity set.

Step 4: Export and Filter the Data

Export the results to a spreadsheet. You'll typically get anywhere from 50 to 500+ referring domains depending on the competitiveness of the keyword. Now apply filters to prioritise:

1. Delete rows where the referring domain has no topical relevance to your target keyword. A tech blog linking to a competitor casino page is probably a paid placement that won't replicate — skip it.: Filter 1 — Remove irrelevant niches

2. Remove referring domains below DR 25. Links from very low-authority sites are not worth the outreach time.: Filter 2 — Set a DR floor

3. Add a column for each referring domain's monthly organic traffic (pull from Ahrefs' domain overview). Remove domains with fewer than 1,000 monthly organic visits — these provide minimal topical signal and referral value.: Filter 3 — Check traffic

4. For iGaming specifically, add a traffic geography column. Remove domains where the majority of traffic is from markets irrelevant to your target audience.: Filter 4 — Flag geography

5. Sort by the number of competitors the referring domain links to. Domains linking to 3 or more of your competitors are your highest-priority targets — they're clearly willing to cover this topic broadly.: Filter 5 — Count competitor links

Step 5: Score and Prioritise Your Outreach List

After filtering, score each remaining referring domain on a simple 1–3 scale across three dimensions:

Dimension	Score 3	Score 1
DR of referring domain	DR 55+	DR 25–35
Number of competitors linked to	Links to 3+ competitors	Links to 1 competitor
Topical relevance	Core gambling/niche content	Adjacent niche (sports, finance)

Sum the scores. Prioritise outreach in descending order of total score. Your top 20–30 targets are the domains where link acquisition would have the most impact on closing your gap.

Step 6: Identify the Linkable Asset on Each Target Page

Before reaching out, understand why each referring domain linked to your competitor. Open the specific page on the referring domain that contains the competitor link and read the context. Was it:

• A resource roundup or 'best of' list — your pitch needs to get you on that list

• An editorial mention in an article — your pitch needs to offer a similar editorial hook

• A guest post placed by your competitor — this is a paid placement opportunity, not an earned link

• A natural citation of data or research — you need comparable original content to pitch

This step takes time but dramatically improves outreach conversion. A generic 'I noticed you linked to X, would you consider linking to us?' converts at 1–2%. A pitch that references the specific article, explains why your content would serve their readers better, and offers a clear value proposition converts at 8–15%.

Step 7: Build Your Outreach Sequence

For each priority target, prepare:

• The specific page on the referring domain you're targeting

• The editor or author contact (use Hunter.io or the site's contact page)

• A personalised one-paragraph pitch referencing the specific article and why your content is a useful addition or alternative

• A follow-up email scheduled 5–7 days after initial send if no response

Run this as a rolling process: complete outreach to your top 30 targets from one analysis, then re-run the gap analysis after 60 days to refresh the list with new referring domains your competitors have acquired.

Interpreting the Results: What the Gap Tells You

Gap pattern	What it means strategically
Competitors share 200+ referring domains you don't have	You're in an authority deficit. Link acquisition pace needs to increase significantly before ranking improvement.
Competitors share 30–80 referring domains you don't have	You're competitive. Systematic outreach to the priority list over 3–4 months can close the gap.
Competitors have unique referring domains with little overlap	Links come from diverse, individual relationships. Focus on content quality and earned link strategy over direct replication.
Most gap links are clearly paid guest posts	Your competitors are running active paid placement campaigns. Match their pace with similar placements via LinksPulse.
Gap is dominated by high-DR, editorial, unpaid-looking links	Competitors have earned link equity from genuine content. Content quality and digital PR are the strategic response.

How Often to Run a Link Gap Analysis

For an active link building campaign: run a gap analysis on each priority keyword every 60–90 days. Your competitors are acquiring links continuously, and the opportunity set changes. A publisher that linked to a competitor last month didn't exist in your previous analysis.

For a monitoring cadence: set up Ahrefs alerts for your top 3 competitor pages to notify you when they gain significant new referring domains. This gives you real-time gap intelligence without requiring a full analysis every month.

Find the placements your competitors have. Browse LinksPulse by niche and DR → linkspulse.com

FAQ

Q: Should I run the gap analysis at domain level or URL level?

URL level, always, for actionable campaign intelligence. Domain-level analysis produces a much larger and noisier dataset that includes links pointing to pages irrelevant to your target keyword. URL-level analysis isolates the exact link equity contributing to the rankings you're trying to replicate.

Q: What if my top competitors have thousands of referring domains I don't have?

A large gap doesn't mean the analysis is pointless — it means your link acquisition pace needs to match reality. Filter the results to the top 50 most achievable opportunities (highest relevance, most competitors linked, most accessible publishers) and treat these as your 6-month campaign focus. Large gaps require sustained campaigns, not a single sprint.

Q: Can I use Semrush instead of Ahrefs for this analysis?

Yes — Semrush has a Backlink Gap tool that performs the same function. For iGaming specifically, Ahrefs' index tends to be larger and more current for gambling-niche sites, which makes it marginally more accurate for competitor analysis in this vertical. If you only have Semrush access, the process is identical.

Q: How do I handle competitors who have clearly bought links on PBNs?

Skip those referring domains from your outreach list — you don't want links from the same sites. But note the domains and add them to a monitoring list: if those PBN links are contributing to your competitors' rankings now, a future Google update may devalue them, creating an opportunity for you to overtake without matching their tactics.

Q: How does LinksPulse help with link gap analysis execution?

Once you've identified the referring domains from your gap analysis, you can search LinksPulse's inventory for sites in the same niche as your gap targets. If a competitor has links from 15 UK casino review sites, filtering LinksPulse by the casino niche and UK-relevant traffic gives you comparable placements you can acquire directly, without relying on cold outreach converting.