advanced35-55 credits3-5 minutes with AI6 steps

Backlink Prospecting and Link Building Intelligence

Analyze competitor backlink profiles to find realistic link building opportunities. Identifies who links to competitors, the anchor text distribution, and domains linking to multiple competitors but not to you.

When to use this workflow

•You need to build links to improve rankings for competitive keywords
•Your backlink profile is weaker than competitors and you need to close the gap
•You want a targeted outreach list based on proven linkers in your niche
•A link building campaign needs data-driven target selection

Prerequisites

•Your domain and at least 2 competitor domains
•Backlinks summary already done (from site audit or competitor analysis)
•Understanding of your niche and content assets for outreach

Example prompt to get started

“Find link building opportunities by analyzing who links to ahrefs.com and moz.com but not to my site seotool.io. Give me a prioritized outreach list.”

Paste this into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected AI assistant with DFY Hub SEO tools enabled.

Step-by-step workflow (6 steps, ~50 credits)

Get backlink summary for your site

Backlink Profile Summary10 credits

Establish your current link profile baseline: total backlinks, referring domains, domain rank, and spam score.

What to look for

✓Your referring domains count — this is the number you need to grow
✓Your domain rank — compare to competitors to size the authority gap
✓Spam score — if above 20%, clean up toxic links before building new ones

Get backlink summary for primary competitor

Backlink Profile Summary10 credits

Pull the same metrics for your primary competitor. The gap tells you how many links you need to build.

What to look for

✓Referring domains gap — if they have 500 and you have 50, you need a sustained campaign
✓Their dofollow percentage — indicates how many of their links pass authority
✓Growth rate — are they actively building links or coasting on old ones

Decision point

If the competitor has fewer referring domains than you, they are likely winning on content quality or on-page factors. Pivot to a site audit or content gap analysis instead.

Find domains linking to competitors but not to you

Domain Backlink Intersection10 credits

Compare backlink profiles across domains to find sites that link to one or more competitors but not to you.

What to look for

✓Domains linking to 2+ competitors but not you — highest priority outreach targets
✓Domain types — blogs, directories, resource pages, and news sites are the most actionable
✓Domain rank of linking sites — prioritize outreach to higher-authority domains (rank 30+)

Analyze competitor anchor text distribution

Anchor Text Distribution5 credits

See what anchor text competitors' backlinks use. This reveals their link building strategy.

What to look for

✓Branded anchor percentage — healthy profiles have 30-60% branded anchors
✓Exact-match keyword anchors — if above 20%, competitor may be at risk of over-optimization penalty
✓Anchor diversity — more varied anchors indicate natural link building vs manufactured

Pull the actual backlink list from top competitor

Full Backlink List10 credits

Get the detailed list of pages linking to your competitor: source URL, target URL, anchor text, dofollow status, and dates.

What to look for

✓Resource pages and "best of" lists — these accept new additions most readily
✓Guest post links — indicates the site accepts contributed content
✓Broken or recently lost links — the competitor's loss is your opportunity (broken link building)

Decision point

If most backlinks come from low-quality directories or comment spam, the competitor's link profile is not worth replicating.

Check spam scores for prospect domains

Bulk Domain Spam Scores5 credits

Before investing outreach time, verify that your prospect domains are legitimate.

What to look for

✓Remove any prospects with spam score above 30 — not worth the risk
✓Prioritize prospects with spam score under 10 and domain rank above 20
✓Flag prospects with spam score 10-30 for manual review before outreach

Pro tips

Quality matters more than quantity. 10 links from DA 50+ sites beat 100 links from DA 10 sites.

Check the "first seen" date on competitor backlinks — recently acquired links indicate active outreach campaigns you can model.

Create a shareable asset (study, tool, infographic) before starting outreach. "Link to our homepage" pitches have a <1% success rate; "link to this original research" converts at 5-15%.

Continue with these workflows

Complete Competitor SEO Analysis

Full teardown of a competitor's SEO presence: organic traffic, keyword portfolio, backlink authority, and on-page optimization. Use this to understand exactly how a competitor is winning in search and where they're vulnerable.

26-31 creditsbeginner

Technical and Content Site Audit

Evaluate a website's technical health, content quality, and search authority. Combines on-page analysis, technology detection, backlink assessment, and organic performance to produce a holistic site health report.

22-27 creditsintermediate

Content Gap Analysis

Find keywords your competitors rank for that you don't. This workflow systematically identifies content opportunities by comparing keyword portfolios, then validates and prioritizes the gaps by volume, difficulty, and intent.

17-25 creditsintermediate

Run this workflow now

Connect DFY Hub MCP to your AI assistant and paste the example prompt above. Your AI will execute each step automatically.

Get Started Free

Credit-based pricing. No monthly minimum.