How Do You Identify Link Gaps Between You and Competitors?

recycling

I want to outrank a few competitors in my niche, but they have tons of links I don’t.
What’s your process for running a link gap analysis and creating an action plan?

WakeAwake

I use Ahrefs for this, and it's become one of the most powerful steps in my SEO process, here's how I do it:

Go to the Content Gap tool in Ahrefs.
Input 2–3 competitors who are ranking above me for my target keyword.
It shows me all the domains linking to them—but not to me.

From there, I scan for patterns. For example, if all 3 competitors have links from a certain niche forum, I know I’m missing out. Or if they’re featured in specific roundups or listicles, I pitch those authors directly.

I also look at the anchor text those competitors are getting, it helps to reverse-engineer what kinds of content Google considers link-worthy in that space.

Some of those backlinks are from content aggregators or resource pages. These are easier to reach out to with a short value pitch.

Anyone doing this with Semrush or free tools? I’d love to hear your process!