How to get your competitors' backlinks

Knowing which sites link to your competitors is only worth something if you can turn that list into links of your own. Here is how to work it, outlet by outlet — which doors to knock on first, the angles that earn a yes, exactly what to send, and the quicker path for the placements you would rather not chase.

Start where several competitors overlap

Do not work the list top to bottom by authority. Work it by how many of your competitors each site already links to. A site linking to one competitor might be a personal connection or a fluke; a site linking to four is systematically covering your market, and the odds it will cover you too are far better. Those overlaps are the warmest doors you have, so knock on them first.

Match the reason they linked

Before you pitch anyone, look at why the competitor got the link. An outlet does not hand out links at random — it linked to a data study, a resource page, an interview, a product roundup. Your job is to give the same outlet the same kind of thing, done at least as well. Pitching a blog post to a page that only links to original research wastes both your time and your credibility with that editor.

The three angles that earn a yes

1. Something worth citing

Original data, a customer story, or an expert comment on a topic the outlet already covers. This is the bulk of the opportunity and the least glamorous: you are not replacing the competitor, you are giving the outlet a second story on the same beat.

2. A better or more current resource

If the page cites a competitor's outdated figures or a thinner guide, and you genuinely have something newer or more complete, that is a real reason for an editor to update the link. "Mine is also good" is not — you need to be demonstrably better on the axis the page cares about. There is more on this in how to steal competitors' backlinks.

3. A broken link you can replace

When a competitor kills a page, every link pointing at it breaks. The publisher has a dead link they probably do not know about; tell them, and offer a live equivalent of your own. You are fixing something for them, which is why this converts better than a cold ask.

What to actually send

Fifteen specific, researched pitches beat four hundred generic ones, and they do not burn media you may want later. A pitch that gets a reply is short and does four things:

• Names the exact page. Not "your site" — the specific article, and ideally the section your link would sit in. It proves you actually read it.
• Leads with their readers, not you. Open with what the addition does for their audience. The link you want is the last thing you mention, not the first.
• Gives them the finished thing. The stat, the quote, the drop-in paragraph — ready to paste. Every extra step you leave for the editor is a reason to close the email.
• Follows up once. A single, polite nudge a week later recovers a surprising share of non-replies. A third and fourth chase does not — it just annoys.

Track what you send and where it lands. A reply rate under roughly one in ten usually means the angle is off, not that outreach does not work — go back and check you are matching the reason each outlet linked in the first place.

The faster route for the rest

Outreach is the right tool when you have a real story an editor wants. But a large share of any gap list is not editorial coverage at all — it is roundups, resource pages, and contributed articles on media that publish this kind of content as a standing part of their business. Chasing those with a cold pitch is slow for no reason, because they are not waiting to be convinced; they already accept placements.

For those, you can book the placement directly instead of pitching for it. That is what Bazoom does: it connects you to a marketplace of media that already run contributed and sponsored content, so a target you would otherwise email for weeks becomes a placement you arrange in a few days, on a site you choose. It does not replace earning the genuine editorial links — those still need a story — but for the repeatable slots on your list, it turns the slow half of link building into a booking.

The practical split: earn the links that need a story you have, book the placements that only need publishing. Most sites that close a backlink gap quickly are doing both at once — outreach on the outlets worth the effort, direct placements on the rest.

Keep reading

• How to find your competitors' backlinks — building the gap list in the first place.
• How to steal your competitors' backlinks — the tactics for replacing a competitor's link with yours.