How to reverse-engineer a competitor's backlink profile

Executive overview

Most link builders copy content formats without understanding why specific links were earned. Studying a competitor's backlinks at the anchor level reveals which claims, data points, or assets drove real linking behaviour.

Start with the anchors report, not the raw backlinks list. Patterns in anchor text expose linkable points — and gaps in those links expose outreach opportunities.

The goal is not to copy a page; it's to identify the specific claims or assets that made people link.

Finding a competing page to analyse

• For pages targeting a keyword: pull the top 10 ranking pages for that query in Keywords Explorer and check their referring domain counts.
• For linkable assets (no search volume, link-earning potential): use Content Explorer with a referring domains filter (e.g. 100+) and a low traffic ceiling (e.g. max 1,000 organic visits) to surface pages that earn links without ranking.
• Exclude subdomains to reduce low-quality results.
• Once you have a URL, run it through Site Explorer and open the backlinks report.

Reading the anchors report

• Ignore title-cased anchors, naked URLs, and branded anchors — these are rarely replicable.
• Look for anchors that appear repeatedly across many referring domains — this signals a linkable point that resonated with the linkerati.
• Check whether frequently linked anchors still match the live page — mismatches (e.g. redirect leftovers, missing ebooks) reveal broken link or content-gap opportunities.

Following the rabbit hole

• A small anchor cluster (e.g. "download ebook" on 3 sites) may point to a much larger opportunity — search Content Explorer for that topic (e.g. "SEO ebook", "marketing ebook") to find hundreds of list posts you could pitch.
• Filter by minimum DR and traffic to qualify prospects before deciding whether the angle is worth pursuing.
• A narrow starting filter is a diagnostic step, not a final count.

Assessing replicability

• Links from content syndication (identical publish dates, identical anchor text) require a major PR placement to replicate — not easily actionable.
• Links anchored on specific data points (names, dollar figures) that are no longer on the page — or never were — are outreach opportunities if you can produce updated data.
• Ask for each link cluster: what would I need to create or do to earn this type of link?

Building on the wealth-of-Congress example

• The original page's data is from 2017–2018; an updated version with current members would address the most common reason those links can't be replicated.
• Many linked anchors reference people not on the page — including past members and current members with changed net worth.
• A stronger version: comprehensive financial disclosures on current and past members, with a searchable, well-designed interface.
• Whether this would generate links is uncertain — link building requires data, creativity, and judgement, not a formula.