How Spy on your Competitors with AI

Links are Google's great differentiator. Before Google, search engines like Yahoo returned pages of low-quality results. You had to dig through pages four, five, or six to find something useful.

Google solved this problem by analyzing links differently. Links became a trust signal. Sites with more authoritative backlinks ranked higher because those links indicated credibility and relevance.

Links remain critical to SEO rankings today. If you want high rankings, you need links from authoritative, relevant sources.

How AI Speeds Up Competitor Link Research

Traditional competitor link analysis works like this: identify a competitor ranking at the top of Google, export their backlink profile from a tool like Semrush, and manually review hundreds or thousands of links to find a few you can realistically target.

This process takes days. You're looking for needles in a haystack.

AI processes information 100 quadrillion times faster than humans. AI can scan a competitor's entire backlink profile, identify patterns, and surface actionable opportunities in minutes.

How to Run a Basic Competitor Link Analysis Using AI

Step 1: Choose a competitor who ranks consistently well in Google

Pick one competitor who appears at the top of search results for your target keywords. This should be someone you see ranking well across multiple searches, not just one keyword.

Step 2: Use the AI research or deep research feature

Standard chat mode won't work for this task. You need the AI to actively search the web and compile data.

In Claude, this feature is called "research." You enable it by clicking the plus sign next to the input field and selecting the research checkbox. In ChatGPT, this is called "deep research." In Perplexity, deep research mode is built in by default.

The naming of these features changes frequently. Look for any feature that indicates the AI will spend more time actively searching and compiling information rather than relying on its training data.

Step 3: Ask AI to find backlinks to that competitor

Use the term "backlinks" in your prompt. Ask AI to identify where that competitor's backlinks come from.

The more detailed your prompt, the better your results. In the mentoring program, we use a specific skill for this process that includes detailed prompt instructions and filters. A basic prompt will still produce useful results for most photographers.

Step 4: Narrow the results to links you can actually get

Ask AI to focus on links you can realistically obtain. Examples include local business directories, industry directories, and listing sites where you can submit your own information.

You can refine further by asking for only free directories, or by providing a budget and asking for directories that cost less than a specific amount per year.

Step 5: Identify which competitor pages attract the most links

Ask AI which pages on the competitor's site (besides the homepage) are most effective at attracting backlinks. You'll likely find that blog posts or resource pages generate the majority of their links.

This tells you what type of content attracts links in your industry. You can then create similar content on your own site.

What Is a Link Gap?

A link gap is the difference between your backlink profile and your competitors' backlink profiles. Specifically, it identifies authoritative sites that link to multiple competitors but not to you.

Semrush has a dedicated link gap analysis tool that automates this process. You can create a rough version using AI by analyzing two or three competitors at once and asking AI to identify common link sources across all of them.

If multiple competitors receive links from the same source, and you don't, that source represents a link gap. Those are high-priority link building targets.

Why This Works Better Than Generic Link Building Advice

Generic link building advice tells you to submit to directories, write guest posts, or create shareable content. This advice is accurate but not actionable. It doesn't tell you which directories matter in your industry, which sites accept guest posts from photographers, or what topics generate backlinks in your niche.

Competitor research shows you exactly where real links come from in your specific market. You're not guessing. You're replicating what already works for sites that rank well.