# Backlink Gap Finder - Link Prospects From Competitors (`seemuapps/backlink-gap-finder`) Actor

Find websites that link to your competitors but not to you. Get a ranked list of link-building prospects with domain rank, spam score and backlink counts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/seemuapps/backlink-gap-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Seemu Scraping](https://apify.com/seemuapps) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 link prospects

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Backlink Gap Finder - Link Prospects From Competitors

Find the websites that link to your competitors but not to you. Enter a few competitor domains and your own site, and get a ranked list of link-building prospects. Each one comes with its domain rank, spam score, how many competitors it links to and how many backlinks it gives them. It's a pay-as-you-go alternative to the link intersect and backlink gap tools in Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz, with no subscription.

### What you get

One row per prospect (a linking domain), strongest first:

- **referringDomain** and **url**: the site to pitch
- **domainRank** (0-100): how strong the linking site is
- **spamScore** (0-100): low means a clean, real site
- **competitorsLinked**, **linksTo** and **missingFrom**: which competitors it links to and which it doesn't
- **backlinksToCompetitors**, **dofollowBacklinksToCompetitors** and **backlinksByCompetitor**: how many links it gives each competitor
- **dofollow**: whether at least one of those links passes link equity
- **platformTypes**: what kind of site it is (blog, news, ecommerce, forum, organization…)
- **firstSeen**: when it first linked to a competitor

Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or Google Sheets from the **Dataset** tab, or use the API.

### Use cases

- **Link building outreach**: sites that already link to several of your competitors are the most likely to link to you too
- **Competitor backlink analysis**: see which publications, directories and blogs your competitors share
- **Digital PR**: find the journalists' sites and roundups covering your niche
- **SEO agency prospecting**: build a link-gap report for a client in one run
- **Guest post and directory lists**: filter by site type and domain rank to build a target list

### How to use

1. Enter two or more **Competitor domains** (up to 20). With a single competitor you get its referring domains instead of a gap.
2. Enter **Your domain(s)**. Sites that already link to you are left out.
3. With three or more competitors, choose **Linking to**: *All competitors* (fewer, stronger prospects) or *At least 2 competitors* (a longer list).
4. Optional filters: **Minimum domain rank**, **Maximum spam score** (30 is a good outreach cut-off) and **Dofollow links only**.
5. Set **Max prospects** (default 200, up to 20,000) and run the actor. Results appear in the **Dataset** tab.

### Output example

```json
{
  "referringDomain": "patrickstox.com",
  "domainRank": 52,
  "spamScore": 1,
  "competitorsLinked": 2,
  "linksTo": ["ahrefs.com", "semrush.com"],
  "missingFrom": [],
  "backlinksToCompetitors": 20463,
  "dofollowBacklinksToCompetitors": 20450,
  "backlinksByCompetitor": { "ahrefs.com": 20437, "semrush.com": 26 },
  "dofollow": true,
  "platformTypes": ["organization"],
  "firstSeen": "2026-08-10T08:07:18.000Z",
  "yourDomains": ["moz.com"],
  "url": "https://patrickstox.com"
}
```

### Tips

- Sort by **competitorsLinked** first, then **domainRank**. A site linking to 4 of your 5 competitors is a warmer lead than a strong site linking to one.
- Big sites often have hundreds of thousands of linking domains. Set **Minimum domain rank** to 20 or more to skip low-value links.
- Pair it with the **Backlink Checker** actor to see the exact pages and anchor texts behind each prospect.

### Pricing

You pay per request to the backlink index and per prospect returned. There's no subscription, and you can cap your spend with the run's maximum charge setting.

# Actor input Schema

## `competitors` (type: `array`):

Competitor websites, one per line (2 to 20 work best). The actor finds sites linking to these competitors.

## `yourDomains` (type: `array`):

Your own website(s). Sites that already link to you are left out, so only new prospects remain. Leave empty to see every shared linking domain.

## `match` (type: `string`):

With 3 or more competitors: only sites linking to all of them (fewest, strongest prospects), or sites linking to at least 2 of them (more prospects).

## `minDomainRank` (type: `integer`):

Only include linking sites with a domain rank (0-100) at or above this value. 0 includes everything.

## `maxSpamScore` (type: `integer`):

Leave out linking sites with a spam score (0-100) above this value. 100 includes everything; 30 is a good cut-off for outreach lists.

## `dofollowOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only include sites that give competitors at least one dofollow link.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum linking domains to return, strongest first. Up to 20,000.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "competitors": [
    "ahrefs.com",
    "semrush.com"
  ],
  "yourDomains": [
    "moz.com"
  ],
  "match": "all",
  "minDomainRank": 0,
  "maxSpamScore": 100,
  "dofollowOnly": false,
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One linking domain per record: referringDomain, domainRank, spamScore, competitorsLinked, linksTo, missingFrom, backlinksToCompetitors, backlinksByCompetitor, dofollow, platformTypes, firstSeen.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "competitors": [
        "ahrefs.com",
        "semrush.com"
    ],
    "yourDomains": [
        "moz.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("seemuapps/backlink-gap-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "competitors": [
        "ahrefs.com",
        "semrush.com",
    ],
    "yourDomains": ["moz.com"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("seemuapps/backlink-gap-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "competitors": [
    "ahrefs.com",
    "semrush.com"
  ],
  "yourDomains": [
    "moz.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call seemuapps/backlink-gap-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,seemuapps/backlink-gap-finder"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/qtgajgZQ8sEtfbZhV/builds/zxuadg6d2HevaG0p9/openapi.json