How to Do a Competitor AI Backlink Analysis (Using FREE Tools)

Backlinks are still one of the biggest ranking factors in SEO, yet most people spend hundreds of dollars a month on tools just to spy on their competitors’ link profiles. What if you could get 80% of the same insight completely for free — and even use AI to speed up the entire process?

I’ve been doing SEO for a while now, and when I first heard people talking about “AI backlink analysis,” I thought it was just another buzzword. Turns out, it’s a genuinely useful workflow. You pull raw backlink data from free tools, run it through an AI model, and walk away with a prioritized list of link opportunities in less time than it takes to brew a coffee.

This guide walks you through the exact process I use — step by step — with real examples of prompts, AI outputs, and what to actually do with the results. No paid subscriptions needed (outside the free tiers).

How I Tested This Workflow

I ran this exact process across three different niche websites — one in personal finance, one in home improvement, and one in SaaS review content. For each site, I picked two to three direct competitors and used only free tools to pull backlink data. Then I tested three different AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) with the same data set to see which gave the most actionable analysis.

The whole process took about 45 minutes per competitor from start to finish on my first try. By the third run, I had it down to under 20 minutes. The quality of insights was surprisingly good — closer to what you’d expect from a junior SEO consultant than a raw data dump.

Free Backlink Tool Comparison

Before we get into the process, here’s a quick breakdown of the free tools I tested for pulling competitor backlink data. Each has its own limitations, so knowing what you’re working with matters.

Step 1: Pull Your Competitor’s Backlink Data

The first thing you need is a list of domains (or full URLs) that are linking to your competitor. You’re not trying to get every single backlink — you just need a representative sample that’s large enough to find patterns.

Using OpenLinkProfiler (Recommended for Free Export)

Head to OpenLinkProfiler.org and drop your competitor’s domain into the search bar. It’ll return up to 2,000 of the most recently active backlinks and — this is the key part — you can download them as a CSV for free. That CSV is exactly what you’ll feed into an AI model.

When you download the file, you’ll see columns for the linking domain, anchor text, link type (dofollow/nofollow), and the InLink Rank (their internal authority score). You don’t need all of this. For AI analysis, the three columns that matter most are: linking domain, anchor text, and dofollow status.

Using Ahrefs Free or SEMrush Free for Quality Checks

Neither of these lets you export on the free tier, but they’re worth a quick visit to validate what you see in OpenLinkProfiler. Ahrefs in particular tends to flag spammy links more aggressively. If a domain shows up in OpenLinkProfiler with decent authority but gets flagged as low quality in Ahrefs, you can note that before your AI analysis.

Step 2: Clean and Prepare the Data

Raw backlink exports are messy. Before you hand them over to an AI, spend five minutes tidying things up. Open your CSV in Google Sheets and do the following:

Remove any rows where the linking domain is the same as the competitor’s domain — those are internal links that snuck through. Also remove obvious spammy domains (anything that looks auto-generated, foreign spam, or adult-adjacent if you’re in a clean niche). You’re trying to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high so the AI gives you cleaner output.

Trim your sheet down to these three columns: Referring Domain, Anchor Text, and Link Type. If you’ve got more than 200 rows, consider filtering to only dofollow links first. That usually brings big exports down to a manageable size without losing the important data.

Step 3: Feed the Data Into an AI Model

This is where the magic happens. Open ChatGPT (free tier works), Claude.ai (free tier works), or Gemini, and paste your cleaned data with a structured prompt.

The Prompt Template I Use

Here’s the exact prompt structure that gets the best results. You copy this, replace the bracketed parts, and paste your data below it:

That’s it. Don’t overthink the prompt. The cleaner your data, the more useful the output will be. I’ve tested longer, more complex prompts and honestly this simple version outperforms them because the AI isn’t distracted by extra instructions.

Step 4: Understand What the AI Gives You Back

A good AI analysis will break your competitor’s backlink profile down into digestible categories and actually tell you what to do next. Here’s what each section of the output means in practice.

Link Type Groupings

When the AI groups links by type, it’s essentially mapping your competitor’s entire link building strategy for you. If 40% of their backlinks are from guest posts on niche blogs, that tells you guest posting is their primary channel. If a big chunk comes from resource pages, that tells you they’ve invested in creating link-worthy assets (tools, guides, data) that other sites reference.

Anchor Text Patterns

This section reveals how naturally (or unnaturally) your competitor has built their links. A healthy profile has mostly branded anchors, some generic ones (“click here,” “this article”), and a smaller portion of exact-match keyword anchors. If you see a ton of exact-match keyword anchors, that competitor might be doing grey-hat outreach — which means you can likely outrank them with a cleaner link profile.

Easy Win Opportunities

This is the section I always go straight to first. These are typically free business directories, industry association listings, or resource page submissions where you can get a backlink without any complex outreach. I’ve consistently found 3 to 8 of these per competitor analysis, and they take maybe 30 minutes total to act on.

Step 5: Build Your Link Outreach List

Now you take the AI’s output and turn it into action. Create a simple Google Sheet with these columns: Domain, Link Type, Contact Method, Priority, Status. Fill in the top 20–30 opportunities the AI flagged and assign each one a priority based on how realistic the outreach is.

For guest posts and niche blog placements, search “[domain name] write for us” or “[domain name] contributor” to find their submission guidelines. For resource page links, look for a page on the linking site titled “Resources,” “Tools,” or “Helpful Links” and find the editor’s contact email. For directories, just find the submission URL and add yourself.

Work through your easy wins first. Getting 5–8 new backlinks in your first week builds momentum and gives you real data to compare against your competitor before you invest time in longer outreach campaigns.

Real Output Examples From the AI

Here’s a condensed version of actual output I got when I analyzed a competitor in the SaaS review niche using this exact workflow.

That output took about 90 seconds to generate. Acting on just the easy wins section added 6 new backlinks to that site within a week.

Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use This Method

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Competitor backlink analysis used to be something you could only do well with a serious budget. The combination of free tools and modern AI has genuinely changed that. You’re not going to replace a full Ahrefs subscription with this — but you can absolutely replace the need for one in your early growth phase.

The process I’ve outlined here — pull data with OpenLinkProfiler, clean it in Google Sheets, analyze it with a structured AI prompt — takes under an hour and gives you a prioritized action plan you can start working through the same day. That’s a pretty remarkable outcome for a zero-dollar workflow.

The most important thing is to actually act on the easy wins the AI surfaces. Most people do the analysis and then let it sit in a Google Sheet forever. Book 30 minutes the same week to go after your directory listings and free submission opportunities. Those quick wins compound over time and give you real momentum in your link building efforts.

If you try this and find a prompt variation that works even better, drop it in the comments — I update this guide regularly based on reader feedback and real-world testing.