Link gap, real example
vs
Prospects by how many competitors they link to
Top prospects · links to them not to you
big platforms left out: they link to almost everyone, so they aren't real prospects.
New · monthly release
Sites that link to your competitors but not to you, in one API.
Give your domain and up to 20 competitors. Get every site that links to them but not to you, the ones linking to the most competitors first, each with its Open Authority. Big platforms that link to everyone are left out, so the list is ready for outreach.
Independent tool, not affiliated with Common Crawl. Public data only.
up to 20competitors per run
hubs outbig platforms filtered by default
most firstsorted by competitors linked
2.15Bdomain-to-domain links
2–13 stypical run
Live data
Real gaps, from this month's release.
Each example is one run: a site, its competitors, and the prospects the web graph found. Your run reads the same index.
-
vs competitors
prospects: link to a competitor, not tolink to every competitorbig platforms left outbig platforms left out. Search engines, social networks and infrastructure link to almost every site, so they aren't prospects. Switch them back on in the input if you want them.
Strongest prospects linking to the most competitors
- links to competitors
What you get
One row per prospect, ready for outreach.
Each row is a site that links to at least one of your competitors and not to you, with how many competitors it links to, which ones, and how strong it is.
| field | type | what it tells you |
|---|---|---|
referringDomain | string | The prospect: a site that links to your competitors but not to you. |
referringDomainAuthority | integer 0–100 | Its Open Authority. OA 60+ ≈ top 150,000 domains of the web, OA 80+ ≈ top 5,000. |
competitorsLinked | integer | How many of your competitors it links to. The list is sorted by this first. |
linksTo | array | Which competitors it links to, so you can say "you already link to X and Y". |
referringDomainRank | integer | Its position among all 133M domains, 1 = most central. |
domain | string | Your site, the one the gap is measured against. |
ccRelease | string | The Common Crawl release the gap comes from, e.g. cc-main-2026-jul-aug-sep. |
Use cases
Built for people who win links.
Outreach lists that start warm
Sites that already link to three of your competitors know the topic. Start with them, strongest first.
Competitor reports for clients
Show a client exactly which sites back their rivals and not them, with a count and OA for every one.
Targets for content and PR
See which publications cover your space, then pitch the stories and resources they already link to.
An agent that builds the list
Over MCP, an agent can run the gap, keep prospects above an OA you choose and draft the first outreach list for you.
How to run
From your competitors to a prospect list in seconds.
- 01
Open it on Apify
Sign in with a free Apify account. No card needed to try.
- 02
Add your site and competitors
Your domain plus up to 20 competitors. Hubs stay out unless you switch them on.
- 03
Get your prospects
Download JSON, CSV or Excel, call the API, schedule it monthly, or hand it to an AI agent.
{
"yourDomain": "mangools.com",
"domains": ["seranking.com", "serpstat.com", "spyfu.com"],
"excludeHubs": true
}# sites that link to apify.com, zyte.com or scrapingbee.com but not to scrapy.org
curl -X POST \
"https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/crawlplant~link-gap-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{ "yourDomain": "scrapy.org", "domains": ["apify.com", "zyte.com", "scrapingbee.com"] }'# 1. Add this MCP server to your agent
https://mcp.apify.com?tools=crawlplant/link-gap-finder
# 2. Ask in plain language
Who links to seranking.com, serpstat.com and spyfu.com but not to mangools.com?
Keep sites with OA 50 or more and draft an outreach list of the top 20.
Reliability
Runs that don't break.
The same factory promises as every CrawlPlant Actor. How the factory works
Monthly release
Every gap is computed from the latest Common Crawl web graph.
Answers in seconds
Lookups read a ready index. A typical run takes 2 to 13 seconds.
Hubs out by default
Platforms that link to everyone never crowd the top of your list.
Checked every 3 hours
Canary runs repeat known gaps and compare the answers.
Release on every row
ccRelease tells you which month's graph a gap comes from.
Pricing
Pricing
$4.00per 1,000 prospects
You pay for the prospects you receive. Hubs are filtered out before billing, so you never pay for them unless you ask for them.
- OA, rank and competitors linked on every row
- Up to 20 competitors in one run
- No subscription. The free plan is enough to try it
How many competitors can I compare?
Up to 20 in one run. Three to five close competitors usually give the sharpest list; more competitors surface more prospects, and the ones linking to many of them rise to the top.
Why are Google or Wikipedia missing?
Hubs are left out by default. Search engines, social networks, encyclopedias and infrastructure link to almost every site, so they'd sit at the top of every gap without being real prospects. If you want them, switch hubs back on in the input.
How is the list sorted?
By how many of your competitors each site links to, most first, then by Open Authority. A site that links to all your competitors and has a high OA is the warmest prospect, so it comes first.
How fresh is it?
Every gap is computed from the latest monthly release of the Common Crawl web graph, currently cc-main-2026-jul-aug-sep, named on every row in ccRelease.
Can an AI agent use it?
Yes. Add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=crawlplant/link-gap-finder to any MCP client and the agent can run a gap, filter it by OA and turn it into an outreach list on its own.
Related
All link Actors