What does the link building tool answer?
It answers three questions most marketers ask about links. Who links to us now? Who links to our competitors and not to us? And which sites are we working on, and where has each one got to?
Links have been part of search for as long as there has been search. They still help pages rank in Google. What has changed is that the sites you want links from now overlap with the sites AI engines cite. That makes link work part of AI search too.
How does it work?
The tool follows the order most link building work takes.
- See your backlinks. Start with the sites that already link to you, so you know your base.
- Run the link gap. Compare your links with your competitors' and see the sites that link to them and not to you.
- Check what AI engines cite. Look at the domains and pages cited in your AI answers for extra targets.
- Build the prospect list. Add the sites you want to approach to the prospect pipeline.
- Work the pipeline. Track each prospect as you reach out and follow up.
- Log the jobs. Put the content or outreach tasks behind each prospect in Work so nothing sits forgotten.
What do you see?
Each part of the tool answers a different question. The table sets them side by side.
| Part | What it shows | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Backlinks | Sites linking to your domain | Where do our links come from now? |
| Link gap | Sites linking to competitors but not to you | Who is likely to link to a business like ours? |
| Prospect pipeline | Sites you plan to approach and where each stands | What are we working on, and what is stuck? |
The link gap is often the most useful of the three. Those sites have already shown they will link to businesses in your space. That makes them warmer prospects than a list pulled from a search.
Why do links matter for AI search?
There are two reasons. The first is indirect. Links help pages rank, and many AI answers draw on web search results. A page that ranks well is more likely to be read by an engine, though ranking alone does not mean it gets cited.
The second is more direct. AI engines cite certain sites again and again in each topic. Listicles, review sites, news and industry directories come up often. If your business is named on those pages, you have a better chance of being named in the answers built from them. Our guide on how AI engines choose sources covers this in more depth.
How do AI citations help you pick prospects?
AI citation tracking lists the top cited domains and pages across all your AI answers. Each is classified by type, such as directory, review site, listicle, social, news or competitor page. That is a ready-made prospect list. If a "best firms in your area" article is cited in half your answers and does not name you, that page is worth a polite approach.
The same goes for competitors. Competitor share of voice shows which brands AI engines name and recommend. Their link gap is often where they got their edge.
What makes a good link?
A good link comes from a site that real people read and that is relevant to what you do. It sits in the body of a useful page, not a footer or a list of hundreds.
We would steer clear of buying links. Google's spam policies warn against it, and paid links rarely come from the sites that matter. The links that last usually come from useful content, original data, expert comment or real relationships in your sector. Those are also the kinds of mentions AI engines tend to pick up.
Reddit is a special case. AI engines often cite Reddit threads, but links dropped into threads tend to get removed and do little good. Reddit insights finds the communities AI engines cite in your topic. The way in there is taking part honestly and being useful, rather than posting links.
Who uses it?
SEO consultants use the link gap to show clients where competitors are ahead. The SEO consultants page covers how it fits into a solo practice. Agencies run the prospect pipeline for several clients at once. In-house teams use it to keep outreach in the same place as rankings and AI visibility, rather than in a spreadsheet.
Where it fits
Link building sits between research and results. AI citation tracking shows which pages engines cite. Rank tracking shows whether links move your Google positions. Work holds the outreach and content tasks behind each prospect.