How To Use Ahrefs for Backlinks

Updated on:

May 8, 2026

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Use this interactive demo to learn how to find and export a competitor's backlinks using Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Quick summary

Ahrefs Site Explorer lets you analyze any competitor's backlink profile to uncover the domains linking to them. You can filter results to show only the best backlinks and export the full report as a CSV for outreach and link-building campaigns.

Steps

Go to Ahrefs Site Explorer and enter your competitor's domain name.
Click on Backlink Profile to review the link-building trend of your competitor.
Navigate to Backlinks under the Backlink Profile section.
Choose to show all links or narrow the results down to show best links only.
Hit Show results to load the filtered backlink data.
Review all referring domains that are linking to your competitor's domain.
Export the full backlink report as a CSV file for further analysis.

📌 Why this matters

Ahrefs Site Explorer's backlink analysis feature gives SEO professionals and marketers a precise view of every domain linking to a competitor, making it easier to identify high-value link-building opportunities. By filtering for best backlinks and exporting the data as a CSV, teams can prioritize outreach to authoritative referring domains that are already proven to link within their niche. Understanding a competitor's backlink profile is one of the most effective ways to close the domain authority gap and improve organic search rankings. Ahrefs makes this competitive intelligence workflow fast, structured, and actionable for any SEO strategy.

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