A link gap is a linking or authority opportunity that one or more competitors have earned but the tracked page or domain has not. It marks where rival pages are backed by referring domains, entity mentions, or authority signals that yours is missing.
| Term | Link Gap |
|---|---|
| Category | Entities, Links and Authority |
| Also known as | Backlink Gap |
| Where it appears | Off-page analysis |
What it means in RankGear
Link Gap surfaces inside RankGear’s off-page analysis, where the tracked page or domain is lined up against the competitors already ranking for the same query. When an enabled off-page provider returns referring domains, backlinks, entity mentions, and authority metrics for each competitor, RankGear can flag the sources that appear across several rivals but are absent for your page. That difference is the gap: linking or authority evidence the field has and you do not, presented so you can compare the same evidence type across every page in the run.
How to interpret it
Read a link gap as a list of candidates, not a to-do list. A source that links to three of your competitors but not to you is worth investigating, but the value depends on the source itself, not the count. Keep the comparison honest by looking only at pages measured under the same run conditions and the same provider, since authority numbers and referring-domain sets shift from one index to another. Separate what a provider was able to see (availability and coverage) from the actual strength of the link, and weight relevance and topical fit over raw volume when you decide which gaps to pursue.
| Evidence type | What the gap tells you |
|---|---|
| Referring domains | Distinct sites linking to rivals but not to you |
| Backlinks | Individual links competitors hold that you lack |
| Entity mentions | Named references tying rivals to the topic |
| Authority metrics | Provider-scaled scores where you trail the field |
Example
You are tracking a page targeting “commercial roof coatings.” RankGear’s off-page analysis shows that four of the five ranking competitors each earn links from the same regional trade association and two industry directories, while your page has none of them. Those three shared sources form the clearest part of the link gap: they are relevant to the topic, they back multiple rivals, and they are realistic to pursue, so they move to the top of your outreach list ahead of one-off links that only a single competitor holds.
Important considerations
- A gap is an opportunity signal, not a scored deficiency. RankGear does not claim that closing it will raise rankings, and links you add do not “make” a page rank.
- Provider metrics use different indexes and scales; they are comparative indicators for pages in the same run, not Google scores, so never read an authority number as an absolute grade.
- Coverage varies by provider and by how well a domain is indexed, so an apparent gap can reflect what the provider could see rather than a link that truly does not exist.
- Weight relevance and quality over count. A single authoritative, on-topic link can matter more than several thin sources shared across the competitor set.
Related terms
Part of the RankGear glossary · how RankGear measures · the 870 factors.