Ahrefs shows you 500 backlink opportunities. Great. Now what?
You have the data. You know sites are linking to your competitors but not to you. But you are stuck trying to figure out:
- Which opportunities should I prioritize?
- Why these over others?
- What is the actual strategy here?
The problem is that data is not strategy. A list of 500 domains is not a link building plan. It is a homework assignment with no instructions.
The insight: Jello SEO can prioritize for you
Traditional backlink tools are built for exploration. You run a gap analysis, export the data, and then spend hours filtering, sorting, and cross-referencing before you know what to do.
But what if you could just ask:
"Give me the top 3 opportunities I should pursue first."
That is what changes when you add AI to the workflow. You describe what you want, and it figures out which opportunities match based on domain rank, likelihood of success, and relevance to your niche.
What this looks like in practice
In the video above, I run a backlink gap analysis for Hunter.io. Here is what happens:
Step 1: Jello identifies competitors automatically
I tell it I want to find sites linking to Hunter.io's competitors but not to Hunter.io. It identifies 10 relevant competitors without me having to list them.
Step 2: It runs the gap analysis
Jello pulls the backlink summary for each competitor: total backlinks, domain rank, dofollow ratio. Then it runs the gap analysis and finds 122 domains linking to competitors but not to the target site.
Step 3: It prioritizes the opportunities
This is the part you cannot do in Ahrefs. I ask: "Give me the top three opportunities."
The AI narrows down the list based on:
- Domain rank: Higher authority means more link value
- Likelihood of success: Does this site link out often? Is it realistic to get a link?
- Relevance: Is this domain in my niche?
Step 4: It tells me what to do next
For each opportunity, Jello gives me:
- The specific site to pitch
- What angle to use in my outreach
- What to attach or reference
No menus to navigate. No filters to configure. No tutorials to watch.
Why this is different from exporting a CSV
When you export a backlink gap report from a traditional tool, you get raw data. Then you:
- Import it into a spreadsheet
- Add columns for your notes
- Sort by domain rank
- Google each site to check relevance
- Draft outreach templates
- Hope you picked the right ones
With an AI-first workflow, you skip straight to the decision-making. The prioritization happens in real time, and you can keep asking questions:
- "Which of these are most likely to respond?"
- "What should my pitch focus on?"
- "Are there any .edu or .gov opportunities in here?"
The conversation adapts to what you need. The tool works for you instead of making you work for it.
The example prompts you can steal
Here is how to run your own backlink gap analysis in Jello:
Basic gap analysis
Find backlink opportunities for [your-domain.com]. Look at our top 10 competitors
and find sites linking to them but not to us.
Prioritized outreach list
Run a backlink gap analysis for [your-domain.com]. Give me the top 5 opportunities
ranked by domain authority and likelihood of success. Include pitch angles.
Niche-specific targeting
Find backlink opportunities for my SaaS tool in the email marketing space.
Focus on sites that write about sales and marketing technology.
High-authority only
Run a backlink gap analysis for [your-domain.com] but only show me opportunities
with a domain rank above 50.
What still requires your judgment
AI can surface and prioritize opportunities. It cannot:
- Write a personalized email that sounds like you
- Know your existing relationships with certain sites
- Decide whether a link is worth the effort for your specific goals
You still need to look at the shortlist and make the call. But that is a much better problem than staring at 500 rows in a spreadsheet wondering where to start.
Try it yourself
If you are tired of exporting CSVs and building outreach lists manually:
- Go to Jello SEO
- Tell it your domain and ask for a backlink gap analysis
- Ask for the top opportunities with pitch recommendations
You will have a prioritized shortlist with actionable next steps before you would have finished filtering in Ahrefs.
Stop drowning in data. Get a strategy.