How to use ChatGPT for link building? The ultimate guide

Using ChatGPT for link building can feel like having an always-on brainstorming buddy—one that’s ready at 2 a.m. to spit out fresh article ideas, unique keywords, or even polish awkward sentences. Beyond those quick wins, it’s also proving handy for more advanced tasks: finding potential link-building sites, analyzing competitors, optimizing anchor text, and drafting outreach emails.

1. Pinpoint potential link-building websites

Link building usually starts with finding relevant sites. If you are an agency specialising in branding and design, try this prompt:

Create a step-by-step link-building strategy for a branding agency.

When you are ready to search for link-building websites, try prompting ChatGPT to compile a list specific to your industry. If you are in real estate, you might say, 

List 20 real estate websites that accept guest posts.

While the AI can churn out ideas at lightning speed, you’ll want to vet them manually. Sometimes ChatGPT might include outdated links or sites that no longer run guest content. Be prepared to do a bit of detective work before firing off any pitches. And that goes double if you’re reaching out to a big-name publication—you don’t want to embarrass yourself by citing an incorrect domain or a defunct blog.

2. Conduct keyword research

ChatGPT can give you a solid head start on keyword research for link building. If you are tackling a niche market, you might prompt ChatGPT with something like:

List 15 keyword ideas around [specific topic], focusing on long-tail variations.

In seconds, you’ll have a bunch of potential targets to explore. That said, don’t assume ChatGPT knows real-time search volumes or how tough a keyword is to rank for. It’s essentially riffing on patterns in its training data, so human validation is crucial. Grab your chosen keywords and run them through reliable SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even Google Search Console. These platforms will give you the cold, hard data: search volumes, keyword difficulty scores, and competitor insights. ChatGPT’s suggestions are a great creative booster, but they’re no substitute for those analytics.

• If you see a keyword that seems promising—maybe it has moderate competition and decent volume—start creating content or outreach angles around it.

• Keep an eye on user intent as well. Are people searching the term to buy something, research a topic, or solve a quick problem? Aligning your content with that intent makes it way likelier you’ll secure quality links.

• Don’t be shy about asking ChatGPT for variations or clusters of related keywords. It can help you build a more robust content plan, even if you’ll still confirm those terms with your SEO toolkit later.

3. Uncover link-building opportunities

The newest versions of ChatGPT can sniff out a surprising range of link-building opportunities. By examining your niche, it can recommend strategies all customised to your industry and location. While you’d normally burn hours searching for these leads on your own, ChatGPT simplifies the process with just the right prompts. Below are a few ways to tap into this capability:

Guest blogging

You can prompt ChatGPT to:

Suggest at least 50 high-ranking sites for guest posts in [niche] or List websites with a ‘write for us’ page in [industry].

Instead of manually slogging through hundreds of sites, you’ll get a curated list in seconds. That said, you’ll still want to double-check each site’s authenticity—AI can’t always confirm if a blog is actually open to guest posts or if it’s still active.

Local business directories

Add a prompt:

Give me 20 local business directories for [keyword] in [location].

If you specialise in, say, pet grooming in Seattle, you’ll quickly get leads to directories where your target customers might hang out. Submitting your info there not only boosts local visibility but also provides backlinks from reputable sources in your community.

Influencer collaboration

 A prompt like this can produce a list of key names and platforms.

Give me a list of influencers in [industry]

Consider focusing on YouTube influencers; it’s the world’s second-largest search engine with billions of active users. Collabs with these creators can yield powerful backlinks if they blog or maintain resource pages linking to partners. Plus, a video shoutout can funnel traffic your way, expanding reach beyond the realm of text-based SEO.

Local events and sponsorships

Ask ChatGPT:

Provide me with local events and sponsorships for [topic] in [location].

Getting your brand name onto an event’s partner page or sponsorship section can deliver authority backlinks—plus local word-of-mouth. Once ChatGPT suggests some interesting events, check their sites for a “Partners” or “Sponsors” page. That’s your cue to email organizers and pitch a sponsorship deal that, ideally, secures you a prime spot on their site.

ChatGPT offers a handy shortcut, but you’ll still have to do your own quality control. Before firing off emails to recommended blogs or directories, visit each site, gauge its domain authority, check if it aligns with your brand, and see how active it is. Quality always trumps quantity—an authoritative, relevant backlink beats ten shady ones every time.

4. Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis can feel like a slog, but feeding your competitors’ backlink profiles into ChatGPT can accelerate the process. You might tell it:

Focus on pages where the referring domains have DR over 25, UR over 10, and about 10 referring domains.

That way, you zero in on their strongest link sources—without manually combing through endless data. The real beauty here is discovering opportunities you might’ve missed, like a resource page you didn’t know existed or a blog with high authority that’s open to guest posts. Traditionally, this type of backlink audit might take hours (or days), but ChatGPT’s prompts let you parse the relevant details in minutes. If you want more specifics on each link’s potential, add a note like this so ChatGPT focuses on resources or write-for-us pages:

Analyze only sites with link-building-friendly titles.

Outreach opportunities

Outreach opportunities become clearer once you’ve nailed down the right websites to target. Try a prompt like:

“Perform a backlink analysis of my competitor’s site and list their top 30 backlinks, sorted by domain authority and whether they’re resource links or guest posts. Highlight outreach opportunities.”

In seconds, ChatGPT can produce a table that helps you see if a site is big on editorial posts or more likely to host a resource link. You’ll still want to take a peek at each domain to confirm it’s legit and worth your time, but this approach drastically narrows the field.

Anchor text distribution

Anchor text distribution is another angle ChatGPT can tackle. You might say:

Here’s the backlink profile of my competitor—analyze its anchor text distribution and give me the most frequently used anchors.

Armed with that knowledge, you can spot what’s resonating (like brand name anchors or long-tail keywords) and figure out if you need to tweak your own anchor strategy to match or differentiate. Too many exact-match anchors can look spammy to Google, so you’ll want to keep a diverse mix.

Optimize anchor text

When it’s time to optimize anchor text for your own campaign, ChatGPT also helps. A quick prompt like this will produce an array of phrases you can sprinkle throughout your link-building efforts: 

Give me 20 natural anchor texts pointing to a blog post on [topic].

The trick, of course, is to sound human—AI sometimes spits out phrases that look normal but read as oddly generic or repetitive. Handpick the best suggestions, then refine them so they flow seamlessly in context.

4. Write outreach emails

One effective trick is to generate a neat list of high-quality sites for guest posting in your niche. You could start by saying:

Make a list of personal blogs in the [topic] niche and format it in the form of a table.

Within seconds, you’ll have a structured overview of potential blogs.

Create a list of top-ranked websites for guest posting

If you want a broader sweep, try:

Provide me with a list of top-ranked websites for guest posting.

So you can gather plenty of leads in a hurry. Keep in mind that you should still double-check each site’s authority, relevance, and activity level. Not every blog ChatGPT suggests will be a perfect fit, and some may have gone dormant.

Draft the outreach letter

Once you’ve pinned down your targets, it’s time to draft your outreach emails. A single prompt can yield multiple templates:

Write at least 3 variants of the outreach email for [category].

You could categorize your prospects by their domain authority or by how familiar they are with your brand. Each email version might vary in tone and detail—maybe one that’s hyper-friendly, another that’s a bit more formal, etc. Pick the template that resonates most, then polish it. Add personal touches, like referencing a recent blog post on their site or congratulating them on an award. That small step can drastically improve your response rate, because people can spot cookie-cutter emails from a mile away.

Create a guest post email pitch

If you need a more specific pitch, say to request a guest post spot on Sarah Brown’s web design blog, you can tell ChatGPT something like:

Pitch a guest post to Sarah Brown’s blog on enhancing user experience with web design strategies. Highlight practical techniques and insights. Use a professional, friendly tone.

You’ll typically get a concise but decent framework to build on. To give it that extra oomph, mention how the topic fits their audience, or reference a blog post of theirs that aligns with your angle. This approach keeps your email from sounding robotic.

Find forums and QA websites

You can also use ChatGPT to identify forums or Q&A websites relevant to your link-building strategy. Instead of manually scrolling through Google’s search results, prompt ChatGPT with something like:

Give me a list of forums for [topic] discussions,” or “Provide a table with links to QA sites for [topic].

It’ll spit out potential communities where you could drop valuable insights (and maybe a link or two), so long as you don’t spam them. Each platform has its own vibe and rules, so read the guidelines before you post.