The #1 Google result has 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10

Backlinko analysed 11.8 million Google search results, still the largest publicly released dataset on ranking factors, and found that the page ranking number one for any given query held, on average, 3.8 times more backlinks than the pages ranking from positions two through ten combined. The gap is not a small edge; it is a structural break in the link economy of the SERP, and it explains why so many SEO teams under-invest in link acquisition and then quietly stall at position five or six. For anyone competing in a niche where the top result is also a household brand or category leader, the practical read is that you should plan a backlink budget pegged to roughly four times what positions two through ten already have, not parity with them. Closing a 50% gap to position three is rarely enough to take page one.