I think this is harder now than it used to be, thanks in large part to the plethora of detailed tools available to the learning guitarist (YouTube stuff, mostly). There’s so much detail that budding guitarists can emulate now, without any guesswork – the guesswork is often what made someone more unique – the way they hold the pick, even. They had to figure it out on their own.
That just means that to stand out now, and have a unique sound, you still have to find and follow a path that others don’t. @richard hits on that effectively above.
You can also try to find your own unique tone, vibrato. Listen to the unique greats and you hear something, even just ONE THING, that is easily identifiable as their signature – Zakk Wylde, George Lynch, Criss Oliva, Syn, Randy Rhoads, Mark Knopfler, Slash, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Vai, Satch, et al. It goes on and on, but think about how when you hear them, you KNOW it’s them.
The minute you hear that crazy wide vibrato, you KNOW it’s Zakk. The thin tone and crazy whammy – instant Vai. Lots of chromatic runs and odd intervals – Syn. And so on and so forth.
The more you expose yourself to, the more it influences you as you get better, and that can drive your direction. If you follow the same road as everyone else, you all get to the same destination together.
GOOD LUCK!