An SEO competitor analysis is the process of examining how other websites perform in search results for the topics you target, in order to find gaps and opportunities. The competitors are the sites that appear for your keywords, which may differ from your business competitors. Google does not document a competitor analysis, so the steps below reflect the practice described by tool vendors.
What steps does it include?
Semrush outlines eight steps. In short:
- Identify three to five competitors that rank for your target searches.
- Look at traffic trends, including referrals from AI platforms.
- Compare keyword footprints and find keywords they rank for that you do not (keyword gap).
- Check visibility in AI answers, using prompts.
- Study the structure and content of their best pages.
- Review backlink growth and linking sites.
- Look at off-site presence such as social and communities.
- For local businesses, review Google Business Profiles and reviews.
Seobility lists the same core measures: rankings for shared keywords, backlink profiles, keyword coverage and visibility over time.
What are the limits?
Competitor data in SEO tools is estimated. Traffic and keyword numbers come from the tool provider’s own sampling and differ between providers, so they work for comparison but not as exact figures. Semrush stresses that the goal is to find opportunities, not to copy a competitor’s strategy.
Example
A software company finds that three competing sites rank for “api rate limiting” with comparison tables, while its own site has no page on the topic. The keyword gap list shows 40 related terms, which it groups into a content plan.
FAQ
What is SEO competitor analysis? The comparison of your search performance with competitors who rank for the same searches.
Sources
- How to Do an SEO Competitive Analysis – Semrushsemrush.com
- SEO Competitor Analysis – Seobilityseobility.net
- Search result elements gallery – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
Last updated: