How to Do an SEO Competitor Analysis

An SEO competitor analysis starts with the search results, not the sales battlecard. The sites occupying the results you want can have little to do with the companies your sales team loses deals to. Once you have that set, the analysis is a systematic look at their keyword gaps, content types, link sources and search features, run through a filter that turns raw exports into a finite plan. The output is a prioritized list of opportunities, not a list of pages to copy: copying an established page hands the incumbent a tie, with its history on its side.

Start from the results page

Pull the top results for your core target queries and note which sites keep appearing. For a B2B software company, the results for its category can be filled with review sites, media publishers and adjacent tools rather than the rivals named on its battlecard. Those are the sites you are competing with for those searches.

Split the set in two. Study the largest sites in your space to see what mature topical coverage looks like, but don’t set your ranking targets against them. Set targets against sites closer to your own standing, where the results are winnable in a reasonable time. A workable set is a handful of search competitors near your level plus one or two larger sites you study for direction.

Keyword gaps and the achievability filter

A keyword-gap report lists queries your competitors rank for and you don’t. Unfiltered, it can return thousands of keywords and stall the team. The filter is where the value is. Keep only keywords where:

• A competitor ranks in the top ten, so a site of that profile can win the term.
• Search volume clears a threshold that matters to your business, so a win can pay for the work.
• Keyword difficulty sits below a threshold you can beat at your current standing.

Applied together, those conditions turn a sprawling export into a defensible shortlist, and that shortlist, not the raw export, is what a leadership team can act on. Treat volume and difficulty figures from any tool as directional estimates, since each tool models them differently; the relative order they produce is still usable.

Content-type and format gaps

Beyond single keywords, study the kinds of pages that rank. Map the content types bringing competitors their traffic and look for formats you don’t have:

• Comparison (“X vs Y”) and alternatives pages that meet buyers who are evaluating.
• Integration or compatibility pages.
• Templates, calculators and other tool-style pages.
• Original research and data studies.
• Glossary and definitional pages.

A format gap can be a bigger opportunity than a keyword gap, because a whole content type a competitor owns may be bringing them a steady stream of searches and links. Identify the type, then build a better or different version rather than a clone.

Backlink reverse-engineering

Competitor link profiles answer two questions: what earns links in your space, and where those links come from.

What earns links. Look at each competitor’s most-linked pages first. They show which assets your market links to, which can be original research, free tools or definitive guides rather than ordinary blog posts. Watch for one asset earning a disproportionate share of a competitor’s linking domains. When a single study or tool accounts for most of them, it shows what the market links to, and it is a candidate for you to build a better version of.

Where links come from. Sort the linking domains by how realistically you could earn a link from each. Industry directories, resource pages, partners and trade publications can be reached with a relevant resource; a competitor’s exclusive press coverage is not. The deliverable is a target list and an asset plan.

Search-feature ownership

For your target queries, record which search features appear and who holds them: featured snippets, People Also Ask, image and video results, and the local pack where relevant.

Be precise about featured snippets. Google’s featured snippets documentation says Google’s systems determine whether a page would make a good featured snippet for a search, and if so, elevate it; there is no markup that claims one. Our working practice: a page that already ranks and answers the question directly and clearly near the top gives those systems something to work with. The same documentation also covers the reverse case: the nosnippet rule blocks all snippets, and a low max-snippet setting reduces the chance of appearing in a featured snippet without guaranteeing it.

Leave FAQ results out of the plan. Google’s Search updates log records that the FAQ rich result stopped appearing in Google Search on May 7, 2026, after being limited to well-known, authoritative government and health websites in 2023. Build feature targets around snippets, People Also Ask and media or local results that still appear.

Prioritize: impact against effort

When the analysis produces more opportunities than a team can take on at once, the last step is sequencing. Score each by expected impact (volume, intent, business value) against effort (content work, links needed, technical work), and sort into three groups:

• Quick wins: high impact, low effort. Pages already on page two where a focused update or a small content gap can close the distance.
• Medium term: meaningful impact, moderate effort. New comparison or integration pages, a missing content type, featured-snippet targets on competitive terms.
• Long term: high impact, high effort. Original research, a content cluster from scratch, link campaigns against established competitors.

That three-tier plan is what the analysis exists to produce: a finite, ordered list a team can resource and a leader can approve. Lead with the quick wins; early results can buy patience for the longer plays and show whether the analysis was sound before anyone commits to a months-long research project.

Refresh it on a schedule. Competitors publish, earn links and lose positions, and new sites enter your results. A gap that was open last quarter may be closed by a competitor’s new page. Re-running the filtered keyword gap and the search-feature audit keeps the plan tied to the current results rather than to an old snapshot.

Frequently asked questions

How many competitors should I analyze?

A handful of search competitors near your standing, plus one or two larger sites for direction. Beyond that, extra competitors of the same kind add exports to review without adding direction.

Should I copy the content that ranks for my competitors?

No. A copy offers searchers no reason to prefer your page and hands the established page a tie. Use competitor pages to find gaps and formats, then build something better or different.

Are keyword volume and difficulty numbers reliable?

Treat them as directional estimates. Each tool models them differently. They are good enough to filter and rank opportunities against each other, which is all the analysis needs them for.