Competitor analysis that starts from Google search results
Competitor analysis shows who actually wins your customers online and why. Rankmetr finds the sites that rank for your keywords, collects their keywords and overlaps with yours, and connects the picture with links, page changes and AI answers, so you see where to compete and what to do next.
What is competitor analysis?
Competitor analysis is a structured look at the companies that compete for the same customers: what they offer, how they price it, how they position the brand and where they get customers from. The goal is not to copy them but to understand the market, find gaps and choose a strategy where your strengths matter.
For most businesses today, a large part of that competition happens in search. The companies a customer sees on the first page of Google, in Google Maps or in an AI answer are your real competitors, even if you have never heard of them. That is why competitive analysis in SEO starts with the search results, not with a list of the companies you already know.
Direct, indirect and search competitors
A market competitor analysis usually includes three groups. Direct competitors sell a similar product to the same target customer. Indirect competitors solve the same problem in a different way: a ready meal service competes with a restaurant.
Search competitors are every site that ranks against you, including media, directories and marketplaces that might not sell anything similar but still take the click.
Each group needs a different response. You compete with direct rivals on offer, price and brand; with indirect ones on explaining why your way is better; with search competitors on content and authority. Social media and paid ads also matter for many industries, but for most service businesses, organic search and maps are where customers compare options first.
What the competitor analysis module shows
Who ranks for your keywords
SERP analysis for your keyword list: which sites appear in the top results and how often.
Competitor keywords
Competitor keyword analysis: the queries other sites rank for and their positions.
Overlaps and gaps
Keywords you share with each competitor and keywords where they rank and you do not.
Links
Sites that link to competitors but not to you, a ready list for link building. See backlinks.
Page and price changes
Tracking of competitor prices, promotions and texts with change monitoring.
Reviews
New reviews and ratings of competitors in Google, side by side with yours.
How to do a competitor analysis for SEO
- 01
Identify competitors in search
Take your keyword groups and see which sites rank for them. Separate direct competitors from directories, media and marketplaces.
- 02
Compare keywords
Find overlaps and gaps: topics where competitors get traffic and you have no page.
- 03
Analyze pages and content
Look at the pages that outrank you: structure, depth, offers and how they answer the query.
- 04
Check links and authority
See which sites link to competitors and which of them could link to you.
- 05
Turn findings into tasks
New pages, content updates, links and offers, ordered by expected impact.
Conduct a SWOT analysis with real data
A SWOT analysis sums up the research in four parts. Search data makes each part concrete instead of a guess.
- Strengths: keyword groups where you already rank above competitors, and the pages that bring that result.
- Weaknesses: topics where competitors have pages and you do not, technical issues, fewer reviews.
- Opportunities: keywords where the top results are weak, sites that link to several competitors but not to you.
- Threats: competitors that grow fast in the same results, price changes and new offers, AI answers that recommend others.
A simple competitor analysis grid
A grid keeps the research comparable. Put competitors in columns or rows and fill in each area with the same type of information.
| Area | What to compare | Where the data comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Search visibility | keywords, positions, overlaps and gaps | Google results for your keyword list |
| Product and offer | services, packages, guarantees | competitor websites |
| Pricing | price level, discounts, promotions | competitor pages, Google Shopping (not available for Georgia) |
| Reputation | rating, number and tone of reviews | Google reviews |
| Authority | sites that link to them | backlink data |
| AI answers | who ChatGPT and Gemini recommend | AI visibility monitoring (beta) |
Fill the grid once, then track the areas that change fastest: rankings, prices and reviews.
Competitor website analysis: what to look at
A competitor website analysis tool gives numbers; the useful insights come from reading the pages. Check how the competitor positions the product on the home page, which services have their own landing pages, how prices are shown, what proof they give (reviews, cases, guarantees) and how easy it is to contact them.
Then compare with your site. If the competitor has a separate page for each service and city and you have one general page, that is often the reason they rank for more queries. If their pages answer questions that yours skip, the gap is in content, not in links. To find technical problems on your own site, run a site audit.
Competitors in AI answers
Customers increasingly ask ChatGPT or Gemini to recommend a company. The brands those answers name may differ from the ones in Google results. AI visibility shows which competitors AI answers mention for your questions and which sites they cite as sources. This part is in beta.
Who needs competitor analysis
Business owners
Understand who takes your customers online and what they do better.
Marketing teams
Base positioning, pricing and content plans on market data, not opinions.
SEO specialists
Check competitors SEO quickly: keywords, pages and links that explain their rankings.
From analysis to growth
Competitor analysis is the start of a plan. The keyword gaps go into keyword research and the content plan, the link gaps into link building, the price and offer changes into regular monitoring. If you prefer to have the work done for you, the team runs it as part of SEO services.
FAQ
What is competitive analysis in SEO?
It is the study of the sites that rank for your keywords: their keywords, pages, content and links, to understand why they rank and what you need to outrank them.
What is a competitor analysis grid?
A table that compares competitors against the same criteria, such as search visibility, offer, pricing, reviews and links, so strengths and weaknesses are easy to evaluate side by side.
How do I check my competitors?
Search for your main keywords and note who ranks, or use a competitor analysis tool that does it for your whole keyword list and shows overlaps and gaps.
What are the 5 steps of a competitive analysis?
Identify competitors, collect data on their offer and marketing, compare it with yours, sum up strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and turn the findings into actions.
What is SERP analysis?
SERP analysis looks at the search results page for a keyword: which sites rank, what type of pages they are and which features like AI Overviews or maps appear.
Is there a free tool for competitor analysis in SEO?
Free tools cover a few manual checks. Regular analysis of many keywords needs fresh Google data; Rankmetr is in private beta and prices are not published yet.
How often should I analyze competitors?
A full analysis at the start of a project and when results change sharply; rankings, prices and pages of key competitors are worth monitoring continuously.
Related
Keyword Research
Keywords with search volume, cleaned and clustered by Google results, each group mapped to a page.
LiveBacklinks
Your link profile, competitor backlinks you lack and checks that paid links stay live.
LiveChange monitoring
Track competitor prices, promotions and page changes, plus Google Shopping prices.
LiveSee who outranks you and why
Competitor analysis works for beta users. Leave your email and website, and we will show who competes with you in search.