SEO Competitor Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide

Select 3–5 domains that appear in the Top 5 for at least 10 of your key business phrases, export their Top Pages, run a quick backlink scan, and generate a list of topical gaps for immediate action. This is the starting point of effective SEO competitor analysis.

To avoid wasting time figuring out where to begin, here is a ready-to-use checklist:

• Domain identification: Enter 15–20 business phrases in Google and note the domains that appear most frequently in the Top 5.
• Top Pages export: In Ahrefs or SEMrush, download the "Top Pages" report for each competitor (columns: URL, estimated traffic, number of keywords).
• Quick backlink scan: Export referring domains for each domain and filter by DR/AS and topical relevance.
• SERP check for 10 phrases: Review result types (guides, tables, FAQs), content length, and presence of schema.
• Prioritization of 3 clusters: Choose clusters with the largest gap between your visibility and the competitor's.
• Deliverables after this phase: List of 3–5 SEO competitors, CSV file with Top Pages, backlink gap report, map of 3 clusters with priority recommendations.

1. Why SEO competitor analysis should be your first step

SEO competitor analysis serves three functions at once: it reveals topical gaps you cannot see in your own domain, shows the content format preferred by Google for specific queries, and verifies the technical condition of rivals. Without it, you operate on intuition instead of data.

It is worth remembering that SEO competition differs from business competition. In the SERP you may compete with a news portal, aggregator, or encyclopedia that are not your commercial rivals but effectively take organic traffic away from you. Identifying domains that dominate the Top 10 for 10–15 key phrases reveals your real SEO competitors, not just those you know from industry trade shows.

Metrics that show the analysis is delivering results:

• Growth in Top 10 visibility for selected topical clusters
• Increase in the number of referring domains after a link-building campaign based on gap analysis
• Higher organic traffic on clusters previously identified as priorities
• Number of published pieces of content and acquired links within a 3–6 month horizon

Regarding expectations: a quick analysis (2–3 days) produces a list of tactics for immediate implementation. A full analysis of 3–5 domains takes 2–4 weeks and ends with a 6–12 month action plan.

2. How to conduct SEO competitor analysis in 6 steps

A professional SEO competitor analysis process consists of six concrete operational steps:

1. Preparation and keyword selection — Input: a list of 20–30 business phrases from GSC or your own research. For a full keyword gap analysis and discovery of new opportunities, external tools such as Senuto or SEMrush are absolutely essential. Output: a sorted list of phrases with volume and difficulty.
2. URL inventory and clusters — Input: competitor domains. Output: CSV of Top Pages with traffic, keywords, and URL structure. Tools: Ahrefs "Top Pages", SEMrush "Organic Research", Screaming Frog.
3. SERP analysis — Checking dominant formats, content length, schema, and media for priority phrases.
4. Quick backlink scan — Export of referring domains, filtering by quality and topicality, identification of the backlink gap.
5. Content mapping and topical gaps — Grouping Top Pages into clusters and comparing them with your own visibility.
6. Prioritization and action plan — Selection of 3 clusters (quick win, mid-term, long play) + a 3–6 month timeline.

Pro tip: Start with 20–30 business phrases and focus on domains that appear in the Top 5 for at least 10 of them. This usually gives you 3–5 key SEO rivals rather than 20 domains that you can only analyze superficially.

3. How to read the SERP to understand what Google rewards

SERP analysis is just as important as technical analysis because it shows the content format Google prefers for a given query. You can have excellent content in the wrong format and never reach the Top 5.

Check the Top 10 for every priority phrase and answer five questions:

1. Dominant format: Are these guides (pillar content), how-to articles, product pages, comparison tables, or category pages?
2. Average content length: Count words on 3–5 Top 5 pages. If 2000+ word articles dominate, a short post has no chance.
3. Schema and Rich Results: Do you see FAQ, How-To, Product schema, or featured snippets in the SERP? If yes, implementing the right markup is a quick win.
4. Media: Do Top 10 pages contain video, infographics, or tables? Lack of multimedia when competitors have them is a signal to fill the gap.
5. Update frequency: Check publication or modification dates. Phrases with rapidly rotating results require regular updates.

SERP analysis should also cover non-standard results: featured snippets, People Also Ask, and AI Overviews. Citations in AI Overviews usually come from Top 10 pages, so highly structured content (proper heading hierarchy, bullet points, concise definitions, and lists) is crucial.

Practical rule: if the Top 10 shows guides plus comparison tables, your strategy must combine both formats in one document rather than choosing just one.

4. Which tools to choose for SEO analysis on the Polish market

The key to combining data from different tools is three fields: URL (connects crawl data with organic data), keyword (connects GSC with SEMrush/Senuto), and referring domain (connects Ahrefs with SEMrush for backlink gap analysis).

5. How to analyze competitor backlinks and set acquisition priorities

A competitor's backlink profile is a map of opportunities, not a list to copy. Before you start acquiring links you need to know which ones actually drive the rival's visibility.

1. Export the backlink CSV. From Ahrefs or SEMrush download the full backlink report. Columns: source URL, target URL, referring domain, DR/AS, anchor text, acquisition date, link type.
2. Filter unique referring domains. Remove duplicates from the same domain. One portal may link 50 times but counts as a single referring domain.
3. Classify link type. Editorial (naturally placed in content) links have the highest value.
4. Quality assessment. Filter by DR or AS (minimum 30 as a reference point for the Polish market), topical relevance, and page activity.

Prioritize acquiring links from industry domains that already link to at least two of your competitors but not to you. This is the so-called backlink gap and the fastest way to level the link profile.

6. How to map content and find topical gaps

Content mapping starts with exporting a competitor's Top Pages and ends with a list of clusters assessed by traffic potential.

1. Export the competitor's Top Pages from Ahrefs or SEMrush (minimum 50–100 URLs with estimated traffic).
2. Extract titles and H2/H3 headings using Screaming Frog or manually for the Top 20 pages.
3. Group URLs semantically: either manually by topical tagging or semi-automatically via title embeddings and clustering.
4. Compare the competitor's clusters with your own. Missing clusters or clusters with incomplete coverage are gaps to fill.

Internal linking is an element most analyses overlook. Check how the competitor links between pillar and spoke pages. If their pillar page receives internal links from 20 spoke articles while yours receives only 3, that is where part of the advantage lies.

7. How to plan actions for 3–6 months after the analysis

After the analysis you have data. Now you need a plan that turns it into concrete actions with deadlines and owners.

• Select 3 clusters to attack: one quick win (phrases in positions 11–20, low difficulty), one mid-term play (positions 20–50, medium difficulty), and one long play (phrases below 50, high difficulty, high volume).
• Set KPIs for each cluster: target position, estimated traffic, number of referring domains to acquire.
• Assign owners: who writes, who acquires links, who implements technical fixes.

8. How AI SEO Company approaches SEO competitor analysis

The methodology of AI SEO Company is based on combining data from multiple sources at the same time: GSC as the starting point, Ahrefs and Senuto for visibility and backlink analysis, Screaming Frog for crawling competitor structure and mapping the internal link graph.

What you receive when commissioning an analysis:

• Inventory report: list of SEO competitors, Top Pages with traffic, backlink profile.
• Advantage map: topical clusters with gap assessment, prioritization by traffic potential and difficulty.
• 3–6 month plan template with tasks, owners, and KPIs.
• List of technical priorities to implement (CWV, indexing, URL structure).

In practice, within 2–3 months we are able to build a site from scratch and bring selected phrases into the Top 3 — thanks to the combination of rapid competitor analysis, technical optimization, and precise content.

9. Key takeaways

10. AI SEO Company: ready analysis and implementation plan for your business

A DIY SEO competitor analysis takes 2–4 weeks and requires access to several paid tools at the same time. AI SEO Company shortens this time and delivers not only a report but also a ready plan with priorities and implementation.

Cooperation formats tailored to different needs: one-time SEO audit, monthly website positioning subscription, or a website project with an SEO package. Book a free consultation and find out which topical clusters give you the greatest chance of growth within the next 6 months.

Useful sources and tools

• Google Search Central — official technical documentation: indexing, Core Web Vitals, schema, content quality guidelines.
• Senuto Blog — practical guide to competitor analysis in SEO from the Polish market perspective.
• Ahrefs Blog: SEO Competitor Analysis — detailed workflow for backlink and content gap analysis.

Also read: How much does SEO cost in Poland? Pricing and packages 2026

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