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Tracking Competitor Rankings

Updated March 11, 2026

Monitor how your competitors rank for your target keywords to understand the competitive landscape and find optimization opportunities.

Why Track Competitors?

  • See where competitors rank for the same keywords you're targeting
  • Identify gaps where you can outrank them
  • Benchmark your ranking performance over time

Adding Competitors

  1. Go to your project.
  2. Click "Settings".
  3. Go to the "Competitors" tab.
  4. Click "Add Competitor".
  5. Enter the competitor's domain (e.g., example.com).
  6. Click "Add".

You can add multiple competitor domains per project.

Viewing Competitor Data

Once competitors are added, their ranking positions appear as additional columns in the main keywords table within your project. For each keyword, you can see:

  • Competitor position — Where the competitor currently ranks
  • Position difference — How far ahead or behind the competitor is compared to you
  • Historical trend — How the competitor's position has changed over time

You can also view competitor ranking trends on individual keyword pages, alongside your own historical data. This side-by-side view makes it easy to spot when a competitor is gaining or losing ground on a specific term.

Acting on Competitor Data

Use competitor insights to guide your optimization work:

  • Keywords where you're close — If a competitor is just a few positions ahead, targeted optimization on your ranking page may be enough to overtake them
  • Keywords where competitors are absent — If no competitor ranks well for a keyword you're tracking, that's a lower-competition opportunity
  • Keywords where competitors are pulling away — If a competitor is consistently climbing, review their ranking page for content or backlink improvements you can learn from

Common Questions

How many competitors should I track?

Start with 3–5 direct competitors. You can add more as needed.

How do I choose which competitors to track?

Pick competitors that target the same audience and keywords — not just big brands in your industry. Good candidates are sites that:

  • Frequently appear in search results alongside your pages
  • Have similar content types (blogs, product pages, tools)
  • Are comparable in size and domain authority

Tracking a massive authority site like Wikipedia won't give you actionable insights, since their rankings are driven by factors you can't replicate.

Are competitor rankings updated daily?

Yes. Competitor rankings are updated on the same schedule as your own rankings.

What if a competitor changes their domain?

Update the competitor domain in your project settings under the "Competitors" tab.

What's Next?