How to see which keywords your competitors rank for

Quick answer

To see which keywords competitors rank for, enter their domain into an SEO tool’s competitor or organic keywords report, check their page titles and headings, and search your key terms to see who appears. Then sort the list by intent and look for gaps: searches they win that you have no page for. Those gaps are your plan.

Most small businesses know their competitors by name. Fewer know which searches those competitors actually win on Google. A local electrician might assume the firm across town ranks for “electrician” and nothing else, when in fact it picks up hundreds of visits from “EICR certificate cost”, “how often should a landlord get an electrical check” and “consumer unit replacement”. Those are searches with buyers behind them, and the electrician who never wrote about them is invisible for all of them. Here is how to find them.

Step 1: find your real search competitors

Your search competitors are not always your business rivals. Search the five or six phrases that matter most to you, the way a customer would, and note who appears in the top results. Include national directories, comparison sites and other small businesses in nearby towns. Pick three to five domains that keep appearing and that sell something similar to you. Directories and national chains are worth noting, but the most useful comparisons are businesses of a similar size, because their wins are wins you can realistically copy.

Step 2: pull their keywords

There are three ways to see what a competitor ranks for, and using all three gives a fuller picture.

In an SEO tool, enter the competitor’s domain and open the report usually called “organic keywords” or “top pages”. Export what the free tier allows. In Google’s Keyword Planner, you can paste a competitor’s page address and get keyword ideas based on its content. Then look at the competitor’s site itself: page titles, headings and the services menu tell you what they are trying to rank for.

Step 3: sort the list by intent

A raw keyword list is noise. Sort each keyword into one of three groups:

• Buying: “boiler installation Leeds”, “logo designer near me”. Someone wants to hire or buy.
• Comparing: “combi or system boiler”, “Wix vs WordPress”. Someone is choosing.
• Learning: “how often should a boiler be serviced”. Someone has a question.

Buying keywords map to service pages. Comparing and learning keywords map to guides and blog posts. Our keyword research guide explains intent in more detail.

Step 4: find the gaps

Now compare. For each keyword the competitor ranks for, ask: do I have a page that answers this? There are three outcomes.

1. They rank, you do not, and you have no page. This is the gap. It is your priority list.
2. They rank, you have a page, but it ranks lower. Compare the two pages honestly. Theirs is usually more specific, more complete or better linked.
3. They rank, but it is not relevant to you. Ignore it.

Put the gaps in a simple spreadsheet with the keyword, intent, the competitor’s page address and a note on what you would write.

Step 5: write a better page, not a copy

Copying a competitor’s page rarely works and can create problems of its own. Write the page they should have written: clearer, more specific to your area or trade, with real prices or examples where you can share them. One intent per page; do not try to rank one page for ten different questions. Our SEO content writing guide covers how to structure it, and Google’s SEO starter guide is the best free reference on what search engines look for.

A worked example: a landscaper in Kent

A landscaping firm in Maidstone checked two competitors that kept appearing above it. The SEO tool’s free report showed both ranking for dozens of searches the firm had never thought about: “porcelain vs sandstone patio”, “how long does a new lawn take to settle”, “garden design cost per square metre” and “do I need planning permission for decking”. The firm’s own site had a homepage, a services page and a gallery, and nothing else.

Sorted by intent, the list gave a clear plan. The buying searches pointed to separate service pages for patios, lawns and fencing, each with the towns covered. The comparing searches became two guides: patio materials and decking options. The learning searches became a short set of answers on planning rules and aftercare. None of these pages copied the competitors. Each one answered the question more directly, with the firm’s own photographs and prices where it was comfortable sharing them.

The point of the exercise was not to beat the competitors on every keyword. It was to stop being absent from the searches its customers were already making.

Keep an eye on your own data too

Competitor tools only show estimates. Your own Google Search Console data shows the searches you already appear for, which often reveals near misses: queries where you sit on page two and a better page could move you up. Set it up if you have not; it is free. If you would rather have someone run the whole thing, our free SEO audit is a good first look.

A note on competitor brand names

Ranking organically for a competitor’s brand name is unlikely and rarely worth chasing. Bidding on their name in Google Ads is a separate question with its own rules; Google’s trademark policy covers what is allowed in ads.

Getting help

If you are deciding whether to do this yourself or pay for it, our guide to what SEO costs sets out the options. Our SEO service is £249 a month and covers rankings, content, technical health, link building and clear reports, including regular competitor gap checks. All our prices are on the pricing page.