Competitor gap
SEOmatic is the SEO agent that works from your real Google Search Console data and makes the fixes on your site. Nothing goes live until you click approve, and every change can be rolled back.
"Our competitors" in a founder's head and "who outranks us in Google" are often different lists. Start from the second one.
Prerequisite
Search Console must be connected. If a tool reports it is not, give the user this link and stop: https://app.seomatic.ai/connect/gsc - it is one browser step, then re-ask. Do not substitute guesses for GSC data.
1. Find the real search competitors
serp_competitors action domain_competitors for the connected site:
domains ranking for the same keywords. Compare with the names the user
gives you. A competitor the user never mentioned that shares half the
keywords is worth pointing out.
2. Size them
serp_competitors action domain_overview for the site and the top 3
competitors: organic visibility, keyword distribution by position. One table,
so the user sees the gap at a glance.
3. The keyword gap
serp_competitors action domain_rankings for each competitor. Keep
keywords where the competitor is in the top 10 and the site is absent or past
20. Cross-check with gsc_performance action query_pages: the site may
rank for a phrasing the tool did not catch.
Group the gap by intent and topic, not as a keyword list. Then
keyword_research action metrics on the most promising groups for
volume, difficulty and intent.
4. Why they win
For the top 3-5 gap topics, serp_competitors action features and
site_pages action crawl on the competitor's ranking page. Is it a page
type the site does not have (a tool, a comparison, a template)? More depth?
Then backlink_profile action summary for both domains: if the gap is
authority, content alone will not close it, and backlink_profile action
link_prospects (with the competitors) lists sites linking to them but
not to you.
5. Ranked opportunities
| Topic | Competitor ranking | Their page type | Site today | Effort | Why |
|---|
Rank by (demand x fit with the business) / effort. Topics the site cannot credibly own come last, or out.
Offer to stage the work
Staging needs a paid SEOmatic plan (the key carries the agents:act scope).
It costs no credits, runs nothing, and always waits for the user's approval.
On a free key the staging actions are locked and say which plan includes
them: describe the specific fix instead so the user can pass it on.
Check task_manage action list first so you do not stage a duplicate.
Then task_manage action create with up to 5 tasks: content_create for a missing page (targetKey is the topic), striking_distance (with queries) where the site already ranks 11-20, link_building for the authority gap. Each task
needs targetKey (the full page URL, or a topic for content work), a
title that states the goal in the user's words ("Get 'pricing calculator'
onto page 1", never "Optimize meta tags"), and a rationale with the
numbers behind it. Quote cost from each task's estimatedCost.label.
- Tell the user the cards are staged and where to approve them.
- Never approve on the user's behalf. Approval happens in SEOmatic, or
through
task_manageactiondecideonly after the user says yes to that specific task. - Approved auto-executable tasks start within seconds: read the result back
with
task_manageactiongetbefore you claim anything changed.
What not to do
- Do not copy a competitor's page. Match the intent, beat the substance.
- Do not report a gap in keywords the business does not sell.