To find competitor keywords, search your main topics on Google and note which domains rank, then see what those sites target through site: searches, their sitemaps and headings, and Google Keyword Planner's "Start with a website". Add a paid keyword-gap tool for scale, and read the terms the first results use under their headings.
Key takeaways
- Your keyword competitors are the domains ranking for your topics, not only rival businesses.
- Free methods work for a few competitors and topics; paid keyword-gap tools add scale with estimated data.
- Read the terms the ranking pages use under their headings, not just the keyword.
- Score every gap on intent, gap type, rivals ranking, demand and effort before you write.
What are competitor keywords?
Competitor keywords are the search terms your competitors rank for or target with content and ads. A competitor keyword analysis compares them with yours to find the gaps: keywords a rival ranks for where you rank lower or not at all. It complements your own keyword research.
Your competitors here are whoever ranks for your topics, often publishers and forums as well as rival businesses. Our SEO competitor analysis guide shows how to list them; pick three to five.
How to find competitor keywords for free
Five free methods cover a few competitors well: Google results, site: searches, sitemaps and headings, Keyword Planner and Search Console. Log what each one finds in the worksheet below.
1. Search your topics on Google
Search 10 to 20 core topics in a private window and record the top 10 domains for each. Each ranking page's title usually names the keyword its site targets. People also ask and related searches show the sub-questions those pages answer.
2. List their pages with a site: search
Type site:competitor.com grinder to see a domain's indexed pages on a topic. Google's site: operator documentation warns that the list "is not always exhaustive" and that a bare site: query doesn't rank results, so use it to discover pages, not to count them.
3. Read their sitemap and headings
Most sites publish a sitemap at the site root (often /sitemap.xml), and many name it on a Sitemap: line in /robots.txt, as Google's sitemap guide describes. The URL slugs show every topic a competitor covers, and lastmod dates show recent updates. Open the pages matching your topics and read the title, H1 and H2s.
4. Run Keyword Planner's "Start with a website"
In Google Keyword Planner, choose Discover new keywords, then Start with a website, and enter a competitor's domain or page. Google says it "will look for keywords related to the content on that site" (Google Ads Help). The ideas are related topics, not the site's actual rankings, but they come with the volumes you need to prioritize.
5. Check your own overlap in Search Console
Search Console's Performance report shows the queries your site appears for, with clicks, impressions and average position. Compare its queries with your competitor list: a term where you sit at position 4 to 20 is a near miss, and a competitor keyword with no impressions is a true gap. Search Console covers only your own site.
Paid keyword-gap tools for competitor keyword analysis
Paid SEO platforms run keyword gap analysis at scale from their own databases of Google results: enter your domain and a few competitors to get the keywords where they rank and you don't (missing), where you rank lower (weak), and where you all rank (shared), with estimated volume and traffic.
Treat the numbers as modelled estimates that vary by tool and country, and check top candidates on the live results page: a listed gap may already be covered by one of your pages under other wording.
The content-level method: reverse-engineer the first results
The content-level method reads the ranking pages themselves, because a ranking keyword doesn't tell you what the competitor's page covers. List the H2s and H3s of the first results and note the phrases that recur under them. Terms several pages share are expected coverage; terms only one page uses are its differentiators.
The aim is coverage plus something new, not copying. Google's helpful content guidance asks whether content provides "substantial value when compared to other pages in search results."
How to do this in RankTera
In KW Research, type your target keyword, pick a country and click Submit. RankTera reads the top Google pages (you pick up to 5 in Select SERP Results; the first 5 are pre-selected), extracts the phrases they use under their headings and lists each with its average count across those pages, plus the pages' average word count. Paste a competitor's URL instead and it analyses that one page: the phrases it uses with their counts, its word count and its heading structure. RankTera has no search volume or traffic data, so take volumes from Keyword Planner.
Keyword gap analysis worksheet (with an example)
The worksheet logs each candidate keyword with every site's position, the gap type, intent, demand and a score; copy the columns. The example rows are for an online coffee-gear shop against a rival shop and a coffee blog, with made-up positions and volumes ("-" means not in the top 50), scored with the table below.
Keyword | Rival shop | Coffee blog | You | Gap type | Intent | Monthly searches (Keyword Planner) | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
burr grinder under 100 | 3 | 5 | 14 | Near miss | Commercial | 100–1K | 9 |
french press ratio | 7 | 1 | 22 | Weak | Informational | 10K–100K | 8 |
how to clean a french press | - | 2 | - | Missing | Informational | 1K–10K | 6 |
espresso machine repair | 4 | - | - | Missing | Service | 100–1K | 4 |
gooseneck kettle | 2 | - | 1 | Shared win | Commercial | 10K–100K | Protect |
How to prioritize competitor keywords
Score each keyword from 0 to 2 on five factors and add them up: 8 to 10 is this month's work, 5 to 7 goes on the plan, below 5 is skipped.
Factor | 2 points | 1 point | 0 points |
|---|---|---|---|
Intent fit | You sell or teach exactly this | Related to what you offer | Off-topic for you |
Gap type | You rank 4 to 20 (near miss) | You rank below 20 or not at all | You already rank top 3 |
Rivals ranking | Two or more competitors rank | One competitor ranks | None |
Demand | 1K+ searches a month | 100 to 1K | Under 100 |
Effort | Improve an existing page | A new page you can write well | Needs a product or service you lack |
In the example, the grinder keyword scores 9: the shop sells grinders, ranks 14 with a category page, and both rivals rank, so improving that page is the quickest win. The repair keyword scores only 4 because the shop offers no repairs, so it earns 0 for effort. After publishing, track the chosen keywords in a rank tracker to see whether the gaps close.
Competitor keywords in AI answers
In AI answers, your keyword competitors are the domains ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews cite, and they often differ from the top 10. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode may use a "query fan-out" technique that runs related searches across subtopics, and an Ahrefs study of 863K keyword SERPs (March 2026) found that 38% of AI Overview citations came from the query's top 10. Run your top-scoring keywords in ChatGPT search and Gemini and add the cited domains to the worksheet. Our generative engine optimization guide covers earning them.
What we found: what the top results for this query cover
We ran two separate analyses of the US Google results on October 15, 2026, each on its own set of pages, so their word counts differ.
RankTera KW Research run. We ran "how to find competitor keywords" through RankTera's KW Research for the US. The five pages it analysed (semrush.com, adbadger.com, mangools.com, neilpatel.com and seo.ai) averaged 1,710 words, and it extracted 84 keywords from them. "Competitor keywords" appeared 6 times per page on average, "competitor keyword analysis" and "search results" 3 times, and "search volume", "content gaps" and "target keywords" twice each.
Our SERP analysis. Our separate review of the results page covered six top results, including SpyFu's home page at position 1. Three were tool pages (SpyFu, Mangools and seo.ai) and one was about Amazon. The median page had 1,261 words, one had an FAQ section and none used a table.
Frequently asked questions
How can I find competitor keywords for free?
Search your topics on Google and note who ranks, list a competitor's pages with a site: search or its sitemap, and read their headings. Run their domain through Keyword Planner's "Start with a website" for related ideas with volumes, then check Search Console for terms you already appear for.
How do I check a competitor's Google Ads keywords?
Google doesn't publish advertisers' keywords. The Ads Transparency Center lets you search an advertiser by name or website and see the ads they've run, filtered by date and location; the ad copy and landing pages hint at the keywords. Paid PPC tools estimate the rest.
What is a keyword gap analysis?
A keyword gap analysis compares the keywords your site ranks for with a few competitors' and lists the differences: keywords they rank for and you don't, where you rank lower, and where you overlap. Paid tools automate it; a spreadsheet of Google results plus your Search Console queries works for a small set.
What are competitive keywords?
Competitive keywords are terms many strong sites fight over, so they are hard to rank for. Competitor keywords are the terms a specific rival ranks for; many are long-tail. Judge difficulty on the live results page: a top 10 of big brands with deep guides is competitive, while forums and thin pages suggest an opening.
How do I find competitor keywords for YouTube?
Search your topic on YouTube and read the titles, descriptions and chapter names of the videos that rank; that is where creators put keywords. YouTube says tags "play a minimal role in your video's discovery" and that title, thumbnail and description matter more (YouTube Help).
Find the terms the first results use
Knowing how to find competitor keywords tells you where to compete; the terms on the winning pages tell you what to write. RankTera reverse-engineers the terms the first results use on Google and in the pages ChatGPT and Gemini cite, and its Rank Tracker shows whether your new pages climb. Start your 14-day free tier, no card needed, or compare plans on the pricing page.