# Competitors (Keyword Research)

Identify every domain competing for a specific keyword in organic search — ranked by keyword overlap and visibility — to map your competitive landscape.

Written by Mike  
May 28, 2026

## Identify Who Competes for Any Keyword in Organic Search

The **Competitors** report in SEO Research shows every domain ranking in the Top 100 organic results for a specific keyword — aggregated at the domain level with competitive metrics. Unlike Top by Keyword (which shows individual ranked pages), this report gives you the domain-level competitive picture: who has the strongest presence, the most related keywords, and the highest visibility for your target query.

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## What you can achieve:

- **Map your keyword-level competitors:** See exactly which domains you're competing against for a specific keyword — including non-obvious players like aggregators or niche blogs.
- **Benchmark domain authority and coverage:** Compare visibility scores and keyword counts to understand the competitive intensity at the domain level.
- **Prioritize which competitors to analyze:** Find the domains with the highest related keyword overlap — these are your real competition for this topic.

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## Getting Started

1. Navigate to **Keyword Research → SEO Research → Competitors** in the left sidebar.
2. Enter your target **keyword** and select the regional database.
3. Click **Search**. The report loads all competing domains for this keyword.
4. Sort by **Related Keywords** to find the domains with the most topical overlap.
5. Click any domain to jump to its full Site Analysis.

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## Key Metrics Explained

1. **Related Keywords:** The number of this domain's keywords that contain the searched keyword. High related keywords = this domain owns this topic.
2. **Total Keywords:** The domain's total keyword count across all queries. A high number signals a large, authoritative site with broad coverage.
3. **Visibility:** The domain's overall prominence across all its ranked keywords. Compare scores to understand the authority gap between you and competitors.

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## Pro Tip: Find the Competitor Most Worth Studying

_Not every competing domain deserves equal analysis. This workflow finds the one with the most to teach you._

1. Sort by **Related Keywords** descending — the top domain has the deepest coverage of your target keyword's topic cluster.
2. Note whether it's a direct business competitor or a content/media site. Content sites are especially instructive — they've built topic authority without a business moat.
3. Click through to their Site Analysis, then check their **Top Pages** report to see their highest-traffic articles on this topic.
4. **The goal:** The domain with the most related keyword coverage has cracked Google's topical understanding of your subject. Their content structure is your benchmark.

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| ⚠️ **Important:** This report shows competitors for a specific keyword — not your domain's overall competitive landscape. For a full picture of who competes with your domain across all your keywords, use **Competitors in Site Analysis** instead. |

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## ❓ Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: How is this different from Competitors in Site Analysis?**  
**A:** Site Analysis → Competitors shows domains that compete with your domain across your entire keyword set. Keyword Research → Competitors shows which domains compete for a single specific keyword. Use this one for keyword-level research; use SA Competitors for domain-level strategy.

**Q: Why are large domains like Wikipedia appearing as top competitors?**  
**A:** Large authoritative sites often rank for thousands of informational queries. If Wikipedia or a major news site is a top competitor, it signals that the keyword has strong informational intent — meaning Google currently rewards comprehensive, encyclopedic content.

**Q: Can I filter by domain type or industry?**  
**A:** Serpstat doesn't filter by industry category, but you can use the URL filter to focus on or exclude specific domain types (e.g., exclude .gov or .edu results).  
  
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## Next Steps

- [**Top by Keyword**](https://help.serpstat.com/en/articles/14662820-top-by-keyword) — See the specific pages (not just domains) ranking for this keyword.
- [**Keywords Selection**](https://help.serpstat.com/en/articles/14662822-keywords-selection) — Research the full keyword cluster around this topic.
- [**Competitors (Site Analysis)**](https://help.serpstat.com/en/articles/14437158-competitors) — Analyze any competitor domain's full keyword portfolio in depth.