Competitor Analysis

Understanding your local competitors helps you identify opportunities and develop winning strategies.

Identifying Competitors

Local Pack Competitors

Search your target keywords and note:

• Who appears in the 3-pack
• Who appears consistently
• Who ranks for multiple keywords
• Geographic coverage of competitors

Organic Competitors

Look beyond the local pack:

• Organic search results
• National brands with local presence
• Industry directories
• Review sites

Rising Competitors

Watch for newcomers:

• New businesses in area
• Established businesses improving
• Franchises entering market
• Online-first competitors

GBP Competitive Analysis

Profile Completeness

Compare:

Review Analysis

Metrics to compare:

• Total review count
• Average rating
• Review velocity (new reviews per month)
• Response rate
• Response time

Qualitative analysis:

• Common praise they receive
• Common complaints
• Keywords customers use
• Service highlights

Visual Content

Compare photo presence:

• Total photo count
• Photo categories covered
• Photo quality
• Customer photos vs owner photos
• Recent additions

Posting Activity

Analyze their posts:

• Posting frequency
• Post types used
• Engagement levels
• Content themes
• CTA effectiveness

Website Competitive Analysis

Local Content

Evaluate:

• Location pages quality
• Local content depth
• Blog/resources about local topics
• Service area coverage

Technical Performance

Compare:

• Page speed scores
• Mobile friendliness
• Core Web Vitals
• Site architecture

Backlink Profile

Analyze:

• Total backlinks
• Local backlinks
• Domain authority
• Referring domains
• Anchor text distribution

On-Page Optimization

Review:

• Title tags
• Meta descriptions
• Header structure
• Keyword usage
• Schema markup

Citation Analysis

Citation Presence

Check competitors on:

• Major directories
• Industry directories
• Local directories
• Social platforms

Citation Quality

Compare:

• Profile completeness
• Consistency
• Claimed vs unclaimed
• Reviews on directories

Market Position Analysis

Strengths and Weaknesses

Create SWOT for each competitor:

Strengths:

• What do they do well?
• Where do they outperform?
• What advantages do they have?

Weaknesses:

• Where do they fall short?
• What complaints do they receive?
• What gaps exist?

Opportunities:

• What could you do better?
• What are they missing?
• Where is the market underserved?

Threats:

• What might they improve?
• Are they investing in local?
• Do they have more resources?

Competitive Gaps

Identify where you can differentiate:

• Service areas they don't cover
• Services they don't offer
• Customer segments they ignore
• Quality issues you can address

Review Intelligence

Competitor Review Mining

Analyze their reviews for:

• Features customers love
• Pain points mentioned
• Expectations not met
• Service differentiators

Sentiment Analysis

Track:

• Overall sentiment trends
• Common positive themes
• Common negative themes
• How they handle complaints

Opportunity Identification

Look for:

• Consistent complaints you can address
• Unmet needs in the market
• Service gaps
• Quality standards not being met

Tracking Competitors

Regular Monitoring

Weekly:

• Local pack position changes
• New reviews received
• Post activity

Monthly:

• Review count changes
• Rating changes
• Profile changes

Quarterly:

• Full competitive audit
• Strategy adjustments
• New competitor identification

Tracking Tools

Free options:

• Manual monitoring
• Google Alerts
• Review platform notifications

Paid options:

• Rank tracking tools
• Review monitoring platforms
• Local SEO platforms

Competitive Strategies

When Behind

If competitors outrank you:

• Identify specific gaps
• Prioritize highest-impact fixes
• Build review momentum
• Increase content quality
• Improve citation profile

When Leading

If you're ahead:

• Maintain momentum
• Watch for rising competitors
• Continue optimization
• Don't become complacent
• Innovate and differentiate

Market Disruption

To leap ahead:

• Find underserved segments
• Create superior content
• Build community presence
• Develop unique value proposition
• Invest in customer experience

Competitive Intelligence Ethics

Acceptable Practices

• Analyzing public information
• Monitoring public profiles
• Reading public reviews
• Searching for their rankings
• Analyzing their content

Unacceptable Practices

• Fake reviews (positive or negative)
• Impersonation
• Hacking or unauthorized access
• Spreading misinformation
• Unethical link schemes

Actionable Insights

Creating Action Plans

From competitive analysis:

1. Identify 3-5 key gaps
2. Prioritize by impact
3. Create specific tactics
4. Set measurable goals
5. Track progress

Example Actions

If they have more reviews:

• Implement review generation strategy
• Improve review request process
• Make leaving reviews easier

If they rank higher:

• Analyze their GBP optimization
• Improve category/attribute selection
• Enhance website local content

If they post more:

• Create content calendar
• Develop post templates
• Assign posting responsibility

Key Takeaways

1. Know who your real competitors are locally
2. Analyze both GBP and website presence
3. Learn from their reviews and customer feedback
4. Find gaps you can exploit
5. Monitor continuously and adapt strategy