| name | seo-competitor-gap-analysis |
| description | Use when identifying a domain's true organic-search competitors, measuring keyword and traffic gaps, classifying direct, adjacent, and aspirational rivals, calculating a 0-100 Competitive Score, or producing a competitor Markdown report. |
| compatibility | Requires the official DataForSEO MCP server with the DATAFORSEO_LABS module enabled and filesystem write access. |
SEO Competitor Gap Analysis
Use the official Competitors Domain and Domain Intersection documentation.
Input and scope
- Require a project domain; if absent, ask and wait. Normalize a hostname or HTTP(S) URL to lowercase without credentials, port, suffix, trailing dot, or leading
www.; reject malformed input. Use it as target and project directory.
- Use requested country/language or
United States/en; disclose assumptions. Use Google organic, ignore_synonyms: true, and item_types: ["organic"].
- The analysis authorizes calls below. Ask before retries, pagination beyond 1,000 keywords, or extras.
DataForSEO MCP workflow
- Call
dataforseo_labs_google_competitors_domain with target, scope, limit: 20, and exclude_top_domains: true. Exclude target; rank by intersections, then organic ETV, descending.
- Retain organic keyword count and ETV. If target metrics are absent, call
dataforseo_labs_google_domain_rank_overview once.
- For each top-five competitor, call
dataforseo_labs_google_domain_intersection three times with limit no higher than 1,000:
- shared: target1=target, target2=competitor,
intersections: true;
- target-only: target1=target, target2=competitor,
intersections: false;
- competitor-only: reverse the targets,
intersections: false.
Sort by volume descending. Use total_count for counts and items for examples.
- Validate provider/task statuses. Never invent metrics. When
total_count exceeds items_count, label samples and state coverage.
Cost accounting
Log each call's endpoint and top-level cost USD. Sum unrounded values. Scope: Total cost: x,xx USD (decimal comma, two digits). Include zero; missing cost means incomplete subtotal; name affected calls.
Calculations
-
overlap_pct = 100 * shared_count / max(target_organic_keyword_count, 1).
-
For shared organic rank_group, position_gap = competitor_position - target_position; #15 versus #4 is -11, meaning the target trails. Average rows with both positions.
-
A defensive win has a lower target position. Report strongest wins with positions, gap, volume, and available ETV.
-
Group as Direct at overlap >=30%; Adjacent at >=10% and <30%; Aspirational below 10% when median competitor main_domain_rank is at least 1.5x target, or target is zero and competitor positive; otherwise Low-overlap. Explain the threshold.
-
Use organic ETV as traffic. Calculate exactly:
competitive_score = min(100, 100 * target_traffic / max(sum_of_top_10_competitor_traffic, 1))
Sum up to ten competitors, excluding target. Round to one decimal. Interpret >30 as strong, 10-30 as mid-tier, and <10 as challenger.
Report file and contents
Use requested report root or <current-working-directory>/SEO; create its normalized domain child. Sanitize components to letters, numbers, dots, hyphens, and underscores, capped at 140 characters. Write <report-root>/<domain>/<YYYY-MM-DD>_Competitor-Report_<domain>.md. Start with local ISO date.
Include: title/Scope with total cost; summary; Competitive Score inputs and interpretation; top-20 discovery and top-five comparison tables; shared/unique counts and examples per top-five competitor; average gaps and coverage; defensive wins; strategic groups; traffic/visibility gaps; prioritized actions; methodology; call log; timestamp; limitations; and official links. Return the absolute path and a concise summary.
