Analysis of the competitor's site in search: what can be calculated from the outside and what cannot
Analyzing a competitor's site in search is a measurement, not a transfer of indicators from evaluation services. We calculate someone else's directory using two independent methods, separately remove speed, structured data and service files, separately determine the platform by response headers. Next is a table where your site and his stand next to each other on the same parameters, and next to each difference there is a mark: this is repeated, this is repeated is expensive, and this is not repeated at all. What is not measured from the outside, we call a separate list, and we do not fill it with guesses.
directory, structure, speed, markup, platform — public data only
after a free audit
Price
30
Guarantee
days after project sign-off
directory, structure, speed, markup, platform — public data only
What do we measure?
5-20
Term
working days, depends on the number of competitors and the size of the catalogs
free measurement of one competitor, 2-4 working days
Before paid work
two independent methods; on the measured store, both gave exactly 76 items
Catalog count accuracy
traffic and revenue figures of the competitor - they are not externally measured
What we do not give
a comparison table with the date of measurement and the described method
What is left with you?
Process steps
Transparent stages with approval at every step
Total duration:5–20 days
1
Clarifying the list of competitors
1 working day
We take your requests and see who is really standing next to us in giving. Some of the companies you named in the search do not intersect with you at all, and some of the real neighbors turn out to be sites - these two clarifications save most of the further work.
2
Catalog count
1-3 working days
The product map with deduplication and the standard search engine without pagination are two independent counters. Both figures go into the report together with a discrepancy: it says about the accessibility of the catalog to the search engine no less than the size itself.
3
Technical cut and platform
1-2 working days
Time to first byte with retries, markup weight, structured data, service files, language versions. We determine the platform by response headers and paths to statics and separately check whether it is not a storefront on someone else's infrastructure.
4
Analysis of the structure and types of pages
2-4 working days
Category tree, brand pages, linkable filters, information section. Here we check for which requests these pages were made - otherwise the list of page types turns into a list without priority.
5
Summary in a common table
2-3 working days
Your site is measured with the same tools on the same days. Where there is access to Search Console, your column is populated with facts, not an external estimate, and this is clearly signed in the table.
6
Differentiation and conversation
1-2 working days
Each difference receives a mark: repeated, repeated expensive, non-repeatable. A separate list is something that cannot be measured from the outside. Then 30–40 minutes of conversation on the document.
Technologies & integrations
What we build on and what it connects to
Stack
site map traversal with deduplication — fast upper limit of the directory; but the card shows exactly what the competitor wanted to put in it
regular engine search without pagination — a second counter independent of the map; it is often absent on platforms and self-writing engines, and the method remains one
Screaming Frog — link traversal for page structure and types; on a large catalog, we rest on someone else's speed limits and cut the depth
determining the platform by response headers and paths to statics is more reliable than the description on the site or in the portfolio
time-to-first-byte measurements with retries - one shot catches a network hop, not server state
checking of structured data on live pages — it is clear what the competitor is eligible for in the issue; whether Google will show it, no one knows
archival images — history of structure changes; the depth depends on how often the archive was accessed
Integrations
Google Search Console is for your side of the comparison
GA4 is for your side of the comparison
What's included
Complete list of work and what you get as a result
Counting the competitor's catalog by two independent methods with fixing the discrepancy - you see not only the size, but also what part of the catalog is not available to the search engine
Break down the structure: categories, brands, nesting levels, types of landing pages - so you can see why it covers more queries
Technical slice: time to first byte with retries, markup weight, structured data, service files, language versions - the same parameters we measure on your sites
Identification of the platform by response headers and paths to statics — and a separate conclusion, whether it is an independent asset or a showcase on someone else's infrastructure
Summary table, where your site and each competitor are measured by the same method on the same day - you can't compare numbers from different sources
A list of types of pages that you do not have, with an estimate of the demand for them according to your own semantics
Separation of differences into "recurring", "recurring expensive" and "non-recurring" is the document by which the decision on the budget is made
A list of parameters that cannot be measured from the outside — so that the plan is not based on guesswork
Raw measurements with date and method: in six months there will be something to compare with and you can see who has moved from the place
When this service isn't right
What's not included — so there are no surprises at delivery
Any access to a competitor's closed data — we only work with publicly available data
Competitor traffic and revenue estimation: external services provide estimates, not measurements, and we do not pass them off as facts
Copying texts, structure and design of a competitor
Promises to bypass a specific site in issue
The very realization of what was found is separate works with a separate assessment
Who it's for
Situations where this service delivers results
Scenario 1 of 4
The competitor is consistently higher, and no one in the team mentioned the reasons
Inside, there are usually three versions: they have a bigger budget, they have an older domain, they have better texts. The measurement breaks it down into verifiable parts—how many products it actually has, how many category nodes, what types of pages it has and you don't. After that, the argument ceases to be an argument about feelings.
We'll review your situation in a free audit
Scenario 2 of 4
You are offered to "do like a competitor"
The wording sounds concrete until you try to evaluate it. We lay out "like a competitor" on the list of works and honestly indicate what you will reproduce in a month, what will cost the purchase of the assortment, and what is not reproduced by money at all - the age of the domain is not bought.
Scenario 3 of 4
It is necessary to decide: to expand the assortment or to squeeze out the existing one
This is a purchasing decision, and it is more expensive than any optimization. If the competitor has a catalog four times larger, there is no point in talking about texts and markup - the one who has the position in the warehouse wins. If the catalogs are commensurate, then the difference is sought in the structure, and this is our job.
Scenario 4 of 4
You enter a niche and you don't know who is really strong in it
The list of competitors "by market" and the list of competitors "by issuance" rarely coincide. The first consists of those you meet at exhibitions; the second is from those who stand next to you for your requests, and it regularly turns out to be showcases of sites with which it is pointless to compete.
Measurement from the outside versus traffic estimation in services
How this option differs from the alternative
Competitor assessment servicesOur approach
Where does the number come from?model based on the service's own data; the method is closed, the error is not publisheda direct request to someone else's site, the method is described, the date is indicated, the number can be repeated
Directory sizeusually not counted at all or taken from the sitemap as is, along with duplicatestwo independent counters and the discrepancy between them as a separate find
Traffic and extortiongives a number that looks accurate and is not verifiablewe do not give: it cannot be measured from the outside, and we write it that way
Platform and Limit of Liabilitythe difference between own development and the platform box usually does not makewe determine by the server's response and separately say when we have a showcase of the site
What to do with it nexta set of indicators without binding to your resourceseach difference is labeled as recurring, expensive, or non-recurring
Free external measurement of one competitor
We measure someone else's site with the same tools as our own: public data that the server gives to any visitor. One competitor in basic volume is free so you can see the format before paying to compare multiple.
What we measure
The actual size of the directoryWe count with two independent methods — a product map and a standard search engine — and show the discrepancy between them. In the measured store for the Spanish market, both methods gave exactly 76 items, the difference is zero. When the discrepancy is large, it is already a find: part of the catalog is not available to the search engine.
Directory structureHow many categories, brands and nesting levels, what types of landing pages are there in general. It can be seen from the site map and navigation, and this is where the competitor's advantage most often lies.
Technical conditionTime to first byte with retries, markup weight, structured data, service files. The release leader regularly has the same defects as you.
What does he work on?The platform and signs of whether it is an independent site or a showcase on the site. We determine by the headers of the answers and the paths to statics, and not by the description on the site itself - the descriptions are sometimes wrong.
How does it differ in contentTypes of pages you don't have: filter landing pages, brand pages, information section, question pages.
Which of these can you repeat?The most important point. Part of the advantage rests on the age of the domain and the assortment, that is, on resources that you do not currently have. Saying this honestly is more useful than making a long list of recommendations.
What you get
Competitor's figures: catalog by two methods, structure, speed, marking, platform - with date of measurement.
Comparison table with your site by the same parameters and the same method.
A list of differences with a label indicating which ones you can recreate with your resources.
A 30-minute talk on the document — with your developer, if available.
Timeline: 2-4 working days
Why is it free
Because we have automated the measurement of one site, and the result often turns out to be unexpected: the competitor is ahead not because he did something smart, but because you are doing something extra. It is faster to show than to explain in words.
What's next
Next — comparing two or three competitors in one table and separating the differences into what is closed by work and what is not. If at first glance it is clear that there is nothing to compare with, you will hear exactly that.
Short form: your contact and site URL
Did not find your case?
Describe how it works on your side — we will tell you whether “Competitor audit” fits and what it means in your situation. No brief and no call: one question, one answer.
Contract, act and 30-day warranty
Every project gets a written contract: scope, deadlines, amount, acceptance procedure. After delivery — act and invoice, then 30 calendar days of warranty.
Sole proprietor & bank transfer
The contractor is a registered sole proprietor. Payment by invoice with closing documents.
Rights & access — yours
Code, design and materials transfer to you after full payment. Domain, hosting, repository and analytics are registered to you.
Client portal instead of email chains
During the project you get access to a portal: contracts, invoices, acts and project status in one place.
European clients
Among our work — projects for Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain.
Verifiable numbers
Every case in the portfolio comes with a link to a live site and a technical measurement.
Audit first, then pricing
There is no price list on the site intentionally: the scope of the same work differs multiples between clients.
We say "no" when unsure
If the task isn't ours or the deadline is unrealistic — we tell you upfront.
What affects the price
Why two seemingly identical tasks are priced differently
How many competitors are in the analysisOne site is the basic measurement. Two or three is also a compilation into one table with your numbers, and the compilation itself takes more time than the measurements themselves. More than three makes little sense: the set of findings begins to repeat already on the third site.
The size of their catalogsCounting a store for 76 items and a store for several tens of thousands is a different job in terms of the time of the round. A large catalog means pauses between requests and a longer cycle: we don't hit someone else's server.
How open the competitor isThe working map of the site and the available full-time search give two counters per hour. A blank or face card leaves one method, and instead of two independent numbers, you get one with an honest mark about it.
How many language versions and subdomainsEach branch is measured separately, otherwise the number is doubled on the empty space. In the showcase we measured, 8,358 addresses in the site map corresponded to 4,000 products precisely because each page is available in two language versions.
Is there access to your side of the comparisonSearch Console and GA4 on your side make the table asymmetric in a good way: you have the facts, your competitor has an external measurement. Without access, both columns will remain external, and part of the conclusions will weaken.
Depth of historyTo see what the structure was like a year ago is a separate step for archival images. It shows what changed before the competitor went up, but the depth depends on how often the archive captured it.
Cases
Tasks and results in numbers — all metrics measured by us
an online furniture store for the Spanish market — an external dimension without any access
Task
Calculate the catalog and technical condition of the site, relying only on publicly available data.
Solution
Calculation of the catalog by two independent methods — a map of goods and a standard search engine — measurement of response time, verification of structured data and language markup, determination of the platform based on the server's response.
Result
76 products - the number coincided in two independent sources with zero discrepancy: the product map contains exactly 76 addresses, the regular search gives the same 76 positions. In total, the site map has 88 addresses: 76 products, 1 category, 10 information pages and the main page. First server response 348.2ms, full load 515.6ms with 374KB of markup — the fifth fastest response among the 16 sites measured. There is no structured data on the main one, although the site is fast. The language markup is correct. A separate finding of the method: in the project description, the stack was listed as WordPress/WooCommerce, and the server response showed OpenCart 3 — we corrected the description ourselves. All this was obtained without a single access, measured on 07/31/2026.
What we need from you
We can't start without this — best to prepare in advance
1The list of competitors is the ones you see in the output, not the ones you think are competitors in the market. These are often different sets.
2Queries that you cross with them: without them, the comparison loses its connection to the demand.
3Access to Search Console and GA4 so that your table column is facts, not an external estimate.
4Your limitations: assortment, prices, composition, state - so that we do not recommend what you cannot drink.
5One person on your end who can confirm that the list of competitors is correct.
If something is missing — let us know, we'll help you gather it or do it as a separate task.
FAQ
Most frequently asked questions — with concrete answers
Is it possible to count someone else's directory without access?
It is possible, and quite accurately. We count using two independent methods—a product map and a regular search engine—and show both numbers along with the discrepancy. In the measured store for the Spanish market, both methods gave exactly 76 positions: in the product map, 76 addresses, in the search, the same 76. When the discrepancy is large, this is already a find in itself: it means that part of the competitor's catalog is not available to the search engine, and this part cannot bring him any visitors.
Will you show the competitor's traffic?
No, and we will not pretend that we can. External services calculate traffic with a model based on their own data, and the error there is multiple; it is impossible to check it from the outside, because the method is closed. We call such numbers an estimate and do not build plans on them. What we measure precisely — directory size, structure, speed, markup, platform — we measure ourselves and describe the method so you can repeat the measurement without us.
How do you understand what a competitor is working on if he doesn't write about it?
By server response headers, static paths, and engine traces in the markup. The description on the website or in the portfolio is not suitable for this, and we have our own example: in the measured furniture store, the stack was listed as WordPress/WooCommerce, and the server answered as OpenCart 3. This was the description of our own project, and after measuring, we corrected it. If such disagreements are caught in oneself, then in someone else's description they should not be taken for granted.
Does it happen that our competitor is technically worse than us?
Regularly, and this is the most useful find. The furniture store we measured gives the first response in 348.2 ms — the fifth result among the sixteen sites in the sample — and at the same time does not have a single block of structured data on the main page. When this happens to someone who is higher, the conclusion is simple: the technical condition is not his advantage, and you should not invest in what you already have better.
And if the competitor is a showcase on the site?
Then most of the parameters are not correct to compare, and we will say it directly. In the showcase we measured, the site map contains 8,358 addresses with a real catalog of 4,000 products and 170 categories — the language versions, not the assortment, give the doubling. The map, layout and speed of the infrastructure there is provided by the platform, that is, you compare your development with someone else's box. Such a site makes sense to sort out only by assortment and prices.
What usually turns out to be a real competitive advantage?
Most often, it is the structure, not the texts: landing pages for parameters, brand pages, separate pages for questions. The second most common is the age and history of the domain, and this is an advantage that cannot be bought or accelerated. The third is simply a larger assortment, and then the conversation about optimization honestly turns into a conversation about procurement. The limit here is this: the structure is adjusted to your assortment, not to his.
Are you copying a competitor's structure?
No. The copy loses to the original in terms of age and links, and the very structure of the competitor is adapted to its assortment. From the analysis, we take the principle - what types of pages are in demand - and build them on your data. Separately, I warn you about the technical side: landing filters can easily turn into thousands of almost identical addresses in the index, if you do not close unnecessary combinations with canonicals and robots. This is a disadvantage, not an advantage.
How many competitors does it make sense to analyze?
Two or three who really stand by you in issuing your requests. More is an increase in volume without an increase in benefit: findings begin to be repeated already on the third site. We advise you to start with one free measurement and then decide whether you need to compare several.
How long does it take and what will I get?
Free measurement of one competitor — 2-4 working days. Full analysis with comparison - 5-20 working days depending on the number of sites and the size of the catalogs. At hand: a table with numbers, date and method described, a list of page types that you do not have, a division of differences into repeating and non-repeating, and a separate list of what is not measured externally. The document is yours — you can take it to any contractor.
Submit two or three competitors you see in the output for your queries.
The answer is the measurement of one of them in the basic volume: catalog by two methods, structure, speed, markup, platform. Plus a direct answer, does this comparison make sense: if we have a showcase of the site, you will hear about it in the first email.
There is no price list on the site on purpose: the same work differs several times over between two clients, and a “from” figure explains nothing in that case. First a free audit — we count your pages, duplicates and speed — then we name the sum and the deadline and fix both in the contract.