🎯 Semrush - Competitor Analysis

Overview

Discover and analyze competitors in both organic search and paid advertising, including shared keywords and traffic overlap.

Organic Competitors

Get Organic Competitors

GET /competitor/organic/:domain

Purpose: Find domains competing for similar organic keywords

Request:

GET /v1/integrations/semrush/competitor/organic/example.com?new=false
Authorization: Bearer {jwt_token}

Semrush API:

GET https://api.semrush.com/?type=domain_organic_organic&key={API_KEY}&database={COUNTRY}&domain={DOMAIN}&display_limit=10&display_sort=cr_desc

API Parameters:

• type: domain_organic_organic
• display_limit: 10 (top competitors)
• display_sort: cr_desc (by common keywords descending)

CSV Response Columns:

Domain;Competitor Domain;Common Keywords;Organic Keywords (Competitor);SE Keywords (Competitor);Organic Traffic (Competitor);Organic Cost (Competitor);Adwords Keywords (Competitor);Adwords Traffic (Competitor);Adwords Cost (Competitor);Competition Level

JSON Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "SUCCESS",
  "data": {
    "data": [
      {
        "Domain": "example.com",
        "Competitor Domain": "competitor1.com",
        "Common Keywords": "2845",
        "Organic Keywords (Competitor)": "15420",
        "SE Keywords (Competitor)": "18230",
        "Organic Traffic (Competitor)": "125000",
        "Organic Cost (Competitor)": "285000",
        "Adwords Keywords (Competitor)": "450",
        "Adwords Traffic (Competitor)": "8500",
        "Adwords Cost (Competitor)": "12000",
        "Competition Level": "0.72"
      },
      {
        "Domain": "example.com",
        "Competitor Domain": "competitor2.com",
        "Common Keywords": "1923",
        "Organic Keywords (Competitor)": "9800",
        "SE Keywords (Competitor)": "11230",
        "Organic Traffic (Competitor)": "75000",
        "Organic Cost (Competitor)": "165000",
        "Competition Level": "0.58"
      }
    ],
    "createdAt": "2025-10-10T08:00:00Z",
    "lastUpdate": "2025-10-10T08:00:00Z",
    "nextUpdate": "2025-10-17T08:00:00Z",
    "daysSinceUpdate": 0,
    "daysUntilUpdate": 7,
    "isStale": false
  }
}

Caching:

• Cache Type: domain_organic_organic
• TTL: 7 days

Paid Competitors

Get Paid Competitors

GET /competitor/paid/:domain

Purpose: Find domains competing in paid search (Google Ads)

Request:

GET /v1/integrations/semrush/competitor/paid/example.com?new=false
Authorization: Bearer {jwt_token}

Semrush API:

GET https://api.semrush.com/?type=domain_adwords_adwords&key={API_KEY}&database={COUNTRY}&domain={DOMAIN}&display_limit=10&display_sort=cr_desc

API Parameters:

• type: domain_adwords_adwords
• display_sort: cr_desc (by common keywords)

JSON Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "SUCCESS",
  "data": {
    "data": [
      {
        "Domain": "example.com",
        "Competitor Domain": "competitor1.com",
        "Common Keywords": "185",
        "Adwords Keywords (Competitor)": "1250",
        "Adwords Traffic (Competitor)": "25000",
        "Adwords Cost (Competitor)": "45000",
        "Organic Keywords (Competitor)": "8500",
        "Organic Traffic (Competitor)": "62000",
        "Organic Cost (Competitor)": "135000",
        "Competition Level": "0.65"
      }
    ],
    "createdAt": "2025-10-10T08:00:00Z",
    "lastUpdate": "2025-10-10T08:00:00Z",
    "nextUpdate": "2025-10-17T08:00:00Z",
    "daysSinceUpdate": 0,
    "daysUntilUpdate": 7,
    "isStale": false
  }
}

Caching:

• Cache Type: domain_adwords_adwords
• TTL: 7 days

Competitor Metrics

Key Fields

Field	Description	Use Case
Competitor Domain	Competing website	Identify rivals
Common Keywords	Shared keyword count	Overlap analysis
Organic Keywords	Total organic keywords	SEO strength
Organic Traffic	Est. organic visits/month	Traffic potential
Organic Cost	PPC value of organic traffic	SEO value
Adwords Keywords	Paid keyword count	PPC activity
Adwords Traffic	Est. paid visits/month	PPC traffic
Adwords Cost	Est. monthly ad spend	Budget insights
Competition Level	Overlap intensity (0-1)	Priority ranking

Use Cases

1. Competitive Landscape Analysis

Identify top competitors:

// Sort by competition level
const topCompetitors = competitors
  .sort((a, b) => parseFloat(b['Competition Level']) - parseFloat(a['Competition Level']))
  .slice(0, 5);

2. Keyword Gap Analysis

Find shared keywords to target:

# Get your organic keywords
GET /keyword/organic/yourclient.com

# Get competitor's keywords
GET /competitor/organic/yourclient.com

# Analyze common keywords count

3. Budget Benchmarking

Compare ad spend:

const avgAdSpend =
  competitors.reduce((sum, c) => sum + parseFloat(c['Adwords Cost (Competitor)'] || 0), 0) /
  competitors.length;

console.log(`Average competitor ad spend: $${avgAdSpend}/month`);

4. Traffic Comparison

Benchmark organic traffic:

competitors.forEach(c => {
  const traffic = parseInt(c['Organic Traffic (Competitor)']);
  const keywords = parseInt(c['Organic Keywords (Competitor)']);
  const trafficPerKeyword = (traffic / keywords).toFixed(2);

  console.log(`${c['Competitor Domain']}: ${trafficPerKeyword} visits/keyword`);
});

5. SEO vs PPC Strategy

Analyze competitor strategy mix:

competitors.forEach(c => {
  const organicValue = parseFloat(c['Organic Cost (Competitor)']);
  const paidSpend = parseFloat(c['Adwords Cost (Competitor)']);
  const ratio = ((organicValue / (organicValue + paidSpend)) * 100).toFixed(1);

  console.log(`${c['Competitor Domain']}: ${ratio}% organic, ${100 - ratio}% paid`);
});

Competition Level Interpretation

Score	Meaning	Action
0.8 - 1.0	Very high overlap	Primary competitor - monitor closely
0.6 - 0.8	High overlap	Key competitor - track regularly
0.4 - 0.6	Moderate overlap	Secondary competitor - periodic checks
0.2 - 0.4	Low overlap	Tangential competitor
0.0 - 0.2	Minimal overlap	Different market segment

Related Documentation

• Keyword Research
• Domain Analytics
• Position Tracking