How do I find out why a competitor outranks me?
Short answer
First pin down exactly where and for which search they outrank you, then compare the two businesses on what Google can see: the Google Business Profile, the page that ranks, the site, links and listings. That gives a list of differences. Closing them one at a time and re-measuring shows which ones matter.
Find out why a competitor outranks you by first pinning down exactly where and for which search they do, then comparing the two businesses on the things Google can see. “They outrank me” usually covers several different situations. They may be above you in the map results in one part of town, above you in the ordinary website results for one service, or both. Each has different causes, so the comparison has to start with specifics.
Pin down the search and the place
Google describes local ranking as a mix of relevance, distance and prominence, and distance is measured from the searcher. So write down the exact search and where the searcher is standing. A company based in Carlsbad will usually appear above a Vista company for someone searching in Carlsbad. That’s geography, and it doesn’t mean they are doing anything better.
A rank grid, the basis of local rank tracking, shows this clearly, because it runs the same search from many points and maps where each business leads. If the competitor leads only around their own address, the cause is mostly location. If they lead around yours, there’s something to find.
What to compare
Work through the two businesses row by row, using only what is publicly visible.
| Area | What to look at | Where you can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Primary category, additional categories, services listed, number and recency of reviews, photos | Their public profile |
| The page that ranks | Whether a whole page is devoted to the service, how directly it answers the search, its title and headings | Their website |
| The site as a whole | How many service and city pages exist, how they link to each other, how the site loads on a phone | Their website |
| Links and mentions | Which local sites, suppliers, trade associations and news pages link to them or name them | Link research tools, and searching for their name |
| Business facts | Whether name, phone number and service area match across directories | The listings themselves |
Look for the differences between their row and yours. A list of everything they have done is less useful than a short list of what they have that you lack.
What you can’t see
Their analytics, their Google Search Console data and the number of calls they get stay hidden from you, as does how Google weighs each factor. Nobody outside Google knows the exact weights, and third-party scores that claim to rate a competitor’s strength are estimates. So the comparison produces candidate explanations, not confirmed ones. Some differences also can’t be copied, such as how long the company and its profile have been around, which in practice appears to count for something.
Turn the differences into tests
Close one difference and measure again. That’s how you learn which one matters. Suppose the competitor has a full page on tankless water heater installation and you mention it in a list of services. Build the page, then re-measure. Suppose their primary category matches the search and yours doesn’t. That’s a sensible first test. Make one change at a time, or you lose the ability to tell which SEO change made the difference. This side by side measurement is what I do in a competitor analysis.
When the reason is something you shouldn’t copy
Sometimes a competitor ranks with help from something that breaks Google’s rules. Examples are extra keywords added to the business name and a listing at an address where nobody works. Reviews that didn’t come from customers are another. Don’t copy any of it, because the same rules apply to your profile. You can report a fake business listing, or any of the others, through Google’s own process, though whether and when Google acts is up to Google.
Sometimes the competitor is simply closer to the searcher, with a longer history and better reviews. Then the gap closes slowly, or paid ads cover that part of the county in the meantime.