SEMrush Competitor Analysis - Discover & Compare Organic/Paid Competitors

Discover and analyze your true SEO competitors with SEMrush API data. Find organic and paid competitors, compare traffic estimates, shared keywords, competitive positioning, and market overlap. Understand who's competing for your keywords and where to focus your SEO efforts. BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) - use your SEMrush API key.

Features

• Organic Competitor Discovery - Find domains ranking for similar keywords
• Paid Competitor Discovery - Identify PPC competitors bidding on your keywords
• Competition Level Scoring - Quantified overlap percentage with each competitor
• Shared Keyword Analysis - Keywords you and competitors both rank for
• Traffic Comparison - Estimated organic/paid traffic for each competitor
• Keyword Gap Indicators - Keywords competitors have that you don't
• Domain vs Domain - Direct head-to-head comparison
• Market Position Matrix - Visualize competitive landscape data
• 45+ Country Databases - US, UK, DE, FR, and more
• Batch Analysis - Compare multiple domains simultaneously
• Webhook Support - Async delivery for automation pipelines
• Demo Mode - Test with sample data before going live

Who Should Use This Actor?

SEO Agencies

Quickly assess competitive landscape for new client pitches. Show prospects exactly who they're competing against and where opportunities exist.

In-House SEO Teams

Discover unexpected competitors you didn't know existed. Understand market positioning and prioritize SEO investments.

Content Strategists

Identify content gaps by analyzing what competitors rank for. Build content calendars based on competitive intelligence.

PPC Managers

Find who's bidding on your keywords. Understand paid search competitive dynamics and budget allocation.

Market Researchers

Analyze digital market share across industries. Track competitive positioning changes over time.

Business Development Teams

Identify potential partnerships or acquisition targets based on complementary keyword coverage.

Quick Start

Demo Mode (Free Test)

{
  "demoMode": true
}

Find Organic Competitors

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "us",
  "competitorType": "organic",
  "competitorLimit": 20,
  "includeCommonKeywords": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Find Paid (PPC) Competitors

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "us",
  "competitorType": "paid",
  "competitorLimit": 15,
  "demoMode": false
}

Both Organic & Paid Competitors

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "us",
  "competitorType": "both",
  "competitorLimit": 25,
  "includeCommonKeywords": true,
  "commonKeywordsLimit": 20,
  "demoMode": false
}

International Market Analysis

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "uk",
  "competitorType": "organic",
  "competitorLimit": 30,
  "demoMode": false
}

How to Get Your SEMrush API Key

1. Log in to SEMrush
2. Go to your profile (top right) → Subscription Info
3. Find your API key in the API section
4. Copy the key and paste it in the semrushApiKey field

Note: API access requires a SEMrush Business plan or higher.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
semrushApiKey	string	-	Your SEMrush API key (required for real data)
domain	string	-	Your domain to analyze (e.g., "yoursite.com")
database	string	"us"	Country database (us, uk, de, fr, etc.)
competitorType	string	"organic"	Type: organic, paid, or both
competitorLimit	number	20	Max competitors to discover (max 100)
includeCommonKeywords	boolean	true	Include shared keyword analysis
commonKeywordsLimit	number	10	Max common keywords per competitor
demoMode	boolean	true	Return sample data for testing
webhookUrl	string	-	Webhook URL for results delivery
webhookPlatform	string	"custom"	Platform: zapier, make, n8n, custom

Common Database Codes

Code	Country
us	United States
uk	United Kingdom
de	Germany
fr	France
es	Spain
ca	Canada
au	Australia
br	Brazil
jp	Japan
in	India

Output Format

{
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "us",
  "yourMetrics": {
    "organicKeywords": 12450,
    "organicTraffic": 85000,
    "paidKeywords": 234,
    "paidTraffic": 12000,
    "authorityScore": 58
  },
  "organicCompetitors": [
    {
      "domain": "competitor1.com",
      "competitionLevel": 0.72,
      "commonKeywords": 3421,
      "organicKeywords": 18750,
      "organicTraffic": 142000,
      "authorityScore": 67,
      "topCommonKeywords": [
        {
          "keyword": "project management software",
          "yourPosition": 8,
          "competitorPosition": 3,
          "volume": 22000,
          "difficulty": 68
        },
        {
          "keyword": "task management app",
          "yourPosition": 5,
          "competitorPosition": 2,
          "volume": 14000,
          "difficulty": 54
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "domain": "competitor2.com",
      "competitionLevel": 0.58,
      "commonKeywords": 2156,
      "organicKeywords": 9800,
      "organicTraffic": 67000,
      "authorityScore": 52
    }
  ],
  "paidCompetitors": [
    {
      "domain": "ppccompetitor.com",
      "competitionLevel": 0.65,
      "commonKeywords": 89,
      "paidKeywords": 456,
      "paidTraffic": 28000,
      "adSpendEstimate": "$45,000/mo"
    }
  ],
  "competitorSummary": {
    "totalOrganicCompetitors": 20,
    "totalPaidCompetitors": 15,
    "averageCompetitionLevel": 0.48,
    "topCompetitor": "competitor1.com",
    "mostOverlap": 3421
  },
  "analyzedAt": "2026-01-28T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Understanding Competition Level

Score	Meaning
0.80-1.00	Very High - Direct competitor
0.60-0.79	High - Strong keyword overlap
0.40-0.59	Moderate - Partial competitor
0.20-0.39	Low - Limited overlap
0.00-0.19	Minimal - Tangential competitor

Pricing (Pay-Per-Event)

Event	Description	Price
competitor_analysis	Per domain analyzed	$0.05
organic_competitors	Per organic competitor batch	$0.02
paid_competitors	Per paid competitor batch	$0.02
common_keywords	Per keyword comparison	$0.01

Example costs:

• Organic competitors (20) with common keywords: $0.05 + $0.02 + $0.01 = $0.08
• Both organic + paid competitors: $0.05 + $0.02 + $0.02 + $0.01 = $0.10
• Demo mode: $0.00

Note: You also consume your SEMrush API units (billed separately by SEMrush).

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: New Client Competitive Audit

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_key",
  "domain": "newclient.com",
  "database": "us",
  "competitorType": "both",
  "competitorLimit": 30,
  "includeCommonKeywords": true,
  "commonKeywordsLimit": 15,
  "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/...",
  "demoMode": false
}

Comprehensive competitive analysis for agency pitch decks.

Scenario 2: PPC Budget Planning

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_key",
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "us",
  "competitorType": "paid",
  "competitorLimit": 20,
  "demoMode": false
}

Understand who's bidding on your keywords and their estimated spend.

Scenario 3: International Expansion

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_key",
  "domain": "yoursite.com",
  "database": "de",
  "competitorType": "organic",
  "competitorLimit": 25,
  "demoMode": false
}

Research competitors in new markets before expansion.

Webhook & Automation Integration

Zapier / Make.com / n8n

1. Create a webhook trigger in your automation platform
2. Copy the webhook URL to webhookUrl
3. Set webhookPlatform to your platform
4. Route competitor data to dashboards and alerts

Popular automations:

• New competitor detected -> Slack alert
• Weekly competitive report -> Email to stakeholders
• Competitor data -> Google Sheets (competitive tracker)
• High-overlap competitors -> Airtable (monitoring list)

Apify Scheduled Runs

Schedule monthly competitive analysis to track market changes.

SEMrush Competitor Suite Comparison

Actor	Best For
Competitor Analysis	Discovering who your competitors are
Content Gap	Finding keyword opportunities
Position Tracker	Monitoring your rankings vs competitors
Domain Overview	Quick domain metrics comparison
Backlink Analyzer	Competitor link building research

FAQ

Q: What's the difference between organic and paid competitors?

A: Organic competitors rank for similar keywords in search results. Paid competitors bid on similar keywords in Google Ads. They can be different companies.

Q: Why are some competitors I've never heard of?

A: SEMrush identifies competitors based on keyword overlap, not brand awareness. You may be competing for traffic with sites outside your perceived market.

Q: How is competition level calculated?

A: It's based on the percentage of your organic keywords that overlap with the competitor, weighted by search volume and ranking positions.

Q: Can I track competitor changes over time?

A: Schedule regular runs and use webhook integration to log data. Build historical tracking in Google Sheets or a database.

Q: What if I have no organic keywords yet?

A: New sites may show limited competitor data. Consider running Domain Overview first to understand your baseline metrics.

Common Problems & Solutions

"Invalid API key" error

• Verify your API key from SEMrush dashboard
• Ensure your plan includes API access (Business+)
• Check for extra spaces when copying the key

"Rate limit exceeded" error

• Wait a few minutes and retry
• Reduce competitorLimit
• Check your SEMrush API unit usage

"No competitors found"

• Domain may be new with few rankings
• Try a different country database
• Check if domain is spelled correctly

"Demo data showing"

• Set demoMode: false
• Provide a valid semrushApiKey

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📞 Support

• Actor Arsenal: Full Actor Catalog
• Developer: John Rippy

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal