Spy Owl: competitor intelligence built from evidence you can check
Who you're really up against, what they rank for that you don't, and who links to them. Spy Owl researches all three in one pass and tells you where every number came from.
COMPETITOR FILE
- Type
- Direct competitor
- Found via
- Live results for your topic
- Ranks where you don't
- 14 keywords
- Backlinks
- Sampled view sample
How Spy Owl decides who your competitors are
Competitors are identified from what the web actually shows, then grouped by the kind of threat they are.
A
Your own site. Any comparison or alternatives content you already publish names who you think you compete with.
B
Live search results. The sites that actually rank for your topics are the competitors searchers see.
C
Comparison searches. Searches like alternatives to your category, or your brand versus others, surface the names buyers weigh you against.
One research pass, three kinds of competitor analysis
Each kept separate in the results, so you always know what you're looking at.
Search positions
For your important queries, the real ranking positions and who holds them. In the dashboard: what competitors rank for, and the keywords you rank for.
The competitors
Who they are, how they were found and what type of competitor each one is, so a big directory isn't mistaken for a direct rival.
Links
Who links to whom, alongside your own most-linked pages and the outside domains your site links to.
Index-backed or sampled, always labelled
Competitor research is only useful if you know how solid it is. Spy Owl never blends the two kinds of evidence without saying so.
Rankings come from a ranking data source when one is connected, or from live web searches reported exactly as they returned. Backlinks come from a link index with full totals when available, or from a real but sampled search-based view. Every finding states which.
index Full totals from a link or ranking index
sample Real results from live search, not exhaustive
From competitor keyword gaps to published work
Spy Owl researches; other agents act on what it finds.
- Keywords they rank for and you don't become the first source of keyword article ideas in your Game Plan Owl roadmap, ready for Owlthor to write.
- A rival buyers compare you with is a candidate for a head-to-head page from Growth Hacker.
- Your watchlist keeps up to 20 competitor domains pinned to your account, so everyone works from the same names. The audit still finds competitors from fresh evidence each time.
Spy Owl, mapped
From finding competitors to acting on what they do.
Spy Owl questions, answered
How does Spy Owl know who my competitors are?
From evidence, not a guess. It looks at comparison content on your own site, at who shows up in live search results for your topics, and at searches such as alternatives to your category or your brand versus others, then groups what it finds by type of competitor.
Are the rankings real?
Yes. Where a ranking data source is connected it reports exact Google positions; otherwise it runs live web searches and reports exactly what came back, never general SEO knowledge dressed up as results.
How complete is the backlink data?
It depends on the source, and Spy Owl tells you which. With a link index connected you get totals such as backlinks and referring domains; without one you get a real but sampled view from search, labelled as a sample.
What does the watchlist do?
It keeps up to 20 competitor domains pinned to your account so your team works from the same list. For now, the audit still identifies competitors from fresh evidence each time rather than reading the watchlist.
Where do competitor keyword gaps end up?
In your content roadmap. Keywords a competitor ranks for and you don't are the first source Game Plan Owl uses for keyword article ideas, which Owlthor can then write.
Does Spy Owl write anything about my competitors?
No, it researches. To publish a head-to-head page, use Growth Hacker, which builds comparison articles from the same audit.
Related agents
Related reading
See who you're really competing with
Add your site and Spy Owl researches your competitors in your next audit.