How to Use SE Ranking to Track Rankings Against Competitors

The short answer: create a project for your site, add Google desktop for your market (Share of Voice works on nothing else), paste your keywords, add up to 20 competitors, connect Search Console, then read Share of Voice and the competitor tables once the first checks are in, and export the Share of Voice history inside its first 30 days. The 14-day trial tracks 750 keywords a day without a card, per the SE Ranking pricing page, checked on 24 October 2026.

Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.

A board asks one question about search: is the company gaining on the competitors it loses deals to, or losing ground? Your own positions do not answer it. The answer is your share of the clicks available on the keywords you both chase, measured the same way every week. For what SE Ranking includes and costs, see the SE Ranking glossary entry.

What decides it:

1. Prompts multiply. AI tracking is counted per engine: the project guide gives the example 2 prompts x 3 AI search engines = 6 prompt tracking units. Core tracks 100 a day, so 25 prompts across 4 engines fills it.
2. Start from rivals you already know. The competitors sales names in lost deals are the ones to add first; the Find My Competitors button can fill the rest from your keyword data.
3. Fix the measuring stick before the first report. Share of Voice is calculated on Google desktop only, from the top 20 positions, per the Share of Voice article. Change the keyword set later and the trend breaks.

What you need first

• An SE Ranking trial or plan. Core allows up to 20 competitors per project, per the competitors article.
• The keyword list you report on, as a file or a paste.
• The domains of three to five direct competitors.
• Access to your Google Search Console property.

Step 1: Create the project

In the side menu, click Projects, then Create Project. Enter your website's URL and a project name, choose whether to analyse the whole domain or part of it, and set access and reporting options, per the project guide.

Step 2: Choose the search engines, with Google desktop first

Pick from Google desktop or mobile, Bing, Yahoo, AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and Gemini, then set country, language and a precise location. Add Google desktop for every market you report on, even if your buyers search on phones: the Share of Voice article says the module shows no data without a Google desktop engine. For AI engines, enter the exact brand name.

Step 3: Add keywords and prompts

Paste keywords, import them from a file, or turn on suggestions. Multiple locations can each carry their own keyword set, per the project guide. If you added AI engines, enter the prompts people ask, import a CSV or take the suggestions, and keep the prompt limit in view.

Step 4: Add the competitors

Add up to 20, as a whole site, a URL or a section, then click Add competitors to project. Competitor rankings are checked for the same engines, regions and keywords as your project, and Recheck data on the Added Competitors tab refreshes them, per the competitors article.

Step 5: Connect Search Console

The last wizard step connects Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Matomo. Once connected, the Search Console data shows keywords that bring impressions but are missing from the project, and the Search Console article recommends adding the ones driving most organic traffic. It also flags keywords with many impressions and no clicks, a sign the snippet needs work.

Step 6: Read the competitor tables

The Detailed tab shows, for each competitor, keywords in the top 5, 10 and 30, average position and the number of keywords whose position changed. The Overall view puts every competitor's rankings in each tracked engine side by side, with charts for average position, traffic forecast, search visibility and share of the top 10, per the competitors article.

Step 7: Read Share of Voice

Share of Voice compares the traffic share your site and competitors get from the top 20 Google desktop positions for your keywords. Filter by keyword groups or tags, compare two dates, and ignore up to 10 irrelevant domains, such as marketplaces, which recalculates the shares on the next load, per the Share of Voice article. Export to Excel or CSV.

One step for an AI assistant

SE Ranking's MCP server is hosted at https://api.seranking.com/mcp; in Claude you add the official SE Ranking connector and sign in, per the MCP documentation. It reaches your projects, rank tracking, audits and competitors. Ask it for the tracked keywords where a named competitor gained three or more positions this week.

Then check before you report. The volatility article says a move of 1 to 2 positions in the top 10 is usually normal search engine behaviour, and suggests opening the saved copy of the results to confirm a position. A person reads those snapshots for the big movers before the summary goes to anyone.

What the help centre warns about

• History gets trimmed. Share of Voice keeps every date for the first 30 days, then saves a one-time snapshot of the 5 most recent dates, per the Share of Voice article. Export the history you want before then.
• Your manual search will differ. Compare positions over several days rather than single checks, and match location, device and language when you search by hand.
• Sub-accounts and MCP. On a shared workspace, the sign-in button connects no tools for a sub-account; the administrator's API key is the workaround, per the MCP documentation.
• Shared logins. Only one session per login can be active, so give each analyst a seat.

A dashboard full of green arrows is what keeps a subscription renewed, and the platform is built to show movement. The number for the board is the Share of Voice trend on a fixed keyword set, read over weeks.

FAQ

Why does SE Ranking show a different position from my own search?

Results shift within minutes outside the top 10, and between days around 10 of the top 100 results are usually replaced, per the volatility article. Check the saved SERP copy in the report.

How many competitors can one project track?

Up to 20 on Core, Growth and Enterprise, per the competitors article.

Can I leave a marketplace out of Share of Voice?

Yes. Ignore up to 10 competitors per project and the remaining shares are recalculated, though dates already recorded are not, per the Share of Voice article.