Keyword Spy

Keyword Spy is a head-to-head comparison tool that takes your tracked keywords and compares your ranking positions directly against a selected competitor's positions. Instead of looking at keywords in isolation, you see exactly where you're winning, where you're losing, and where untapped opportunities exist.

This gives you a competitive lens on your keyword strategy — making it easy to prioritize which keywords deserve your attention based on how a specific competitor performs for the same terms.

To use Keyword Spy, navigate to the Keyword Spy / GSC tab in your dashboard. Select a competitor from the dropdown menu at the top of the tab. Align will compare your tracked keywords against the selected competitor's rankings and display the results.

You need to have at least one competitor added and scanned in the Competitor Analysis tab, and you need tracked keywords in the Keyword Tracking tab. Keyword Spy cross-references both datasets.

Each keyword in the comparison is assigned a status based on the ranking data. You can filter the list by status to focus on specific types of keywords:

• Winning (green) — You rank higher than the competitor for this keyword. These are your strengths — keywords where you hold the competitive advantage.
• Losing (red) — The competitor ranks higher than you. These keywords need attention — consider optimizing your existing content or creating better-targeted pages.
• Opportunity (amber) — The competitor ranks for this keyword but you don't appear in the results at all. These are direct content opportunities where the competitor has proven the keyword is achievable.
• Not Ranking (gray) — Neither you nor the competitor ranks for this keyword. It may be too competitive, too niche, or the content targeting may need rethinking.

For each keyword in the comparison, Keyword Spy displays:

• Your position — Your current ranking in search results for that keyword (or “Not ranking” if you don't appear).
• Competitor's position — The competitor's current ranking for the same keyword.
• Competitor's ranking URL — The specific page on the competitor's site that ranks for the keyword. This lets you analyze their content approach for that term.
• Status badge — The color-coded status (Winning, Losing, Opportunity, or Not Ranking).

Use the Keyword Spy results to inform your SEO strategy:

• For “Opportunity” keywords — Add these to your tracking list and create targeted content. Look at the competitor's ranking URL to understand what type of content is working for that keyword.
• For “Losing” keywords — Analyze the competitor's page that outranks you. Improve your content, add missing structured data, optimize metadata, or create additional supporting content to strengthen your topical authority around that keyword.
• For “Winning” keywords — Protect your advantage. Keep your content fresh and monitor for ranking changes. Consider strengthening these pages further to maintain your lead.
• For “Not Ranking” keywords — Reassess whether these keywords are relevant to your content strategy, or whether they need a fundamentally different approach.

The Keyword Spy tab includes a search bar that lets you filter the keyword list. Type a keyword or partial match to narrow down the results. This is useful when you have a large tracking list and want to focus on specific terms or topics.

You can combine the search with the status filters to get very specific views — for example, searching for “pricing” and filtering to “Opportunity” to find all pricing-related keywords the competitor ranks for but you don't.

Build on your competitive keyword intelligence:

• Keyword Tracking — Add opportunity keywords to your tracking list and monitor position changes.
• Competitor Analysis — Run a deeper side-by-side SEO comparison with your competitors.
• Authority Map — Strengthen your topical authority to win more keywords.
• Weekly Plan — Get AI-generated content briefs targeting your keyword opportunities.