{
  "slug": "avg-rank-vs-competitors",
  "name": "Average SERP rank vs competitors",
  "aliases": [
    "Average rank",
    "avg_rank",
    "Weighted position"
  ],
  "definition": "The impression-weighted average results-page position your site holds on a tracked keyword, read side by side with the same figure for tracked competitors.",
  "category": "Competitive SERP",
  "type": "rank",
  "unit": "results-page position (1 is best; higher is worse)",
  "direction": "lower-better",
  "verification": "verified",
  "calculation": "One read of the rank-tracking dataset returns keyword, competitor domain and average rank for every tracked domain in the segment; the roster marks which of those domains is yours. Rows are split by domain into per-keyword maps and sorted ascending, so the best positions lead. The verb states the contract in its own payload: average rank is impression-weighted position, lower is better, and it is distinct from share of voice. The semantic layer defines the position itself as the sum of position weighted by impressions over total impressions, wrapped so that a keyword with no impressions returns zero rather than null.",
  "aggregation": "Never summed. Averaging across keywords discards the demand behind each one, see the separate overall figure and its caveats.",
  "grain": "One keyword × domain × segment × period × medium.",
  "dimensions": [
    "keyword",
    "competitor domain",
    "device",
    "country",
    "brand"
  ],
  "requiredFilters": [
    "segment_id",
    "selected_period",
    "source_medium"
  ],
  "sources": [
    "rank-tracking"
  ],
  "reports": [
    "competitor-search-report"
  ],
  "skills": [
    "keyword-gap-audit",
    "competitor-deep-dive",
    "rank-movement-review"
  ],
  "verbs": [
    "competitive_keyword_ranking",
    "competitive_trends"
  ],
  "rungs": [
    "R2"
  ],
  "levers": [
    "L2",
    "L3"
  ],
  "questions": [
    "Where do we rank against rivals on these keywords?",
    "Which keywords do we hold the best positions on?",
    "Which of our positions are worst on mobile?"
  ],
  "interpretation": "The plainest competitive read available: one number per keyword per domain, on the same observation for everyone. Impression weighting means a keyword's figure is dominated by the device, geography and day mix that actually generated impressions, so a position that moves without any ranking change is usually a mix shift.",
  "caveats": [
    "A keyword with no impressions in the period comes back as rank zero, not null: the semantic layer wraps the ratio in a zero default. Zero is not a position, and an ascending sort puts it first, so a raw row carrying 0 is an absence of data dressed as best-in-class.",
    "The underlying read is capped at five thousand keyword-and-domain rows across every tracked domain in the segment, so a wide segment or a long roster truncates the keyword set before any of these figures are computed.",
    "Positions come from the rank-tracking dataset, which is a different surface from the share family, a domain can hold good positions and little share, and the reverse.",
    "Only tracked keywords and tracked domains appear; a keyword outside the segment has no row rather than a bad position.",
    "Rows with no position are excluded before the best and worst lists are built, so an empty list means no ranked rows, but that filter protects only those lists, not the raw rows.",
    "Device and country filters change the impression mix and therefore the weighted value; comparing across filter settings compares different populations."
  ],
  "freshness": "~1 day behind, Daily observation, available the following day.",
  "failureModes": [
    "Reading a position improvement as a traffic gain without checking the demand behind the keyword.",
    "Comparing a filtered read with an unfiltered one and narrating the mix shift as movement."
  ],
  "notSameAs": [
    {
      "slug": "search-market-share",
      "why": "Impression-weighted position on a keyword versus CTR-modeled share of tracked demand, different explores, different denominators, and they move independently."
    },
    {
      "slug": "overall-average-rank",
      "why": "This is per keyword; the overall figure averages those per-keyword values without re-weighting by demand."
    },
    {
      "slug": "market-share-standings-rank",
      "why": "That is a search-results position on keywords; this is a position in a share league table. Different explores, different meaning of the number one.",
      "mirroredFrom": "market-share-standings-rank"
    },
    {
      "slug": "competitor-share-by-rank-bucket",
      "why": "Average rank is one number per keyword; this distributes share across ranking bands. Position is the axis here, not the measurement.",
      "mirroredFrom": "competitor-share-by-rank-bucket"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "overall-average-rank",
    "head-to-head-rank-gap",
    "ranked-keyword-coverage"
  ],
  "workflows": [],
  "lastVerified": "2026-08-04"
}