What is a SERP analysis?

A SERP analysis is the systematic evaluation of the search results page that Google shows for a specific keyword. It reveals which search intent Google sees behind the term, which page types and providers rank there, and which elements such as AI Overviews or featured snippets shape the page. A SERP analysis comes before every keyword decision and before the first sentence of a new piece of content.

Term profile

What does a SERP analysis examine?

A SERP analysis examines 6 features of the search results page: search intent, page types, SERP features, competitors, content, and snippets. The SERP is the answer Google gives to a search query. Reading it shows which kind of page Google considers a good fit for the term.

1. Search intent: Does the searcher want to learn something, buy something, find a provider, or reach a specific website? The search intent can be read from the pages that rank.
2. Page types: Guides, glossary entries, product pages, category pages, service pages, tools, or videos. If all ten results are guides, a product page has little chance for this term.
3. SERP features: AI Overviews, featured snippets, “People also ask”, local pack, images, videos, and shopping ads.
4. Competitors: Which domains rank, how strongly are they linked, and are they direct market competitors or large portals?
5. Content: Length, structure, freshness, and the questions the ranking pages answer.
6. Snippets: The titles and descriptions of the results. They show the promise competitors use to win the click.

How do you run a SERP analysis?

A SERP analysis runs in 5 steps: set up the search, record the results, note the features, spot patterns, and derive a decision. The most important step is the first one, because a badly configured search delivers a false picture.

1. Step 1, set up the search: Define the country, the language, and for local terms the location of the target audience. A private browser window alone is not enough, because Google still takes location and language settings into account. SERP APIs with fixed parameters for country and language are more reliable.
2. Step 2, record the results: Note the top 10 with URL, page type, and title, plus the date of the query. Search results change constantly, and an undated SERP analysis can no longer be traced after a few weeks.
3. Step 3, note the features: Is there an AI Overview, a featured snippet, a local pack, or a question box? Where does the first classic result appear?
4. Step 4, spot patterns: Which page type dominates, which questions do all results answer, and which question does none of them answer?
5. Step 5, derive a decision: Does the term fit your own offering, which page type should be built, and which content is still missing from the top 10?

The gap from step 4 is the real payoff. A page that answers the same questions in the same order as the ten results above it gives Google no reason to rank it higher.

Why does a SERP analysis show more than search volume and keyword difficulty?

Search volume and keyword difficulty describe the demand for and competition around a term, while the SERP analysis shows its meaning. Search volume tells you how often a term is searched. Whether those searchers mean your offering is only visible in the search results. Three cases from our work show the difference:

• Same wording, different business: For a contract manufacturer, a term with 540 searches per month sounded like its own assembly service. The top 10, however, belonged to corporations offering plant and heavy-load assembly on the customer’s site. The term would have brought visitors looking for a different service.
• High volume, unrelated market: “aida” is searched around one million times a month in Germany. The search results show cruises. For the AIDA formula from marketing, this volume is worthless.
• Difficulty 0 despite real competition: Rank trackers report a keyword difficulty of 0 for some terms, even though cost-per-click values above 4 euros point to fierce competition. A look at the top 10 settles it: If established providers and corporations rank there, the value is a missing data point, not an invitation.

Search engine optimization therefore follows a fixed order. Metrics filter the candidates, the SERP analysis decides. No focus keyword is set before someone has looked at the top 10.

Which SERP features change the analysis?

SERP features change how many clicks a ranking can deliver at all, and which form a piece of content needs to take. A position 1 below a large AI Overview and a question box sits far down the screen for users.

A featured snippet can be won with a precise answer. The local pack, on the other hand, shows that Google expects a map of providers for the term; a guide article does not serve this intent.

How does a SERP analysis help against keyword cannibalization?

A SERP analysis shows whether two keywords share the same search intent and therefore belong on one shared page. If Google shows largely the same ten URLs for two terms, the search engine understands them as one question. Two of your own pages targeting these terms then compete with each other, which is keyword cannibalization.

This comparison is called SERP overlap. As a rule of thumb: If two results pages share half of their top 10 URLs or more, both terms get one shared page. If the results are far apart, each term deserves its own page. An example from this glossary: On October 5, 2026, the German top 10 for “SERP” and for the German term for SERP analysis did not share a single URL. The first term asks for a definition, the second for a way of working, which is why both have their own page.

What does AI search change about SERP analysis?

With AI search, every SERP analysis includes the question of whether Google shows an AI answer and which sources that answer cites. AI Overviews appear above the organic results and name their sources as links. These sources are not always the pages in positions 1 to 3.

This adds 3 checkpoints:

1. AI Overview present: Does it appear for every query or only for some? For terms with an AI Overview, the click-through rate of the organic results usually drops noticeably.
2. Cited sources: Which domains does the AI answer name? They are the competitors for citations, even if they rank further down organically.
3. Answer patterns: Which definition, which number, which list does the AI adopt? This shows which form quotable content needs to take.

For answer engines outside Google, such as ChatGPT or Perplexity, there is no results page in the classic sense. There, a fixed list of questions takes over the role of the SERP analysis. How AI search differs from classic search is explained in the glossary. A SERP analysis for the most important terms of a website is part of every SEO audit by taismo.

Frequently asked questions about SERP analysis

Which tools do you need for a SERP analysis?
For a single SERP analysis, Google Search with the right country and language settings is enough. For many terms or repeated measurements, SERP APIs and rank trackers are faster, because they fix location and language and store the results.

How often should you repeat a SERP analysis?
A SERP analysis is repeated before every new piece of content and every revision, and at least twice a year for important terms. After a Google core update, a fresh look is worthwhile, because the ranking page types often shift.

What is the difference between a SERP analysis and keyword research?
Keyword research collects terms and their metrics such as search volume and competition. The SERP analysis checks the search results for each selected term and decides whether it is worth pursuing and with which page.