Backlinks might seem like the obvious culprit. “They must have more authority.” “They’re investing more in link-building.” “They got lucky.”

However, the reality is, it's no longer just about backlinks. In 2025, factors such as on-page strategy, intent alignment, and technical structure are more significant than ever — and your competitor is likely excelling in these areas.

Here’s what they’re doing differently and how you can bridge the gap.

Backlinks Still Matter — But They’re Not Everything While backlinks contribute to domain authority, they're not a guaranteed path to better rankings. Pages that are well-structured, relevant, and optimised can outrank those with just high Domain Ratings.

It's common to see: 

• Lower-authority sites surpass larger ones by perfectly aligning search intent, site structure, and topical depth.

If you're too focused on link-building while neglecting your site's underlying structure, you're losing out.

What Your Competitor Might Be Doing Better Let’s delve into what they might be getting right — and what you might be missing.

1. They Grasp Search Intent (And Tailor Content Accordingly) Your page targets “best AI SEO tools” but is just a general blog post. Their page is a comprehensive, updated comparison including highlights, visuals, and pricing summaries.

Which do you think Google favours?

• Google rewards alignment by:
• Matching content format to the type of query
• Using language and structure that meet user expectations
• Optimising for the correct stage of the sales funnel

If you're producing top-of-funnel content for bottom-of-funnel keywords, your rankings will suffer — no matter the number of backlinks you have.

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2. Their Site Structure is Intentional Astute competitors don’t just publish content; they create internal link systems that direct authority to key pages.

They:

• Link internally from blogs to service pages
• Use clear URL structures
• Maintain shallow crawl depths
• Remove obsolete content that hinders indexing
• Avoid content cannibalisation through strategic consolidation
• Site structure SEO is a hidden ranking factor often overlooked — but not by your competitors.

3. They Utilise AI Tools to Identify Gaps and Act Quickly They don’t rely on guesswork.

They conduct AI-driven SEO audits to:

• Identify content gaps
• Highlight outdated or thin content
• Determine which pages to merge, refresh, or eliminate
• Prioritise high-impact improvements (like optimising internal links or metadata)
• This approach isn't about exerting more effort, but about being smarter — with AI SEO tools providing your competitors an advantage.

4. They Refresh Content. You Don’t. Google doesn't favour outdated content.

If your competitor updates their posts every 6 months while you've neglected yours for 3 years, who appears more updated?

Even successful pages lose rank if they're not updated with:

• New tools, statistics, or trends
• Shifting SERP features (like snippets or video carousels)
• Evolving search behaviour

You don’t need to create new content — just refresh and reorganise what already exists.

5. Their Technical SEO is Spot-On No broken pages, no indexing issues, no crawl traps. In contrast, your sitemap is outdated, and your category pages are cluttered with indexable filters.

In 2025, technical SEO is indispensable.

Savvy competitors:

• Optimise site speed and mobile usability
• Address crawl depth and index bloat
• Utilise structured data for enhanced visibility
• Ensure every crucial page is easily accessible within 3 clicks
• And you? Even with the right content, if Google can't access or interpret it, you remain invisible.

The Solution: Don’t Just Compete — Surpass You don’t require a larger budget or an extensive link-building campaign. What you need is clarity, structure, and strategy.

Here's how we empower brands to outperform their competitors (even large ones):

• Conduct AI-powered audits to assess what’s effective
• Revitalise underperforming content with intent-focused updates
• Construct internal link networks to strategically distribute authority
• Align content with SERP trends and user search behaviour
• Simplify your site structure for easier navigation by Google (and users)

Ready to Bridge the Gap? If your competitor continues to rank higher and you're still guessing why — it's time to stop.

It extends beyond backlinks. It’s everything else they’ve optimised that you haven’t yet.

[Let’s conduct an AI audit to reveal where they’re gaining ground and how you can reclaim it.]

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