Using Google’s Deep Research to Study Competitor SEO

Introduction: What is Deep Research

In December 2024, Google unveiled a new feature as part of its Gemini Advanced subscription (https://gemini.google/advanced) called Deep Research. Designed to tackle complex topics, the tool allows users to generate comprehensive, easy-to-read reports on any subject in minutes. By leveraging Google’s expertise in web browsing and Gemini’s advanced reasoning capabilities, Deep Research promises to “do the hard work for”. Read more on Google’s blog.

Currently, aside from the blog post, Google has not released additional resources such as tutorials or guides… that I could find. As well, this tool is not free, you must have a Gemini Advanced subscription, but they do offer a free 30 day trial!

Deep Research seems like it would be a great tool for SEO tasks, as it can quickly search multiple websites, summarize findings, and generate reports. In a related context, I previously wrote a blog showcasing how Anthropic’s Computer-Use tool (read it here) can automate SEO processes. If you’re interested in exploring similar tools, make sure to check it out!

With that, we’ll be testing if Deep Research can help simplify SEO competitor analysis through two practical tasks:

1. Identifying top competitors based on a website’s context.
2. Analyzing competitors’ homepage SEO elements, including titles, meta-descriptions, and top keywords.

By testing these capabilities, we aim to determine whether Google’s Deep Research is a useful tool for SEO professionals!

Task 1: Finding Competitors

For this task we will use Deep Research (Gemini Advanced 1.5 Pro with Deep Research) to research and find 5 competitors related to a website. The task will be simple, identify five competitors most relevant to the website. For each competitor, include:

1. Competitor Name
2. Homepage URL
3. Reason why this competitor is relevant (e.g., similar services, target audience, or content focus).

Prompt

For this example, we will again use Kryo Health and Wellness as the example website. Here the prompt used within Gemini:

**Context for the Task:**
- **Website Name**: Kryo Health and Wellness

- **Website URL**: https://thekryo.com/

- **Website Summary**: We are a e-commerce company that sells premium portable cold plunges and tubs (ice baths). We are located in Canada and sell to primarily Canada and the United States.

**Objective:** Using the context above, identify five competitors most relevant to the website. For each competitor, include:
1. Competitor Name

2. Homepage URL

3. Reason why this competitor is relevant (e.g., similar services, target audience, or content focus).

**Instructions for Deep Research LLM:**
1. Analyze the provided website summary to understand its focus, target audience, and services.

2. Search for websites offering similar services, targeting the same audience, or sharing the same niche.

3. Evaluate and select the top five competitors based on relevance and authority in the niche.

4. Provide the following for each identified competitor:

    - Name of the competitor.

    - URL of their homepage.

    - A brief explanation of why this competitor is relevant to the provided website.

**Output Format:**
- Competitor 1:

    - **Name**: [Competitor Name]

    - **Homepage URL**: [Competitor URL]

    - **Reason**: [Explanation]

- Competitor 2:

    - **Name**: [Competitor Name]

    - **Homepage URL**: [Competitor URL]

    - **Reason**: [Explanation]
...(continue for Competitor 3, 4, and 5)

Running the Task

• Once prompted you will see a nice interface, with a research plan, and two options:
  • Edit Plan
  • Start Research

• Once started, it will begin to research and the interface will update, showing you the number of websites it is searching and associated links.

• Once completed the panel, the panel on the right-hand side will update with the report.
• There is also an option to open in Google Docs which is nice too.

Results

Here is a link to the chat: https://g.co/gemini/share/774d9d370431

Pro’s

• Report includes at least 5 competitors.
• Includes references and links to cross check information.
• Quick and fairly easy to use.

Con’s

• Gemini included 6 results in the top 5 list.
• It did not follow the output from the prompt, as it included products and pricing details.
• The report is overly long and includes too much extra information.

The reports includes 6 competitors and we will use the first 5 for the next task:

• Polar Immersion - https://polarimmersion.com/
• Coldture - https://coldture.com/
• NüBreath - https://nubreath.ca/
• Canada Cold Plunge - https://canadacoldplunge.com/
• Eternal Ice Bath - https://eternalicebath.com/

I looked through each and they are indeed competitors, so using Deep Research seems like a great way to save some time when performing competitor research for SEO!

Thoughts

Out of curiosity, I copied the prompt and ran it two more times and I did get a different competitor list each time. There was some overlap in competitors, but I would suggest you also run your prompt at least 3 times and check the results.

Run #2: https://g.co/gemini/share/6756addcec43

Run #3 : https://g.co/gemini/share/21d55ce38e98

• It is also important to check the results and references as LLM’s still tend to hallucinate.
• Ask follow up questions if you need clarification or want to explore further.
• Create and use a well-defined prompt.

Task 2 - Analyzing Competitors’ SEO

The goal of this task is to examine the SEO elements of top 5 competitor’s homepages to identify strategies that contribute to their search engine rankings. We will focusing on the page:

• Title
• Meta-Description
• Top Keyword by density

These elements are fundamental to effective SEO, making them an ideal for this example. As they demonstrate Deep Research’s capability to analyze and extract meaningful insights from competitor web pages.

Prompt

Using the top 5 competitors from the previous task, here is the prompt used within Gemini:

**Context for the Task:** You will be provided with a list of the top 5 competitors for https://thekryo.com/ below:

**Competitors**:
- Polar Immersion - https://polarimmersion.com/
- Coldture - https://coldture.com/
- NüBreath - https://nubreath.ca/
- Canada Cold Plunge - https://canadacoldplunge.com/
- Eternal Ice Bath - https://eternalicebath.com/

**Objective:** Analyze the SEO elements of the homepage for each competitor. Specifically, extract and summarize the following details:

1. **Title**: The title tag of the homepage.
2. **Meta-Description**: The meta-description tag of the homepage.
3. **Top Keyword**: The keyword with the highest density on the homepage.

**Instructions for Deep Research LLM:**

1. Visit the homepage URL for each competitor.
2. Extract the title tag and meta-description tag from the HTML of the homepage.
3. Analyze the visible content on the homepage to identify the keyword with the highest density.
4. Ensure the analysis is specific to the homepage and does not include data from other pages or external links.

**Output Format:** For each competitor, provide the following details:

- **Competitor Name**: [Insert Competitor Name]
- **Homepage URL**: [Insert Competitor URL]
- **Title**: [Extracted Title Tag]
- **Meta-Description**: [Extracted Meta-Description Tag]
- **Top Keyword**: [Keyword with Highest Density]

**Example Output:**

- **Competitor Name**: SEO Optimize Co
    - **Homepage URL**: [https://seooptimizeco.com](https://seooptimizeco.com/)
    - **Title**: "Affordable SEO Audits for Small Businesses | SEO Optimize Co"
    - **Meta-Description**: "Boost your website’s rankings with our affordable technical SEO audits tailored for small businesses."
    - **Top Keyword**: "SEO audits"

Repeat this process for all five competitors, and present the results in the same format.

Running the Task

• Using the same steps as the last task, a report was created.

• Unfortunately, it did not perform the research/analysis as expected, so I had to re-prompt it.

Results

Here is a link to the chat: https://g.co/gemini/share/63783de172dd

Pro’s

• Report highlighted the importance of page titles and meta-descriptions

Con’s

• Did not follow the instructions.
• Could not retrieve the SEO elements (or didn’t try).
• Hallucinated the steps it took.

Thoughts

There seems to be a limitation of Deep Research, as it cannot directly view or extract HTML page elements. However, the Methodology section of the report outlines the correct steps required to complete the task as intended.

• If Deep Research cannot view HTML elements, it makes sense that the page title and meta-description are unavailable. However, identifying keyword density should not present the same challenge.

As in the previous example, I ran the prompt 2 more times (3 in total):

Run #2: https://g.co/gemini/share/b56da954cde5

Run #3: https://g.co/gemini/share/46fd3b57281f

• Runs #2 and #3 did not succeed, indicating that this type of research may be encountering internal or moderation-related challenges.

• Trying a 4th time (https://g.co/gemini/share/0442b02870b4), it did succeed, but was unable to extract any meaningful data.

Conclusion: Is Google’s Deep Research Helpful for Competitor SEO

Yes and no! Google’s Deep Research brings an exciting, fresh approach to handling research related to SEO tasks. It’s a fast and efficient way to gather insights, but our example tasks revealed some clear limitations and areas that need refinement.

Key Takeaways:

1. Strengths:

   • Deep Research simplifies the process of finding and identifying competitors, saving significant time compared to manual searches.
   • The generated reports provide detailed insights and logical steps, offering a clear and organized approach to understanding research findings.
   • Integration with Google Docs adds convenience for sharing and refining reports.

2. Weaknesses:

   • The tool struggles with extracting detailed SEO elements such as HTML tags, titles, and meta-descriptions.
   • Results often require cross-checking to ensure accuracy, as hallucinations or irrelevant data can appear.
   • Inconsistent performance across multiple runs, highlighting potential moderation or technical issues.

Final Thoughts: For SEO professionals, much like Anthropic’s Computer Use, Deep Research has the potential to be a valuable tool for SEO professionals in the future. While it’s not yet a one-stop solution for competitor analysis, its ability to provide a starting point is commendable.

I hope Google continues to refine this feature, enhancing its ability to extract and analyze specific webpage elements accurately.

At this stage, it’s not quite ready for dedicated SEO tasks or as a tool replacement, but serves as a promising complement to existing solutions.

We encourage you to try Deep Research yourself and experiment with its capabilities for your SEO related tasks!