Search is changing—fast. With AI now shaping what users see before they even scroll, businesses can’t afford to play the guessing game anymore. If you’re not tracking what your competitors are doing in this new search landscape, you’re potentially handing them traffic, visibility, and customers.

That’s where competitive audits come in. Not the old-school kind. We’re talking modern, AI-SERP-aware audits designed for how Google Search actually works today.

The Rise of the AI SERP

Google’s AI features—like AI Overviews and generative search experiences—are changing what the top of the page looks like. Instead of ten blue links, users are now seeing AI-generated summaries, video carousels, featured snippets, and product listings all mixed in.

That means your competitors might not be outranking you in the “traditional” sense, but they could still be showing up in one of those new AI-powered formats. And unless you’re paying attention, you won’t even realise you’re being outperformed.

Old Tactics No Longer Cut It

In the past, a typical SEO audit might look at keyword rankings, backlinks, and technical health. And while those still matter, they don’t tell you:

● Who’s being featured in AI Overviews?

● What kind of content is being surfaced in new SERP layouts?

● How competitors are adapting their content for AI-driven search?

That’s why businesses need to go beyond the basics.

What a Modern Competitive Audit Looks Like

To stay competitive, audits need to dig into:

● SERP feature appearances: Who’s being included in AI Overviews, People Also Ask, video snippets, and product panels?

● Content structure: How are top-ranking competitors formatting their content to appeal to AI summarisation? Are they answering questions clearly? Using schema markup?

● Media mix: Are they using video, images, and FAQs more effectively than you?

● Topical authority: Are they covering broader topic clusters that help them appear across multiple search types?

In other words, you’re not just auditing their keywords—you’re auditing their entire search presence.

What You Can Do With This Insight

Once you’ve identified where competitors are gaining traction, you can make informed moves:

● Adjust your content strategy to target opportunities they’re missing.

● Optimise your existing content for inclusion in SERP features.

● Fill content gaps where you can add value that AI summaries can’t provide.

● Match the formats Google is favouring—whether that’s video, lists, FAQs or product-focused layouts.

● It’s not about copying—it’s about competing strategically.

Final Takeaway

Google isn’t showing search results the same way it used to. And that means you need to rethink how you track, measure, and outperform your competitors online.

A modern competitive audit gives you the edge to respond—not just to your competitors, but to the changes in Google’s search experience itself.

Don’t just fight for position. Learn the game that’s actually being played.