rank-tracker

# Rank Tracker

**Know instantly when your keyword rankings move — and why** — this skill tracks position changes across your full keyword set, flags significant drops before they hurt traffic, compares you to competitors, and monitors AI Overview citations alongside traditional SERP positions.

**How to start**: `Set up rank tracking for [domain] targeting these keywords: [list]` or `Analyze ranking changes for [domain] over the past [time period]`

**System role**: Monitoring layer skill. It turns performance changes into deltas, alerts, and next actions.

> **[SEO & GEO Skills Library](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills)** · 20 skills for SEO + GEO · [ClawHub](https://clawhub.ai/u/aaron-he-zhu) · [skills.sh](https://skills.sh/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills)

## When This Must Trigger

Use this when the conversation involves any of these situations — even if the user does not use SEO terminology:

Use this whenever the task needs time-aware change detection, escalation, or stakeholder-ready visibility.

- Setting up ranking tracking for new campaigns
- Monitoring keyword position changes
- Analyzing ranking trends over time
- Comparing rankings against competitors
- Tracking SERP feature appearances
- Monitoring AI Overview inclusions
- Creating ranking reports for stakeholders

## What This Skill Does

1. **Position Tracking**: Records and tracks keyword rankings
2. **Trend Analysis**: Identifies ranking patterns over time
3. **Movement Detection**: Flags significant position changes
4. **Competitor Comparison**: Benchmarks against competitors
5. **SERP Feature Tracking**: Monitors featured snippets, PAA
6. **GEO Visibility Tracking**: Tracks AI citation appearances
7. **Report Generation**: Creates ranking performance reports

## Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts. Finish with a short handoff summary using the repository format in [Skill Contract](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/skill-contract.md).

### Set Up Tracking

```
Set up rank tracking for [domain] targeting these keywords: [keyword list]
```

### Analyze Rankings

```
Analyze ranking changes for [domain] over the past [time period]
```

### Compare to Competitors

```
Compare my rankings to [competitor] for [keywords]
```

### Generate Reports

```
Create a ranking report for [domain/campaign]
```

## Skill Contract

**Expected output**: a delta summary, alert/report output, and a short handoff summary ready for `memory/monitoring/`.

- **Reads**: current metrics, previous baselines, alert thresholds, and reporting context from [CLAUDE.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/CLAUDE.md) and the shared [State Model](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/references/state-model.md) when available.
- **Writes**: a user-facing monitoring deliverable plus a reusable summary that can be stored under `memory/monitoring/`.
- **Promotes**: significant changes, confirmed anomalies, and follow-up actions to `memory/open-loops.md` and `memory/decisions.md`.
- **Next handoff**: use the `Next Best Skill` below when a change needs action.

## Data Sources

> **Note:** All integrations are optional. This skill works without any API keys — users provide data manually when no tools are connected.

> See [CONNECTORS.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/CONNECTORS.md) for tool category placeholders.

**With ~~SEO tool + ~~search console + ~~analytics + ~~AI monitor connected:**
Automatically pull ranking positions from ~~SEO tool, search impressions/clicks from ~~search console, traffic data from ~~analytics, and AI Overview citation tracking from ~~AI monitor. Daily automated rank checks with historical trend data.

**With manual data only:**
Ask the user to provide:
1. Keyword ranking positions (current and historical if available)
2. Target keyword list with search volumes
3. Competitor domains and their ranking positions for key terms
4. SERP feature status (featured snippets, PAA appearances)
5. AI Overview citation data (if tracking GEO metrics)

Proceed with the full analysis using provided data. Note in the output which metrics are from automated collection vs. user-provided data.

## Instructions

When a user requests rank tracking or analysis:

1. **Set Up Keyword Tracking** -- Configure domain, location, device, language, update frequency. Add keywords with volume, current rank, type, and priority. Set up competitor tracking and keyword categories (brand/product/informational/commercial).

2. **Record Current Rankings** -- Ranking overview by position range (#1, #2-3, #4-10, #11-20, etc.), position distribution visualization, detailed rankings with URL, SERP features, and change.

3. **Analyze Ranking Changes** -- Overall movement metrics, biggest improvements and declines with hypothesized causes, recommended recovery actions, stable keywords, new rankings, lost rankings.

4. **Track SERP Features** -- Feature ownership comparison vs competitors (snippets, PAA, image/video pack, local pack), featured snippet status, PAA appearances.

5. **Track GEO/AI Visibility** -- AI Overview presence per keyword, citation rate and position, GEO performance trend over time, improvement opportunities.

6. **Compare Against Competitors** -- Share of voice table, head-to-head comparison per keyword, competitor movement alerts with threat level.

7. **Generate Ranking Report** -- Executive summary with overall trend, position distribution, key highlights (wins/concerns/opportunities), detailed analysis, SERP feature report, GEO visibility, competitive position, recommendations.

   > **Reference**: See [references/ranking-analysis-templates.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/monitor/rank-tracker/references/ranking-analysis-templates.md) for complete output templates for all 7 steps.

## Validation Checkpoints

### Input Validation
- [ ] Keywords list is complete with search volumes
- [ ] Target domain and tracking location are specified
- [ ] Competitor domains identified for comparison
- [ ] Historical baseline data available or initial tracking period set

### Output Validation
- [ ] Every metric cites its data source and collection date
- [ ] Ranking changes include context (vs. previous period)
- [ ] Significant movements have explanations or investigation notes
- [ ] Source of each data point clearly stated (~~SEO tool data, ~~search console data, user-provided, or estimated)

## Example

**User**: "Analyze my ranking changes for the past month"

**Output**:

```markdown
# Ranking Analysis: [current month, year]

## Summary

Your average position improved from 15.3 to 12.8 (-2.5 positions = better)
Keywords in top 10 increased from 12 to 17 (+5)

## Biggest Wins

| Keyword | Old | New | Change | Possible Cause |
|---------|-----|-----|--------|----------------|
| email marketing tips | 18 | 5 | +13 | Likely driven by content refresh |
| best crm software | 24 | 11 | +13 | Correlates with new backlinks acquired |
| sales automation | 15 | 7 | +8 | Correlates with schema markup addition |

## Needs Attention

| Keyword | Old | New | Change | Action |
|---------|-----|-----|--------|--------|
| marketing automation | 4 | 12 | -8 | Likely displaced by new HubSpot guide |

**Recommended**: Update your marketing automation guide with [current year] statistics and examples.
```

## Tips for Success

1. **Track consistently** - Same time, same device, same location
2. **Include enough keywords** - 50-200 for meaningful data
3. **Segment by intent** - Track brand, commercial, informational separately
4. **Monitor competitors** - Context makes your data meaningful
5. **Track SERP features** - Position 1 without snippet may lose to position 4 with snippet
6. **Include GEO metrics** - AI visibility increasingly important

## Rank Change Quick Reference

### Response Protocol

| Change | Timeframe | Action |
|--------|-----------|--------|
| Drop 1-3 positions | Wait 1-2 weeks | Monitor -- may be normal fluctuation |
| Drop 3-5 positions | Investigate within 1 week | Check for technical issues, competitor changes |
| Drop 5-10 positions | Investigate immediately | Full diagnostic: technical, content, links |
| Drop off page 1 | Emergency response | Comprehensive audit + recovery plan |
| Position gained | Document and learn | What worked? Can you replicate? |

> **Reference**: See [references/tracking-setup-guide.md](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/monitor/rank-tracker/references/tracking-setup-guide.md) for root cause taxonomy, CTR benchmarks by position, SERP feature CTR impact, algorithm update assessment, tracking configuration best practices, keyword selection and grouping strategies, and data interpretation guidelines.


### Save Results

After delivering monitoring data or reports to the user, ask:

> "Save these results for future sessions?"

If yes, write a dated summary to `memory/monitoring/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md` containing:
- One-line headline finding or status change
- Top 3-5 actionable items
- Open loops or anomalies requiring follow-up
- Source data references

If any findings should influence ongoing strategy, recommend promoting key conclusions to `memory/hot-cache.md`.

## Reference Materials

- [Tracking Setup Guide](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/monitor/rank-tracker/references/tracking-setup-guide.md) — Configuration best practices, device/location settings, and SERP feature tracking setup

## Next Best Skill

- **Primary**: [alert-manager](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/monitor/alert-manager/SKILL.md) — operationalize rank changes into thresholds and follow-ups.

## Related Skills in This Suite

| Phase | Skills |
|-------|--------|
| **Research** | [keyword-research](../../research/keyword-research/SKILL.md), [competitor-analysis](../../research/competitor-analysis/SKILL.md), [serp-analysis](../../research/serp-analysis/SKILL.md), [content-gap-analysis](../../research/content-gap-analysis/SKILL.md) |
| **Build** | [seo-content-writer](../../build/seo-content-writer/SKILL.md), [geo-content-optimizer](../../build/geo-content-optimizer/SKILL.md), [meta-tags-optimizer](../../build/meta-tags-optimizer/SKILL.md), [schema-markup-generator](../../build/schema-markup-generator/SKILL.md) |
| **Optimize** | [on-page-seo-auditor](../../optimize/on-page-seo-auditor/SKILL.md), [technical-seo-checker](../../optimize/technical-seo-checker/SKILL.md), [internal-linking-optimizer](../../optimize/internal-linking-optimizer/SKILL.md), [content-refresher](../../optimize/content-refresher/SKILL.md) |
| **Monitor** | [rank-tracker](../rank-tracker/SKILL.md), [backlink-analyzer](../backlink-analyzer/SKILL.md), [performance-reporter](../performance-reporter/SKILL.md), [alert-manager](../alert-manager/SKILL.md) |
| **Cross-cutting** | [content-quality-auditor](../../cross-cutting/content-quality-auditor/SKILL.md), [domain-authority-auditor](../../cross-cutting/domain-authority-auditor/SKILL.md), [entity-optimizer](../../cross-cutting/entity-optimizer/SKILL.md), [memory-management](../../cross-cutting/memory-management/SKILL.md) |

> **Install the full suite**: See [README](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills) for one-command install of all 20 skills.