/seo-content-comparison-page

name: seo-content-comparison-page
description: "Spec, audit, competitor benchmark and build for the bottom-funnel pages that capture buyers at the decision moment: 'X vs Y', 'alternatives to X', 'best X for Y', the comparison hub, and audience or segment pages ('for agencies', 'for freelancers'). Runs four phases: the CMP spec with stable IDs on top of the common page spec, an audit of the existing page with seo_audit.py and section_audit.py, a benchmark against the comparison and alternatives pages that rank on the query (review sites, affiliate lists, the competitors' own vs pages) with page_benchmark.py, then the build: which comparisons deserve a page, URL mapping, a comparison table with sourced and dated competitor facts, the verdict, honest limitations, segment pages that are not find-and-replace, FAQ, schema and the acceptance re-run. Use when planning, auditing or writing comparison, alternatives, best-for or segment pages, when competitors rank for your brand plus alternatives, or when AI assistants recommend competitors on comparison prompts."
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: "Sorank (https://sorank.com)"
  version: "2.0.0"

Comparison, alternatives and segment pages

The last page a buyer reads before deciding. Someone searching "X vs Y" or "alternatives to X" has already accepted the category and is choosing a supplier: the highest-intent pages a site can own, and the format AI assistants reach for when asked to recommend, because a page that compares and concludes is directly usable as an answer.

Two rules make or break the category. The comparison must be verifiably true on the day it is published, and it must concede where a competitor genuinely wins. A page that wins every row, or that states last year's facts, is discounted by readers and by models alike.

Company knowledge first (Obsidian)

If the working environment contains an Obsidian vault or any local knowledge base (a folder of .md notes, often with a .obsidian directory), read it before writing: the real feature set, real pricing, the competitors that actually come up in sales calls, the objections buyers raise, and the segments the business already serves. Comparison pages assert facts about third parties, so unsourced invention is both a credibility and a legal risk. Log the pages produced to the vault's SEO action log, including the date each comparison was verified, since that date drives the refresh cycle.

When to use

• Planning, auditing or writing a "X vs Y", "alternatives to X", "best X for Y", comparison hub or segment page.
• Competitors, review sites or affiliates rank for "{your brand} alternatives" and you do not.
• ChatGPT, Perplexity or AI Overviews recommend competitors on comparison prompts.
• A product serves several distinct customer types and the site has one generic page for all of them.
• A category page exists but never concludes, so it converts nothing.
• An existing comparison page is more than a quarter old, or a competitor changed its pricing or shipped a feature.

| Need | Skill | |---|---| | A "best {category}" list or ranking hub with many items (10 to 60), a tool directory | seo-content-comparison-hub | | Which comparisons have real demand | seo-keyword-research | | Which blocks the page is missing, on any page type | seo-page-sections | | Product facts for your own side | seo-content-product-page | | Service scope and pricing presentation | seo-content-service-page | | Linking the comparison hub to its children | seo-internal-linking | | Schema for the page and its FAQ | seo-schema-markup | | Getting cited on comparison prompts | geo-visibility | | Tracking citation share on those prompts | geo-tracking | | Earning links to the comparison hub | seo-backlinks |

Phase 1. The spec

Common requirements C-01 to C-27: skills/seo-geo-audit/references/common-page-spec.md

The rows below are what a comparison or segment page adds on top of them. Thresholds are field heuristics from agency audits unless marked measured. Levels follow `seo-page-sections/references/page-type-matrix.md` sections 5 and 6: every row is required unless its Threshold says "recommended" or "optional".

Comparison, alternatives, best-for and hub pages (`section_audit.py --type comparison`)

| ID | Requirement | Threshold | Verified by | Why | |---|---|---|---|---| | CMP-01 | The page earns its URL: one comparison, one URL; built for a query with demand or a competitor named in sales calls | "X vs Y" and "Y vs X" share one URL; no second page already ranking for the term | manual (seo-keyword-research, Search Console) | Near-duplicate comparison pages cannibalize each other and none ranks | | CMP-02 | Literal, stable slug per family (extends C-23) | `/{you}-vs-{competitor}/`, `/{competitor}-alternatives/`, `/best-{category}-for-{use-case}/`, `/compare/`; never changed once it ranks | url_hygiene, manual | The slug is a retrieval signal, and these pages accumulate links over years | | CMP-03 | Title and H1 name both sides, or the brand plus "alternatives", exactly as searched (extends C-01, C-03) | exact query phrasing in both; title adds the deciding difference or the year, and that year is computed at render time from the current date, never typed (only a cited dated source keeps its own year) | h1_missing, title_short, title_long, manual | Exact-match queries; the H1 must match the phrasing | | CMP-04 | Verdict in the first 100 words: who each option suits, in a concrete situation | first 100 words; names names; a number where possible; repeated at the end | section_audit "verdict_block", kw_not_in_intro, manual | The passage an assistant quotes; burying it forfeits the citation | | CMP-05 | Real HTML comparison table | `<table>`, 6-12 criteria, same criteria in the same order for every option; never an image or styled divs | section_audit "comparison_table", page_benchmark "tables" | The single most extractable block on the page | | CMP-06 | Criteria chosen from buyer decision factors, b