Read a rival’s sitemap: their whole content plan in one file

Try the default first: rivalsite.com/sitemap.xml. If that 404s, try rivalsite.com/sitemap_index.xml.

• Check robots.txt at rivalsite.com/robots.txt. Many sites list their sitemap there.
• Try common CMS paths: /sitemap.xml.gz, /sitemap_index.xml.gz, /sitemap-posts.xml, /sitemap-pages.xml.
• Use Google with operators: site:rivalsite.com filetype:xml sitemap. This often surfaces secondary sitemaps or older copies.
• If you still cannot find it, load the homepage, view source, and search for “sitemap”. Some themes link it in the footer.

Once found, save the URL. You will work from this one file or its children.

Many sites use a sitemap index that links to multiple sitemaps. Open /sitemap_index.xml and scan the entries. The names show the content split.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://rivalsite.com/sitemaps/sitemap-blog-1.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-04</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://rivalsite.com/sitemaps/sitemap-docs-1.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-08-22</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://rivalsite.com/sitemaps/sitemap-compare.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-10</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

These dates are examples, typical rather than measured from any site.

Open one child file. You will see a list of URLs with optional lastmod dates. That is the raw inventory for that section.

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://rivalsite.com/compare/alpha-vs-beta</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-10</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://rivalsite.com/compare/alpha-vs-gamma</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-10</lastmod>
  </url>
</urlset>

If the index has many children, sample two or three. You are looking for naming hints and lastmod patterns first, not every URL yet.

Group URLs by path. Families share the first folder and often the second. Templates repeat the shape of the slug. Scale shows as lists with numbers that climb.

• /blog/how-to-do-z, /blog/x-vs-y, /blog/best-x: one family, a blog. Likely informational intent.
• /compare/alpha-vs-beta, /compare/alpha-vs-gamma: a comparison template. Commercial investigation intent.
• /alternatives/alpha-alternatives: an alternatives template. Commercial investigation intent.
• /integrations/slack, /integrations/zapier: an integrations hub. Navigational or commercial intent.
• /pricing, /pricing/enterprise: a pricing family. Transactional intent.
• /guides/getting-started, /guides/api: a docs family. Navigational intent.

A fixed page looks different to a scaled template. /pricing is one page. /compare/x-vs-y has many near-duplicates by design. Note the slug rules they use.

Count a few lists to estimate scale. If /compare has 120 URLs and /alternatives has 30, you see where they lean. This guides your own plan.

lastmod is a hint of change, not a guarantee. Still, patterns across a family are useful. Scan dates for each child sitemap and for a sample of URLs.

• Clumped same-day lastmod in /compare can mean a periodic refresh or an automated republish.
• A fresh lastmod on /pricing each month suggests they keep it current. Good sign of active testing.
• Stale lastmod on /blog for a year hints at decay. You can enter those topics with fresh work.
• Mixed dates in /integrations show where they add partners. That hints at roadmap and sales focus.

Open a few fresh pages. Check if the content changed or only the date. Title, H1 and intro lines usually show real updates if they exist.

You now know the families and the scale. Pick the families that matter for a SaaS: category and “best X”, alternatives, X vs Y, jobs to be done, integrations, your own pricing and comparisons, and your product’s name. Build your plan there first.

1. 1

   List the families you can enter

   Example: /compare, /alternatives, /integrations, /blog/how-to. Skip families that do not fit your product or sales model.

2. 2

   Sample titles to infer target queries

   Open ten URLs per family. Read the title tags. They tell you which queries they target. Note the exact phrasing for each template.

3. 3

   Check intent on the results page

   Search “alpha vs beta” or “alpha alternatives”. If you see lists and comparisons, that confirms commercial investigation intent.

4. 4

   Map your own equivalents

   Create your /compare, /alternatives and /integrations structures. Follow a clean slug rule, for example /compare/yourapp-vs-alpha.

5. 5

   Prioritise by reach and fit

   Favour pages that match your product and where you can write from experience. Thin, me-too lists will not move the needle.

Use Google’s autocomplete to collect variants. It suggests completions from real searches, weighted by popularity and freshness, and varied by language and location. It is a list of what people type, not volumes. Pair this with People also ask and related searches to widen the cluster. Volume is an estimate. Expect tools to disagree. As of 2026 this is normal.

For free volumes, use Bing Webmaster Tools’ keyword research. For deeper work, any of the big suites will estimate volume and difficulty. Difficulty scores differ per tool and say nothing about intent fit. Check the results page yourself for match and features like AI Overviews or featured snippets that can reduce clicks relative to volume.

Programmatic sections reveal themselves in the sitemap. Repeating slugs, alphabetical spread, and even numbering give the game away. Count them. Glance at one or two pages to see the template depth.

• /compare/x-vs-y has two entities per page. You can build a better matrix with clearer tables and unique commentary.
• /alternatives/x-alternatives is a list template. Win with tighter selection, first-hand notes, screenshots, and clear “who should pick this”.
• /integrations/x-with-y can be shallow. Add setup steps, error cases, and metrics to track after setup.
• /guides/how-to-do-z suggests jobs pages. Add video, checklists, and product-led steps where it helps.

If they have 500 comparison pages and you have none, start narrow. Pick the ten you care about. Ship them well. Scale once the first ones earn clicks and links. A fixed example: yoursite.com/compare/yourapp-vs-alpha with a clear table, use cases, migration steps, and FAQs.

A sitemap shows intent. Search shows reality. Run quick checks to avoid chasing ghosts or missing hidden sections.

• site:rivalsite.com queries show what Google holds of them. Compare counts with the sitemap sections you saw.
• Search a few of their exact titles in quotes. See if they rank. Weak rankings mark soft targets.
• Open their titles for /compare and /alternatives. If many are duplicates of bigger rivals, you can outrank with useful content.
• Crawl ten to twenty pages with Screaming Frog SEO Spider. Check internal links to these families. Strong internal links mean they care about the sections.

If you have your own Search Console, check your query table for any “vs” or “alternatives” impressions. You may already have the seed traffic. Build the pages that match those queries. Track them in your performance report later. The two suites will never reconcile exactly with GA4. That is fine, they measure different things.

Sitemaps are curated. They can be incomplete or out of date. Treat them as a floor, not a ceiling. Fill the gaps with simple checks.

• Noindex or blocked pages are often left out. Use site: searches to surface odd paths.
• Pagination, filters and parameter pages may be excluded. That is normal, they rarely belong in sitemaps.
• Staging or preview paths should not be there. If you see them, the team is sloppy and you can expect other leaks.
• Some sites publish only their top sections. Deep docs or changelogs may live in separate sitemaps or be omitted.

If you suspect gaps, look for hints in the index names. A missing /docs sitemap in the index but deep docs ranking in site: results means there is a separate file. Try common variants like /docs/sitemap.xml or /help/sitemap.xml.

You do not need a paid tool to get the URLs into a sheet. Two quick routes get you a clean list you can group and count today.

1. 1

   Copy URLs from the sitemap into a sheet

   Open the child sitemap, View Source, copy the <loc> lines, paste into a text editor, then into a sheet. Use split by “loc>” to clean.

2. 2

   Use Google Sheets IMPORTXML

   In A1: =IMPORTXML("https://rivalsite.com/sitemaps/sitemap-compare.xml","//url/loc"). In B1: =IMPORTXML(…,"//url/lastmod"). Duplicate for each child sitemap.

3. 3

   Load the sitemap into Screaming Frog

   Mode: List. Upload: Download Sitemap. It will fetch titles and status codes. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs. Enough for a sample.

4. 4

   Group by folder and slug pattern

   Add a helper column that extracts the first folder, for example using REGEXEXTRACT. Pivot by that to count families and spot scale.

5. 5

   Sample pages for quality signals

   Open five URLs per family. Note title clarity, intro strength, last updated, and internal links present. These shape your counter-plan.

If you need visual maps and guided hints, Sitebulb and similar desktop crawlers produce explained audits and crawl visualisations. They are good for spotting weak internal links to big sections. Choose them when you audit structure, not for keyword research. As of 2026 that split still holds across tools.

Ship your first ten pages in the families you picked. Link them from your navigation or a hub page. Add clear CTAs and internal links from related posts and features. Keep slugs consistent. For example: yoursite.com/alternatives/alpha-alternatives, yoursite.com/compare/yourapp-vs-alpha, yoursite.com/integrations/slack.

• Write titles that match the query and fit about 60 characters. Example: “YourApp vs Alpha: features, pricing, who it suits”.
• Add a meta description you would click. Stay within 120 to 155 characters. Example: “See the differences, pricing and use cases before you choose.”
• Link across families. From /alternatives/alpha-alternatives to /compare/yourapp-vs-alpha. From /integrations/slack to a how-to post.
• Update lastmod when you make real changes. Do not roll dates without edits. It fools no one, and users bounce.

Track queries and pages in Search Console once live. Watch impressions rise before clicks. Use your performance report to spot striking distance terms and intent misses. Keep GA4 for conversions. Expect the two to disagree, they count different things by design.