<!-- Updated: 2026-04-17 -->
# Excluded Competitor Domains

When analysing SERPs for competitor scoring, filter out these domains. They are not real business competitors even when they rank for the target keyword.

## Encyclopedias and Reference Sites
- wikipedia.org, britannica.com, investopedia.com, dictionary.com, merriam-webster.com, webmd.com, healthline.com, mayoclinic.org

## Social Media Platforms
- facebook.com, instagram.com, twitter.com, x.com, linkedin.com, pinterest.com, tiktok.com, youtube.com, reddit.com, quora.com, threads.net

## Content Platforms and Blogging
- medium.com, substack.com, blogger.com, wordpress.com, wix.com, squarespace.com, hubpages.com, tumblr.com

## Search Engines
- google.com, bing.com, yahoo.com, duckduckgo.com, baidu.com

## Marketplaces and E-Commerce Aggregators
- amazon.com, amazon.com.au, amazon.co.uk, ebay.com, ebay.com.au, etsy.com, shopify.com, alibaba.com, gumtree.com.au, kogan.com

## Forums and Q&A
- stackoverflow.com, stackexchange.com, whirlpool.net.au, superuser.com, serverfault.com

## News and Media
- bbc.com, bbc.co.uk, cnn.com, news.com.au, abc.net.au, theguardian.com, forbes.com, techcrunch.com, theverge.com, mashable.com, huffpost.com, nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com

## Data and Research Platforms
- statista.com, ibisworld.com, similarweb.com

## Directories, Reviews, and Listings
- maps.google.com, tripadvisor.com, yelp.com, trustpilot.com, yellowpages.com.au, bark.com, thumbtack.com, angi.com, homeadvisor.com, truelocal.com.au, hotfrog.com.au, productreview.com.au

## Comparison and Aggregator Sites
- finder.com.au, canstar.com.au, iselect.com.au, mozo.com.au, comparethemarket.com.au, cmsmarket.com

## Job Boards
- seek.com.au, indeed.com, glassdoor.com, jora.com, linkedin.com/jobs

## SEO and Marketing Tool Pages
- semrush.com, ahrefs.com, moz.com, neilpatel.com, backlinko.com, searchengineland.com, searchenginejournal.com, yoast.com, screaming frog.co.uk, majestic.com

## AI Platforms
- chat.openai.com, chatgpt.com, claude.ai, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com

## Government Domains
- Any domain ending in .gov, .gov.au, .gov.uk, .gov.nz, .gc.ca

## Academic Domains
- Any domain ending in .edu, .edu.au, .ac.uk, .ac.nz

## URL Path Patterns to Exclude

Even on otherwise valid competitor domains, exclude URLs containing:
- `/tag/`, `/tags/`, `/author/`, `/category/`, `/archive/`
- `/feed/`, `/rss/`, `/wp-json/`, `/wp-admin/`
- `/login`, `/signup`, `/register`, `/cart`, `/checkout`
- `/terms`, `/privacy`, `/cookie-policy`, `/disclaimer`
- `/sitemap`, `/robots.txt`

## How to Use This List

1. After fetching SERP results, check each URL against these domains
2. Remove any matches before scoring competitors
3. If fewer than 3 real competitors remain, note the thin competitive landscape
4. Never count a filtered domain in the competitor analysis table
