How We Use Google Gemini Pro to Reverse Engineer pSEO Strategies

You're staring at your competitor's website, amazed at how they seem to dominate search results for every possible keyword variation in your industry. They appear everywhere—for long-tail keywords, specific geographic searches, and niche product combinations that you hadn't even considered targeting.

Meanwhile, you're struggling to implement programmatic SEO (pSEO) for your own business. You've read the guides, you understand the concept, but seeing it executed successfully by your competitors is both inspiring and frustrating. How exactly are they structuring their pages? What patterns are they following? Which strategies are actually working?

If only you could peek behind the curtain and see exactly how they're doing it.

The Challenge of Reverse Engineering pSEO

Programmatic SEO has become one of the most powerful strategies for scaling content and capturing long-tail search traffic. But analyzing how competitors implement it can feel overwhelming:

• Their sites often contain thousands (or even tens of thousands) of programmatically generated pages

• The patterns and variables they use aren't immediately obvious

• You can't manually inspect every page to identify what's static versus dynamic

• Traditional SEO tools often underreport traffic to these highly specific pages

What if there was a way to quickly analyze and understand exactly how your competitors are structuring their programmatic SEO campaigns—without spending days manually mapping out their sites?

AI as Your Reverse Engineering Assistant

Here's the game-changing insight: modern AI tools with large context windows can analyze massive amounts of structured data and identify patterns that would take humans hours or days to discover.

By feeding a competitor's sitemap into Google Gemini Pro, we can rapidly decode their entire pSEO strategy—revealing the exact templates, variables, and content structures they're using to dominate search results.

This approach isn't just faster—it's more comprehensive and reveals insights you might miss through manual analysis.

In this article, I'll walk you through our exact process for using Google Gemini Pro to reverse engineer competitor pSEO strategies, complete with real examples and actionable takeaways you can implement immediately.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Reverse Engineering Competitor pSEO

Let's break down our process using a real-world example: Workwize, a company that helps businesses procure, deploy, and manage IT assets. They've implemented an impressive pSEO strategy that targets highly specific search queries—and we're going to decode exactly how they're doing it.

Step 1: Access the Competitor's Sitemap

Every well-structured website should have a sitemap that helps search engines discover and index their pages. This is our secret weapon for pSEO analysis.

To find it:

1. Visit the competitor's website

2. Add /sitemap.xml to their domain (e.g., https://www.goworkwize.com/sitemap.xml)

If that doesn't work, try these alternatives:

• /sitemap_index.xml

• /sitemap/sitemap.xml

• Google "site:domain.com sitemap" to find its location

When you open the sitemap, you'll likely see an overwhelming amount of XML data—potentially thousands of URLs. This is where AI becomes invaluable.

Step 2: Use Google Gemini Pro to Analyze the Sitemap

Google Gemini Pro has an impressive context window that can process large amounts of text, making it perfect for analyzing sitemaps.

Here's how to use it:

1. Go to Google AI Studio

2. Copy the entire sitemap XML from the competitor's site

3. Use the prompt template below

4. Run the prompt and wait for the analysis

Prompt:

Help me analyze this sitemap and determine the pSEO strategies used by the website. Give me details on the following:

(example)
Name: Integration Page
Path: /integrations/{product}
Description: ...
Examples: ...

Sitemap:
[PASTE SITEMAP HERE]

The beauty of this approach is that Gemini can process thousands of URLs at once, identifying patterns that would be tedious to spot manually.

You can see an example of what Gemini return for our analysis on Workwize here.

Step 3: Interpret the Results

Let's look at what Gemini revealed about Workwize's pSEO strategy:

1. Laptop Shipping Pages (Geographic Pair Targeting)

• Path Pattern: /ship-laptops/{country1}-{country2}

• Examples:

  • /ship-laptops/the-eu-italy

  • /ship-laptops/the-us-romania

  • /ship-laptops/india-hungary

This strategy targets users searching for information on shipping laptops between specific countries—a brilliant approach to capture highly specific, long-tail keywords with transactional intent.

2. Integration Pages (Product/Software Targeting)

• Path Pattern: /integrations/{product}

• Examples:

  • /integrations/ukg-pro

  • /integrations/peoplehr

  • /integrations/gusto

These pages target users searching for integration compatibility between Workwize and specific HR or payroll software, addressing a critical consideration for potential customers.

3. IT Services Pages (Geographic Service Targeting)

• Path Pattern: /it-services/{country}

• Examples:

  • /it-services/slovakia

  • /it-services/the-uk

  • /it-services/germany

4. Laptop Procurement Pages (Geographic Service Targeting)

• Path Pattern: /laptop-procurement/{country}

• Examples:

  • /laptop-procurement/india

  • /laptop-procurement/colombia

  • /laptop-procurement/the-eu

5. Glossary Pages (Informational Term Targeting)

• Path Pattern: /glossary/{term}

• Examples:

  • /glossary/procurement-kpis

  • /glossary/total-cost-of-ownership-tco

  • /glossary/lead-time

You can immediately see how Workwize has created a comprehensive pSEO strategy targeting different types of search intent and various stages of the customer journey.

Step 4: Analyze Page Content and Structure

Once you've identified the pSEO patterns, it's time to examine the actual pages to understand:

• What content is static (the same across all pages)

• What content is dynamic (changes based on variables)

• How they optimize titles and meta descriptions

• What search intent they're addressing

For this step:

1. Compare similar pages side-by-side

   For example, compare "Procure Laptop in India" vs. "Procure Laptop in Colombia." When we did this for Workwize, we discovered:

   • The page structure is identical

   • Country names and flags change dynamically

   • There's a "Quick Facts" section with country-specific information about keyboard layouts, power plug types, voltage, and local regulations

   • Most content is templated with minimal customization

2. Analyze page titles and meta descriptions

   Right-click on the page, select "View Page Source," and search for the <title> and <meta name="description"> tags.
   Understanding their title patterns helps you see how they're optimizing for search.

3. Identify search intent

   For each page type, ask:

   • What specific questions is this page answering?

   • What pain points is it addressing?

   • Is there any search intent this page is missing?

   For example, when analyzing Workwize's alternative pages, we identified these search intents:

   • How good is [competitor]?

   • What are the shortfalls of [competitor]?

   • Why are people dissatisfied with [competitor]?

   • What are the alternatives to [competitor]?

   • How do alternatives compare to [competitor]?

   By understanding these intents, you can identify potential gaps in your competitor's strategy.

Step 5: Estimate Traffic and Performance

While the structure tells us how competitors organize their pSEO strategy, we also need to understand which parts are actually generating traffic.

Here's how to use Ahrefs to do this:

1. Enter the competitor's domain in Ahrefs Site Explorer

2. Go to "Top Pages" report

3. Use filters to analyze specific sections of their site

For example, to analyze traffic to Workwize's laptop shipping pages:

• Add a filter using regex: ship-laptops/.*

• This will show all pages matching that pattern and their estimated traffic

To analyze their integration pages:

• Add a filter using regex: integrations/.*

• Review which integration pages get the most traffic

Important caveat: Ahrefs often underreports traffic to pSEO pages, especially those targeting long-tail keywords. A page might show 0-8 visitors per month in Ahrefs but actually receive significantly more traffic. This is a limitation of all SEO tools when dealing with highly specific long-tail keywords.

Despite this limitation, the relative performance between sections can still provide valuable insights—you can see which pSEO strategies are working best for your competitor.

Turning Insights Into Action: Implementing Your Own pSEO Strategy

Now that you've decoded your competitor's pSEO strategy, it's time to implement what you've learned. Here's how to take action:

1. Identify Your Core Variables

Based on your competitor research, determine which variables make sense for your business:

• Geographic variables: Countries, regions, cities where your customers are located

• Product variables: Your product offerings, features, or use cases

• Integration variables: Software or services your product connects with

• Competitor variables: Direct competitors whose customers you want to target

• Industry variables: Specific industries or verticals you serve

For example, if you sell project management software, your variables might include:

• Industries: marketing, software development, construction

• Team sizes: small teams, enterprise teams

• Integrations: Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams

• Competitors: Asana, Monday.com, ClickUp

2. Create Your Page Templates

For each pSEO strategy you want to implement:

1. Design a template structure with clear placeholders for your variables

2. Determine which elements will remain static across all pages

3. Identify which elements need to be dynamic based on your variables

Remember the lessons from analyzing Workwize—while having some templated content is necessary for scale, pages that are too similar with minimal customization might not provide enough unique value.

Consider including:

• Variable-specific statistics or data points

• Custom images or screenshots relevant to each variable

• Unique examples tailored to each variable

• Variable-specific FAQs that address unique pain points

3. Build Your Generation System

Depending on your technical resources, you have several options for implementing your pSEO system:

• CMS templating: Use your CMS's dynamic page capabilities (WordPress, Webflow, etc.)

• Static site generators: Use tools like Next.js, Gatsby, or Jekyll with data files

• Custom development: Build a dedicated system that pulls from your database

The key is creating a system that:

• Makes updating content across all pages manageable

• Allows for easy addition of new variables

• Provides sufficient customization for each page

4. Prioritize Quality and Differentiation

The most common mistake in pSEO is creating thousands of thin, nearly identical pages that provide little unique value. To avoid this:

• Start with a smaller set of your most valuable variables

• Ensure each page answers specific questions unique to that variable

• Include data, examples, or insights that couldn't apply to your other variables

• Regularly audit page performance and improve underperforming templates

5. Monitor and Iterate

After implementing your pSEO strategy:

1. Track which page types and variables perform best

2. A/B test different template structures to improve conversion rates

3. Regularly revisit your competitor analysis to identify new strategies

Conclusion: The Competitive Edge of AI-Powered pSEO Analysis

Programmatic SEO isn't just about creating thousands of pages—it's about systematically addressing specific user needs that your competitors might be missing.

By using Google Gemini Pro to reverse engineer competitor strategies, you gain:

1. Efficiency: Analyze thousands of pages in minutes rather than days

2. Comprehensive insight: Identify patterns human analysis might miss

3. Strategic advantage: Learn from competitors' successes and failures without repeating their mistakes

The most successful pSEO strategies don't just copy competitors—they identify gaps and opportunities to provide even more value to users.

Remember that effective pSEO isn't about volume alone; it's about creating genuinely helpful content at scale that addresses specific user needs better than anyone else.

Start with the process outlined in this guide, learn from your competitors, but always focus on how you can deliver more unique value to your audience. That's the true key to programmatic SEO success.

Want to see a deeper analysis of Workwize's pSEO strategy? Check out our in-depth case study here [TBD]