Search & competitor intelligence platform
VantageFlow
An evidence-led competitor and search analysis tool built to turn visibility gaps into practical website improvements.
VantageFlow was built to answer a practical question across our own websites: why do certain sites get listed in Google or cited in AI answers ahead of others, and what should we change next without paying enterprise SEO software prices?
Live project
Visit VantageFlowThe challenge
The challenge was to discover why certain sites get listed in search results or cited in AI answers ahead of others — understanding what they actually do differently on the page, and working out what we could do to match or improve on them without guesswork.
How I approached it
I looked at how industry leaders like Semrush and similar search intelligence platforms break down competitor visibility, then tailored our own Laravel and Livewire platform to deliver the parts that genuinely drive decisions — within our own budget, with zero paid third-party API subscriptions, and built around an evidence-first workflow.
What was delivered
- Built a Laravel, Livewire, and Flux UI platform with strict brand separation and a public product overview alongside a private, approved-team workspace.
- Created a structured Observation → Comparison → Rulebook → Action workflow that records exact search queries or AI prompts, compares competitor pages against our own, and separates observed facts from testable hypotheses.
- Developed an editable, versioned Master Rulebook covering search intent, technical discovery, content clarity, evidence and trust signals, AI answer suitability, and enquiry journey friction.
- Added a Search Console and GA4 CSV import engine with SHA-256 deduplication, audit trails, and honest reporting that never turns missing data into a misleading zero.
- Built a Page Inventory and SSRF-safe page health auditor to track HTTP status, canonicals, sitemap inclusion, and indexing status separately.
- Implemented a transparent Impact ÷ Effort opportunity prioritiser with before-and-after baseline tracking, plus a UK GDPR-compliant B2B referral-partner and LinkedIn watchlist workflow.
What this improved
- A clear, repeatable way to see what higher-ranking or cited pages are doing differently and turn those findings into prioritised page updates.
- Enterprise-style search, content, and competitor intelligence tailored to our own workflow without recurring SaaS or paid API overhead.
- Before-and-after measurement tied to real Search Console, GA4, and enquiry baselines rather than gut feel.
- A shared improvement engine that supports Anderson Reed, TFS Mortgages, Watched on TV, and Luckyfox.
Why it matters
VantageFlow gives us a practical, evidence-led way to promote and improve Anderson Reed, TFS Mortgages, Watched on TV, Luckyfox, and our wider portfolio — turning competitor research into clear, measurable improvements that help our sites get found and cited more often.