SERPTool · Docs

Opportunity Score (0–100)

SERPTool's headline metric. The Opportunity Score compresses everything we know about a keyword and its SERP into a single number between 0 and 100, where higher means more realistically rank-able for a site like yours.

What it means in plain language

  • 80–100: top-10 is populated by sites with measurable weaknesses (low authority, thin content, stale pages, UGC domination). A determined newcomer with solid on-page and a few backlinks has a real shot.
  • 60–79: mixed SERP. One or two authority sites are locked in but at least 5 of the top 10 show exploitable weaknesses.
  • 40–59: fairly competitive. Mostly authority sites. You'd need strong content + a backlink plan.
  • 0–39: don't bother unless you have significant domain authority or a unique angle.

These bands are guides, not hard rules. A 72 keyword with 10k/mo volume is worth pursuing more than an 85 keyword at 40 searches/mo.

How it's calculated

The formula blends four inputs, each normalized to 0–100:

  1. Weakness density (40% weight) — the average number of weakness codes detected per result across the top 10, normalized against the theoretical maximum of 17.
  2. Top-10 authority drag (30%, inverted) — the average domain score of the top 10. Lower = higher contribution.
  3. Keyword difficulty (20%, inverted) — DataForSEO's keyword difficulty index. Lower = higher contribution.
  4. Volume signal (10%, log-scaled) — a small bonus for keywords with enough search volume to matter. A keyword with 2 searches/mo can still score high on the first three but won't outrank a 2,000/mo keyword with the same weaknesses.

The components are summed, clamped to 0–100, and rounded to one decimal.

What the score does NOT include

  • Your domain's authority. The score is domain-agnostic — it answers "is this SERP beatable in principle" not "by me, specifically". A 90 score is a 90 regardless of whether you're a fresh .com or a 10-year-old niche leader. See interpreting scores for different site ages for how to calibrate.
  • Search intent match. If the SERP is transactional and your site is informational, the Opportunity Score doesn't know. Use the intent column alongside.
  • CPC / revenue potential. A low-CPC informational keyword can score 95. That doesn't make it commercially valuable — it means you can probably rank for it. Pair with CPC in the columns when prioritising.
  • AI Overview cannibalisation. If Google AI Overviews already answer the query fully, ranking #1 still won't drive clicks. See AI Mentions.

Why a composite score instead of just Keyword Difficulty

Because Keyword Difficulty alone has a structural blind spot: it averages authority across the top 10, so a SERP with one ultra-high-DA site and nine weak ones scores the same "hard" as a SERP where everyone is strong. The Opportunity Score corrects for that by also looking at the weakest links — which are exactly the slots you'd be fighting to take.

Tips

  • Sort your analyses by Opportunity Score descending and look at the top 20% first.
  • If a keyword scores 80+ but Lowest DS is also 50+, treat it skeptically — the weakness density is high but the bar is still high. The score is telling you the SERP is beatable if you can match the authority floor.
  • Pair with intent and volume filters for commercial prioritisation.

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