In SiteCurve, Share of Voice % (SoV) measures the visibility of a domain within a competitive landscape based on its estimated traffic and the total potential traffic for the landscape.
Think of ‘total potential traffic’ as the ‘Total Addressable Market (TAM)’ within your landscape. This represents all the traffic you could theoretically get if you ranked in every position for every keyword in your set—a scenario that’s impossible but useful for understanding the total ‘search market.’ By comparing how much traffic a domain actually captures, you can determine its share of the market or visibility within the landscape."
SoV % metric is available for both organic listings and SERP widgets or features.
Organic Listings: SoV reflects the visibility based on traffic derived from the estimated CTR curve in that the 1st organic ranking gets the most clicks, 2nd ranking gets less, etc.
SERP Widgets: SoV represents how often a domain appears in a widget, with visibility evenly distributed across URLs found in the widget weighted by monthly search volume (MSV).
Please Note: SERP Widgets have extremely variable and constantly changing click curves therefore SiteCurve does not support estimated traffic for SERP Widgets (i.e., AI Overviews, People Also Ask, etc). Instead SiteCurve evenly distributes visibility across all URLs present in a given SERP widget to determine SoV % to give users a sense of which websites are most prominent in these widgets.
How Is SoV % Calculated in SiteCurve For Organic Listings
For organic listings only, Share of Voice % is based on traffic calculated using an estimated traffic CTR curve.
CTR Curve Example:
Keyword: "Best Credit Cards"
Monthly Search Volume (MSV): 10,000
CTR Curve (Top 3 Positions):
Position 1: 38.19%
Position 2: 15.88%
Position 3: 8.55%
Potential Traffic (Denominator):
If a domain ranked in all 20 positions, the total traffic potential is: 10,000Going back to the example from the intro 10,000 is the total addressable market or ‘TAM’ for this keyword.
Estimated Traffic (Numerator):
If a domain ranks 2nd for the keyword, its estimated traffic is: 1,588Estimated Traffic=10,000×0.1588=1,588
SoV % Calculation for this SERP
In this example, the domain in the second position would have 15.88% share of voice visibility % for this SERP and 15.88% of the TAM.
SiteCurve repeats this calculation across every keyword in the landscape adding up all of the traffic across all SERPs a domain ranks on in a landscape (numerator) and then dividing that by the total traffic across all SERPs in the landscape regardless if the domain ranks on the keyword or not (denominator) to show the SoV % a domain has in the landscape. Depending on the segments you are filtered to, the numerator and denominator will change reflecting a new SoV % for that specific segment.
How Is SoV % Calculated in SiteCurve For SERP Widgets
In SiteCurve, share of voice (SoV) for SERP widgets is calculated by evenly distributing the keyword’s visibility (based on its MSV) among the URLs in the widget. This provides a directional estimate of how much visibility a domain receives from appearing in these features.
Example #1:
Widget Type: PAA
Number of URLs: 4
Keyword MSV: 10,000
Distribution: Each URL receives an equal share of 25%.
While SiteCurve does not estimate the traffic a domain gets from SERP widgets, SiteCurve does use the MSV of a keyword to apply a visibility weight.
Share of Voice % Calculation
If there are 4 domains in a People Also Ask widget, and a domain exists in 1 of the 4 positions it would have an Share of Voice score of 2,500 or 25% of the SoV.
SoV=10,000*.25=2,500
SoV %=2,500/10,000=25%
Example #2:
Widget Type: PAA
Number of URLs: 3
Keyword MSV: 1,000
Distribution: Each URL receives an equal share of 33%.
Share of Voice % Calculation
If there are 3 domains in a People Also Ask widget, and a domain exists in 1 of the 3 positions it would have an Share of Voice score of 333 or 33% of the SoV.
SoV=1,000*.33=333
SoV %=333/1,000=33%
Total SoV for PAAs From Example 1 & 2
If you combine the SoV from example 1 and example 2 you get the total MSV weighted SoV % for a domain.
Total SoV% = 2,500 (from example 1) + 333 (from example 2) = 2,833 / 11,000 = 25.75%
This means the domain captures 25.75% visibility across both widgets. When scaled across 100s or 1,000s of widgets, this method reveals key market leaders for a given SERP feature.
Adjusted for Filters: Dynamic Recalculation
When you use the filters inside SiteCurve, SoV recalculates dynamically adjusting the numerator and denominator accordingly.
Filter Example:
Total Keywords in Landscape: 1,000 Keywords
Total Keywords In The Credit Card Niche: 100 Keywords
Total Potential Traffic (Denominator):
The denominator is recalculated to only include the total potential traffic of the 100 keywords.Estimated Traffic (Numerator):
The numerator considers only the traffic the domain receives from its rankings for those 100 keywords.SoV for Filtered View:
If a domain ranks well across 50 of the 100 keywords, its share of voice % represents only its visibility within the filtered subset.
How Share of Voice % Works Across Modules
SiteCurve Module
Displays SoV for domains relative to the entire landscape.
Changes based on filters (e.g., niches, business models, website types).
Example: For "Credit Card" niche + "Affiliate" business model, SoV shows the domain’s share relative to credit card affiliate websites.
Toggle between Estimated Traffic and Share of Voice % for organic listings. For SERP widgets, only SoV % is available.
Category Curves
Default SoV is 100% unless filters like business models or website types are applied.
Shows SoV for domains that compete in the category for the filters you’ve applied.
Organic Listings: SoV is calculated based on traffic potential and actual rankings.
SERP Widgets: Displays how often domains appear in widgets (even distribution of visibility).
Location Curves
Default SoV is 100% unless filters like business models or website types are applied.
Shows SoV for domains that compete in the locations for the filters you’ve applied.
Calculated as the percentage of traffic a domain has in the location relative to the total potential traffic in that location.
Index Curves
SoV adapts to the keywords and domains selected during index creation.
Example: If only 5 domains are included, SoV % would be:
Traffic of domain / Total Traffic of Index
Similarly, selecting a subset of keywords effectively segments the landscape.
Key Considerations for Share of Voice %
Dynamic Filters: SoV recalculates dynamically based on user-selected filters.
Widgets and Traffic: Widgets do not support Estimated Traffic; only Share of Voice % is available.
AI Limitations: For niche or business model filters, SoV relies on AI tagging, which is directionally helpful but not perfect.
Best Practices for Using Share of Voice %
Compare Competitive Visibility: Use SoV to understand how much visibility your domain has relative to competitors.
Leverage Filters: Apply niche, business model, or location filters to get a segmented view of your competitive set (i.e., compare how much SoV % you have among other similar website types)
Widget Analysis: Use widget SoV to track visibility in specific SERP features and adjust strategies accordingly.
Monitor Segments: Regularly check SoV in custom indexes to focus on tailored keyword and domain sets.
FAQs About Share of Voice %
How is SoV for organic listings different from widgets?
Organic Listings: Based on traffic derived from CTR curves.
Widgets: Visibility is evenly distributed among URLs in the widget.
Why does SoV change with filters?
Filters adjust based on the keywords and domains included in the view, recalculating both the numerator (actual traffic) and denominator (potential traffic). All filters start by including all niches, business models, and website types
Can I toggle between SoV and Estimated Traffic?
Yes, for organic listings, you can toggle between SoV and Estimated Traffic. For widgets, only SoV % is available.
How does SoV work in Index Curves?
SoV in Index Curves is based on the keywords and domains selected during index creation, creating a highly tailored visibility metric.
Does widget SoV provide accurate traffic distribution?
No, SiteCurve does not currently estimate traffic for SERP widgets. Even distribution provides a directional measure of visibility that highlights how often a domain appears in the widget. While this approach may underestimate visibility for top-ranked URLs and overestimate it for lower-ranked ones, it still offers valuable insights into competitive positioning.
By analyzing SoV % across many widgets, SiteCurve helps users understand market leaders in SERP features like PAAs, AI Overviews, or Local Packs.
How is SoV impacted by changes in a landscape?
Adding or removing keywords/domains will adjust total potential traffic (denominator), impacting SoV calculations.