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Cannibalization Severity Index

Plain cannibalization tells you which queries have multiple URLs competing. The Severity Index goes further: it ranks every cannibalized query by how much it's actually costing you and assigns a one-line verdict — Merge, Re-target, or Internal-link to the winner — turning a diagnostic list into a sprint backlog.

Why it matters

A 12-URL cannibalization that earns 6 clicks/month wastes nobody's time. A 2-URL cannibalization on a query worth 1,400 clicks/month where the wrong URL is ranking is a six-figure issue. Severity puts the second one at the top and the first one at the bottom so your team works on what matters.

How the score is built

For each cannibalized query we compute a 0–100 severity score that combines three components:

  • Volume weight (50%) — log-scaled clicks + impressions on the query in the selected window. Big queries dominate.
  • Position spread (30%) — how far apart the competing URLs sit. Two URLs at positions 4 and 6 actively split clicks; positions 4 and 38 don't really compete and score lower.
  • Intent mismatch penalty (20%) — when the URL Google is currently picking is not the page you'd want to rank for the query (e.g. a blog post is outranking the product page on a transactional term), severity is boosted.

The verdict column

  • Merge — two pages cover essentially the same intent and at least one is thin. Consolidate into the stronger URL and 301 the weaker.
  • Re-target — pages cover related but distinct intents and Google is confused. Rewrite titles, H1s and on-page copy so each page targets a clearly different sub-intent.
  • Internal-link to winner — there is a clear winner already; the loser pages just need internal links pointing at the winner with the target anchor text to consolidate authority.

How to use it

  • Sort by Severity descending and pick the top 10 — that's a sprint of cannibalization fixes with the largest expected click impact.
  • Group by Verdict in a planning doc: Merges go to content/SEO, Re-targets to content, Internal links to dev.
  • Re-run after 4–6 weeks. Severity for fixed queries should drop to the bottom of the list as Google consolidates rankings on the canonical URL.

Data requirements

  • GSC Performance data at query × page grain for the selected window.
  • At least 28 days of history is recommended so the position spread component is stable.