---
id: indranilbanerjee/digital-marketing-pro/seo-drift
version: "97519673"
license: MIT
install: manual
updated: 2026-07-28
---

# seo-drift — seo-drift analyzes two SEO datasets side-by-side to surface meaningful changes in keyword rankings, traffic patterns, and competitive positioning. Quickly identify which pages gained traction, which lost ground, and where ranking instability signals opportunity or risk. Built for marketers who need fast, actionable insights from noisy performance data.

Publisher: indranilbanerjee · Stars: 641 · Updated: 2026-07-28

Install (manual): `git clone https://github.com/indranilbanerjee/digital-marketing-pro`

## SKILL.md

# /digital-marketing-pro:seo-drift

## Purpose

Take two snapshots of SEO performance data — separated by weeks, a Core Update, a content refresh, or an algorithm change — and produce a structured drift report: top gainers, top losers, classifications (growth / decline / reshuffle / stable / new / lost), and diagnostic patterns. Works with classic GSC, the new GSC AI Performance Report, rank-tracker exports, and `aeo-audit` probe results.

## Context efficiency

Heavy skill. **Grep before Read** any referenced file, then `Read` only matched ranges with `offset` + `limit`. List `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/<brand>/` before opening files. On re-invocation mid-session, skip files already in context.

## When to Use

- **Monthly performance review** — last month vs the month before
- **Core Update triage** — pre-update vs post-update + settling window (use 14+ days after rollout-complete)
- **AI Mode citation tracking** — quarter-over-quarter `aeo-audit` outputs to see which queries gained / lost AI Mode citations (Google AI Mode citation diff is a leading indicator for organic decline)
- **Content refresh attribution** — before vs after a planned content update to attribute lift to the refresh vs other factors
- **GSC AI Performance Report** — month-over-month deltas on the new (3 Jun 2026) combined AI Overviews + AI Mode report
- **Site migration audit** — pre-migration baseline vs post-migration settling

**Don't use** for single-point-in-time analysis (use the source skill — `seo-audit`, `aeo-audit`, `gsc-ai-performance`).

## Brand context (auto-applied)

1. Read `~/.claude-marketing/brands/_active-brand.json` for the active slug, then load `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json`
2. If no brand exists: ask "Set up a brand first (/digital-marketing-pro:brand-setup)?" — or proceed with defaults
3. Apply `skills/context-engine/industry-profiles.md` for industry-specific noise thresholds (YMYL industries should use higher `--noise` to filter out routine Quality Rater Guidelines volatility)

## Inputs

| Input | Source | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline CSV | Older snapshot | yes |
| Current CSV | Newer snapshot | yes |
| Join keys | Auto-detected (`query`, `keyword`, `page`, `url`) or `--join-on` flag | optional |
| Noise threshold | `--noise` (default 5%) — % below which a metric is "stable" | optional |
| Top-N | `--top` (default 20) — gainers/losers per metric | optional |

**Both snapshots must come from the same source.** Mixing a GSC export with an Ahrefs export will produce nonsense — different sources count different things.

## Process (10 steps, numbered-file output)

All outputs go to `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/{brand}/seo/seo-drift/{YYYY-MM-DD}/`.

1. **`00-input.md`** — capture baseline date range, current date range, source (GSC / GSC AI / rank-tracker / aeo-audit), brand context
2. **`01-baseline.csv`** — copy baseline export here (so the drift run is reproducible months later)
3. **`02-current.csv`** — copy current export here
4. **`03-drift-run.json`** — run the script:
   ```bash
   python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/seo_drift.py" \
       --baseline "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/{brand}/seo/seo-drift/{date}/01-baseline.csv" \
       --current  "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/{brand}/seo/seo-drift/{date}/02-current.csv" \
       --top 30 --noise 5 \
       --out "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/{brand}/seo/seo-drift/{date}/03-drift-run.json"
   ```
5. **`04-quality-scorecard.md`** — read `quality_scorecard` from `03-drift-run.json`. If `status: needs_review`, diagnose:
   - `date_range_distinct: warn` → script couldn't auto-validate. Manually confirm in `00-input.md` that baseline and current cover non-overlapping windows.
   - `sample_size: fail` → either input has < 50 rows. Re-export without row limits.
   - `metric_compatibility: fail` → no numeric metrics in BOTH inputs. Column-name mismatch — re-export from the same source.
   - `no_lookup_collisions: fail` → duplicate keys in one input (e.g., same query × page row twice). Re-export with deduplication or use `--join-on` to add a distinguishing column.
6. **`05-biggest-gainers.md`** — narrative on the top 10 gainers across impressions / clicks / position. For each: hypothesis on cause (new content? backlinks gained? Core Update favoured E-E-A-T? Featured Snippet rotation?). Hand off candidates to `/digital-marketing-pro:content-engine` for amplification.
7. **`05-biggest-losers.md`** — narrative on the top 10 losers. For each: triage matrix — `is_yMYL × had_recent_change × Core_Update_window` → action (refresh content / restore reverted change / wait for next algo cycle / accept and reallocate).
8. **`06-ai-mode-shift.md`** *(only if input source is GSC AI Performance Report)* — queries that LOST AI Mode impressions are a leading indicator. Cross-reference with `/digital-marketing-pro:aeo-audit` to verify citation loss in synthetic probes.
9. **`07-classification-distribution.md`** — counts table:
   - growth / decline / reshuffle / stable / new / lost
   - If >40% in decline: likely Core Update or competitor catch-up. Run `/digital-marketing-pro:seo-audit` for diagnosis.
   - If >20% reshuffle: likely intent shift (AI Mode reweighting). Run `/digital-marketing-pro:aeo-geo` to align with new intent patterns.
10. **`PLAN.md`** — single-page summary: stats + scorecard + top 5 actions ranked by impact × effort, with owner suggestions (SEO lead / content lead / dev team).

## Output format

```
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/{brand}/seo/seo-drift/2026-06-04/
├── 00-input.md
├── 01-baseline.csv
├── 02-current.csv
├── 03-drift-run.json
├── 04-quality-scorecard.md
├── 05-biggest-gainers.md
├── 05-biggest-losers.md
├── 06-ai-mode-shift.md       (only when input is GSC AI Performance Report)
├── 07-classification-distribution.md
└── PLAN.md
```

## Quality scorecard (the four gates)

| Gate | What it checks | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| **date_range_distinct** | Baseline and current cover non-overlapping windows | Overlapping windows produce false-positive deltas — same data on both sides |
| **sample_size** | Each input has ≥ 50 rows | Below this, drift is noise |
| **metric_compatibility** | ≥ 1 numeric metric exists in both inputs | If columns differ (e.g., Ahrefs vs GSC), there's nothing to compare |
| **no_lookup_collisions** | No duplicate keys within an input | Duplicates make the delta math ambiguous |

`status: ready` requires sample, metric compatibility, and no-collision gates pass (date-range-distinct is `warn` not `fail` — the script can't always autodetect dates).

## Classification rules

Each row in the report falls into one bucket:

| Classification | Trigger | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| **growth** | ≥ 2 metrics moved up > noise%, no metric down > 10% | Clear win — investigate for amplification |
| **decline** | ≥ 2 metrics moved down > noise%, no metric up > 10% | Clear loss — triage by YMYL × Core-Update-window |
| **reshuffle** | Significant moves in opposite directions (e.g., impressions up, position down) | AI Mode signature — content is being shown more broadly but for slightly different intents |
| **stable** | No metric moved more than noise% | No action |
| **new** | Absent in baseline, present in current | New content or new SERP coverage — track |
| **lost** | Present in baseline, absent in current | Content removed, deindexed, or fell out of tracking window |

**Position is special**: for position, *lower numbers are better*. The script automatically inverts position-delta direction for gain/loss ranking — you'll see -85.9% under position as a top gainer (page moved from position 12 to position 2).

## Chain handoffs

This skill is typically a consumer + diagnostician:

1. `/digital-marketing-pro:gsc-ai-performance` or `seo-audit` or `aeo-audit` — generates the snapshots
2. **`/digital-marketing-pro:seo-drift`** — *this skill*
3. Branch by finding:
   - **High decline** → `/digital-marketing-pro:seo-audit` for technical-side check + `/digital-marketing-pro:content-decay-scan` for content-side
   - **High reshuffle** → `/digital-marketing-pro:aeo-geo` for intent realignment
   - **High growth** → `/digital-marketing-pro:content-engine` for amplification briefs

## Tips & caveats

- **Don't run during a Core Update rollout.** Wait until Google announces "rollout complete" + 7–14 days of settling. Mid-rollout deltas are unreliable.
- **Position deltas are noisier than impression/click deltas** — pages bouncing between positions 8 and 12 produce ±30% position deltas that mean nothing. Trust impression/click moves more for diagnosis.
- **GSC's data lag is ~3 days.** When pulling "current month" data, use the date range ending 3 days ago, not yesterday.
- **The GSC AI Performance Report (3 Jun 2026) has NO click data.** drift on AI report = impressions-only drift. Don't try to compute CTR drift from it.
- **For Core Update triage, run drift twice**: pre-update vs day-after-rollout-complete (the "blast"), and pre-update vs 14-days-after (the "settled state"). The two often disagree, and the 14-day view is the one that matters.
- **Reshuffle classification is a leading indicator** — when reshuffle counts spike, intent reweighting is happening. The next quarter's drift will usually show clearer growth/decline. Don't react too fast.

## Agents used

- `analytics-analyst` (primary) — interpretation + cause hypotheses
- `seo-specialist` — for technical-cause hypotheses on losers
- `competitive-intel` — when decline correlates with a competitor's win
- `market-intelligence` — for algo-update context (was there a Core Update in the window?)

## See also

- `/digital-marketing-pro:gsc-ai-performance` — pull the GSC AI Performance Report (input source)
- `/digital-marketing-pro:seo-audit` — diagnose decline causes
- `/digital-marketing-pro:aeo-audit` — diagnose AI Mode citation loss
- `/digital-marketing-pro:content-decay-scan` — for content-side decline triage
- `/digital-marketing-pro:content-engine` — for amplifying gainers
- `scripts/seo_drift.py` — the underlying drift engine


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