Ahrefs Rank Tracker lets you monitor a curated list of keywords over time and compare your rankings against competitors you've defined in Ahrefs. This integration brings that project-based tracking data into Whatagraph, across three report types: keyword-level rankings, aggregated competitor stats, and per-keyword competitor positions.
Note: This is a separate integration from the standard Ahrefs integration. If you already report on backlinks, domain rating, or organic keyword discovery through Ahrefs, that connection is unaffected - this is an independent source type built specifically for Ahrefs' Rank Tracker tool. You can connect both for the same client.
Ahrefs Rank Tracker vs. the standard Ahrefs integration
| Ahrefs | Ahrefs Rank Tracker |
Focus | Domain-wide SEO health - backlinks, domain authority, and every keyword Ahrefs' index sees you ranking for | A specific, hand-picked list of keywords you're tracking, plus named competitors |
Connects via | Ahrefs account login (OAuth2) | An Ahrefs API key |
One source = | A domain or URL you specify | An existing Ahrefs Rank Tracker project |
Competitor comparison | Not available | Included |
Before you connect
You'll need:
An Ahrefs account with an active Rank Tracker project that has keywords already added to it (projects without tracked keywords won't appear as available sources)
An Ahrefs API key with Rank Tracker access, created under Ahrefs > Account settings > API keys
How to connect
Step 1. In Ahrefs, go to Account settings > API keys and create a new key with Rank Tracker access.
Step 2. In Whatagraph, open Data Sources and click "+ Connect new source", then search for Ahrefs Rank Tracker.
Step 3. Name the connection and paste in your Ahrefs API key.
Step 4. Whatagraph verifies the key and pulls in the list of Rank Tracker projects on your account.
Step 5. Select which project(s) you want to report on - each project becomes its own source.
Step 6. For each source, optionally set:
Device - Desktop or Mobile (defaults to Desktop)
Keyword groups - a comma-separated list of Ahrefs keyword tags to limit the report to specific groups. Leave blank to include all tracked keywords.
Note: Competitors don't need to be set up in Whatagraph — they're pulled directly from the competitor list already configured on the Rank Tracker project in Ahrefs.
Available reports
This integration provides three report types. Use Keyword Rankings for your own site's position data, Competitor Rankings for project-wide competitor totals, and Competitor Keyword Positions when you need to see exactly where each competitor ranks for individual keywords.
Keyword Rankings - position and visibility data for the keywords tracked in the project.
Type | Fields |
Dimensions | Date, Keyword, Keyword group, Location, Ranking URL, SERP features, Position kind, Country, Language, Parent topic |
Metrics | Position, Traffic, Search volume, Keyword difficulty, Clicks, Clicks per search, Cost per click, Target positions, Desktop search volume %, Mobile search volume % |
Competitor Rankings - aggregated performance for each competitor across all tracked keywords. Use this for share-of-voice totals and position distribution at the project level.
Type | Fields |
Dimensions | Date, Competitor |
Metrics | Traffic, Share of voice, Average position, Traffic value, Share of traffic value, Positions 1-3, Positions 4-10, Positions 11-20, Positions 21-50, Positions 51+, Not ranking, plus SERP feature appearance counts (AI Overview, Discussions, Featured snippets, Image pack, Knowledge card, Knowledge panel, Sitelinks, Thumbnails, Top stories, Video previews, Videos) |
Competitor Keyword Positions - a per-keyword breakdown showing where each competitor ranks for every keyword in the project. Use this when you need granular keyword-level data for competitor analysis, rather than the project-wide totals in Competitor Rankings.
Type | Fields |
Dimensions | Date, Keyword, Keyword group, Location, Ranking URL, SERP features, Position kind, Country, Language, Competitor |
Metrics | Position, Traffic, Search volume, Keyword difficulty |
Data freshness
Your list of Rank Tracker projects refreshes once a day.
Ranking and competitor data is cached for up to 6 hours - data pulled within that window comes from cache; anything older triggers a fresh fetch from Ahrefs.
Data is retrieved from Ahrefs in monthly chunks per project.
Limitations
Keyword limit: reports pull up to a configurable cap of 100, 250, 500, or 1,000 keywords per project (default 1,000).
Separate credentials required: the OAuth2 connection used for the standard Ahrefs integration does not carry over - you'll need a dedicated API key with Rank Tracker access.
Ahrefs API usage limits: if your Ahrefs account's API unit quota is used up, data pulls will fail until you enable pay-as-you-go in Ahrefs or your usage resets.
Deleted projects: if a Rank Tracker project is deleted or becomes inaccessible in Ahrefs, the corresponding Whatagraph source will start failing until reconnected or removed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I track a keyword that isn't in my Ahrefs Rank Tracker project yet?
No - add the keyword to the project in Ahrefs first. Whatagraph mirrors whatever the project is already tracking.
Do I need to add competitors in Whatagraph?
No. Competitors are managed entirely in Ahrefs at the project level and appear automatically in both the Competitor Rankings and Competitor Keyword Positions reports.
What's the difference between Competitor Rankings and Competitor Keyword Positions?
Competitor Rankings shows aggregated totals per competitor - share of voice, position distribution, traffic value - across all keywords in the project. Competitor Keyword Positions is keyword-level: one row per keyword per competitor, showing individual positions. Use Rankings for summaries, use Keyword Positions for keyword-by-keyword drill-downs.
Why don't I see a project I expected in the source list?
Only Rank Tracker projects with at least one tracked keyword are shown. Add keywords to the project in Ahrefs, then try connecting again.